My Seattle: the 1st Starbucks, 1971-1976
Above/featured: Exhibition “Edible City: A Delicious Journey” at MOHAI – Seattle, 8 Jan 2017 (6D1).
What: 1st Starbucks, at Virginia/Western in the Rhode Island building.
Where: A restaurant now; no historical plaque or sign, though.
Why: 1st location between 1971 to 1976, as historical exercise.
Many write about and refer to the “original Starbucks” location in downtown Seattle. If they’re referring to the present location in Pike Place, that Starbucks outlet while oldest is not the original.
So, what happened to Starbucks’ very first location from 1971 to 1976?
1st Starbucks at Virginia and Western
From 1971 to 1976, the first Starbucks was located at address 2000 Western Avenue within the Rhode Island building at the northeast corner of Virginia Street and Western Avenue. A 1937 photo from the city archives shows the building was once home to Hotel Conklin, Tsue and Company Produce, and the Market Tavern. By 1971, the produce market at the building’s corner was replaced with the new Starbucks coffee store, accompanied soon by the brown logo fixed high against the building and a sign outside on the pavement. After demolition of the Rhode Island building in late-1976 to early-1977, Starbucks moved about 90 metres (290 feet) southeast to its present location in the Soames-Dunn building at address 1912 Pike Place.
By comparing my recent digital photographs with digitized images from the Seattle Municipal Archives (SMA), I’ll show Starbucks’ very first location was attached to the Rhode Island building. Today (early-2020), the northeast corner of Virginia Street and Western Avenue is occupied by Tom Douglas’ Seatown Market Diner, across the street from Victor Steinbrueck Park.
Locations A through F indicate viewing perspectives of the area.
- Western/Virginia, SE corner (facing northwest)
- Western/Virginia, SW corner (facing northeast)
- Western Ave to Pike Place/Virginia (facing southeast)
- Virginia St to Western Ave (facing southwest)
- Pike Place to Western/Virginia (facing northwest)
- Soames-Dunn building (facing northeast)
Google Maps screen-grab: photo locations around Starbucks no.1 (brown star) and Starbucks no.2 (green coffee cup); north is at top.
A. Western/Virginia, SE corner (facing northwest)
3 Mar 2020 (X70): Western and Virginia, southeast corner and facing northwest.
Behind the stop sign at the centre of the image above is a red building with Seatown Market Diner at street level with a “neon crab” in the window. That was the former location of the Rhode Island building which was home to the city’s first Starbucks. At right is the covered shelter at the north end of Pike Place Market’s North Arcade area for market stalls.
SMA image 35061, Sept. 1976. The Rhode Island building and Starbucks no.1 are at centre. At left are the top of the Space Needle and a Texaco service station, and at right is a covered shelter at the north end of the North Arcade.
SMA image 31587, c. 1974. At right is the Rhode Island building with Starbucks no.1 shop and logo. Next door is a tavern with the “R” neon sign for local Rainier beer. Also visible are the top of the Space Needle, Texaco service station, and sign for the Mobil service station across the street.
B. Western/Virginia, SW corner (facing northeast)
3 Mar 2020 (X70): Western and Virginia, in front of Victor Steinbrueck Park and facing northeast.
3 Mar 2020 (X70): Western and Virginia, southwest corner and facing northeast. The cream-and-tan building at centre-right (with US flag on roof) is visible in the historical images below.
SMA image 33728, Feb. 1973: Western and Virginia, southwest corner and facing northeast. At left-centre is the red brick Rhode Island Building with Starbucks no.1; the building was also home to Harbor Heights Apartments.
SMA image 35057, Sept. 1975: Western and Virginia. The “RHODE ISLAND BLDG” sign is embedded in the brickwork at upper left-centre. At lower left is a tavern with the red neon “R” in the window. The “Starbucks Coffee-Tea-Spices” logo and Starbucks no.1 shop are at lower centre. In shadow is the sign for Harbor Heights Apartments.
SMA image 31577, c. 1937: northeast corner of Western Avenue and Virginia Street. At the time, the Rhode Island building was occupied by Hotel Conklin, Tsue and Company Produce, and the Market Tavern.
SMA image 32596, c. 1967: Rhode Island building, a few years before Starbucks moves into the corner spot.
SMA image 35071, May 1977: Rhode Island building demolished.
C. Western Ave to Pike Place/Virginia (facing southeast)
3 Mar 2020 (X70): Western Ave. to Pike Place/Virginia, facing SE. At centre is the covered shelter above which is the red neon sign “Pike Place”.
SMA image 36406, Nov. 1972: Rhode Island building at far left.
The covered shelter at the north end of North Arcade appears at centre. The former Mobil gas- and service-station has been replaced by Victor Steinbrueck Park.
3 Mar 2020 (X70): Pike Place (centre-left), North Arcade shelter with red neon sign “Pike Place” (centre), and Western Ave. (right). The covered shelter is also visible in this image (SMA no. 12678 from 1919).
SMA image 34522, Jun. 1972: Towards North Arcade.
D. Virginia St to Western Ave (facing southwest)
3 Mar 2020 (X70): Virginia St. to Western Ave, facing SW towards Puget Sound.
3 Mar 2020 (X70): Virginia St. to Western Ave, facing SW towards Puget Sound.
SMA image 36481, Mar. 1974: Rhode Island building at right.
