Elmer Fisher, Nut

I love history. I grew up in New England surrounded by the Revolutionary War. Then I became fascinated by the men and women who got us through World War Two. And then I moved to Seattle and discovered the most interesting city in the country, Seattle.

Here in Seattle we have the largest collection of Romanesque Revival buildings anywhere in the world, and it's all because of one man that you've never heard of- Elmer Fisher. 

Elmer Fisher was born in Edinburgh, Scotland (or so he said) and came to the US as a young man. He worked his way across the country as a mechanic, cabinet maker, sash maker, band sawyer, carpenter and building contractor. In 1886 and 1887, he designed and built buildings in Victoria, BC and Port Townsend, WA, several of which still stand today, like this modest little guy-

But then he moved to Seattle, which he thought would be the next Big City in the Northwest. He started an architectural business and on June 6th, 1889, the Greatest Thing Ever happened! The entire business district burnt to the ground! Nobody died, but the timing couldn't have been better. 

Seattle was a mess. It was built on a tidal flat and twice a day it would flood. The streets were covered with sawdust and the buildings were slapped together with wood. 

But Seattle was a lumber town and San Francisco kept burning down and they kept rebuilding out of wood, so Seattle had a shitload of money. And Elmer Fisher was ready. The first newspaper after the Fire had a bid ad on the front that said- 

Elmer Fisher, Architect!   

He talked about all of his experience, how he had graduated from the greatest architectural college and worked in the finest architectural firms, and he got the jobs to design 54 buildings, HALF of all the buildings built directly after the fire. 

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My favorite building is the Pioneer Building.

It's got a huge skylight and original elevators and was built for Henry Yesler on the site of the sawmill that built Seattle. 

The Pioneer Building was named the Finest Building West of Chicago after it was built by the American Institute of Architecture. 

He also built the Hotel Seattle, which was named the finest hotel on the West Coast. It was torn down in the early early 60's and replaced by the Sinking Ship parking garage- 

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It so pissed people off they formed a preservation district and so that would never happen again.

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When I stand in the middle of Pioneer Square I'm constantly amazed that these beautiful original buildings were built in less than two years. Elmer chose a style called Richardsonian Romanesque Rivival and the other dozen or so architects copied the style. It is the largest collection of Romanesque Revival buildings anywhere in the world. And not only did Elmer and his team of draftsmen design these buildings, he oversaw their construction- over fifty buildings, that all went up in less than a year and a half!

Well, they looked into it a couple of years after he died and they discovered that Elmer Fisher never went to college and never worked for any architectural firms. But he's responsible for over half of the buildings in Pioneer Square, including the Finest Building West of Chicago! All built by a guy that never went to college!

As somebody with bipolar disorder, I see manic depression in people who may or may not have had it. Maybe Elmer was manic depressive, maybe he wasn't. He had many different jobs in his relatively short life, architect being only one. At the height of his success, an old lover accused him of being her lover, basically, and his career and reputation were ruined. On a whim, he went up to the Klondike to strike it rich and then down to LA to be an office manager. 

He essentially created Pioneer Square and few people have even heard of him. I can imagine him panning for gold in the Klondike, telling somebody about how he rebuilt Seattle after the Fire. And maybe rambling on about whatever his latest interest was, and other prospectors thinking, 'Man, what a nut!'