SMA image 35187, May 1974: Starbucks no.1 at lower right.
This image faces west from the top of the former Armory Park Parking structure over Virginia Street and Western Avenue. The Mobil gas- and service-station at centre would be replaced by the green space Market Park in 1982, which was subsequently renamed Victor Steinbrueck Park in 1985.
E. Pike Place to Western/Virginia (facing northwest)
3 Mar 2020 (X70): Pike Place to Western/Virginia (facing NW); the yellow-and-green Champion building is at far right.
SMA image 33838, Feb. 1973: Champion & Soames buildings at right.
3 Mar 2020 (X70): End of the market’s North Arcade; Pike Place to Western/Virginia (facing NW).
SMA 34516, Jun. 1972: End of N. Arcade; Starbucks no.1 at right.
3 Mar 2020 (X70): Pike Place, at Western/Virginia (facing NW). Occupied by the Seatown Market Diner on the ground floor, the red building at right is at the spot of the former Rhode Island building.
SMA image 35060, Nov. 1972: Starbucks’ logo at the corner of the Rhode Island building, from the southeast corner of Western Ave. and Virginia St.
F. Soames-Dunn building (facing northeast)
3 Mar 2020 (X70): Soames-Dunn building, with Starbucks no.2 at right.
3 Mar 2020 (X70): original logo above entrance to Starbucks no.2.
3 Mar 2020 (X70): Starbucks no.2, at address 1912 Pike Place.
SMA image 31872, c. 1937: Soames Paper Company at left, Dunn Seed Company at centre. In 1977, Starbucks no.2 will slot into the storefront at right.
SMA image 31866, c. 1972: Soames and Dunn buildings.
SMA image 33772, Nov. 1977: post-refurbishment, Starbucks no.2.
SMA image 37850, Feb.1978: Champion & Soames-Dunn buildings.
Additions
1st street sign, 1971
An original Starbucks curb-side placard is on display at Seattle’s Museum of History and Industry (MOHAI) as part of their permanent collection. The accompanying caption reads:
In 1971, this simple hand-painted sign stood outside the first Starbucks at 2000 Western Avenue. Jerry Baldwin, Zev Siegl, and Gordon Bowker – two teachers and a writer – had named their little coffee store “Starbucks” after a character in the book “Moby Dick”. Their roasted coffee beans warmed Seattleites’ hearts, and the rest is history. Bowker said: “We came desperately close to calling it (the store) ‘Cargo House’, which would have been a terrible mistake.”
Original Starbucks sign, in MOHAI permanent collection – 8 Dec 2017 (6D1).
Some Notes
There’s an existing remnant of a covered shelter at the very end of the market’s north arcade where there might have been a former streetcar stop at the intersection of Pike Place, Western Avenue, and Virginia Street (coordinates: +47.610259, -122.343436). Seattle Municipal Street Railway maps from the early 1930s show there was double-track streetcar service running northwest to southeast along Western Avenue and a couple of routes onto Virginia Street: 1931 network, 1933 map from SDOT Photos, and another 1933 map via SPL/Lee Roberts.
As of posting, Seattle’s oldest continuously operating coffee house resides in the U-District next to the campus of the University of Washington. Alhough it’s not the very first coffee bar in the city, Cafe Allegro lays claim as Seattle’s “original espresso bar” since 1975, and its operation has been credited as the prototype for Starbucks stores.
23 May 2021: WordPress user “lagoetz” kindly informed me Seattle’s 1st espresso bar was called “Last Exit on Brooklyn,” operating from 1967 to 1993 at 3930 Brooklyn Avenue NE near the University of Washington.
• Starbucks Melody, by Melody Overton.
• Evolution of Starbucks’ logo, by S. Raghav for Design Hill (2016).
• 10 things to know about Starbucks, by D. Roos for Mental Floss (2010).
I acknowledge my time on the traditional and ancestral land of the first people of Seattle, the Duwamish (Dxสทdษwสabลก) People past and present, and honour with gratitude the land itself and the Duwamish Tribe. Images labelled “SMA” are courtesy of the Seattle Municipal Archives. I made all remaining photos with a Fujifilm X70 fixed-lens prime (X70) on 3 March 2020, and with a Canon EOS6D mark1 (6D1) on 8 Jan 2017 and 8 Dec 2017. This post appears on Fotoeins Fotografie at fotoeins DOT com as https://wp.me/p1BIdT-gWN.
Fotoeins Fotografie 
6 Responses to “My Seattle: the 1st Starbucks, 1971-1976”
You are a wonderful historian, Henry. I wonder if Starbucks would be interested in this documentation of its first store?
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Hi and thanks, Patti! I’m sure someone somewhere in Seattle and at Starbuck’s has it all figured out โบ๏ธ Given the world-wide empire that Starbucks has now become from a humble coffee shop, it’s interesting there’s no actual plaque memorializing that shop’s first and original location. I’m glad you enjoyed this little visual piece of Seattle history, and thanks again for your kind comment!
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It is surprising that there isn’t a museum of Starbucks history!!! They are very good at self-promotion!!
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Hi, Patti. Very true! It seems somehow obvious somebody in Starbucks headquarters (which is located south of the city’s two primary outdoor stadia) knows about it. But I’m unaware if there’s a brick and mortar location people can go see specifically the history of Starbucks, except for its inclusion within the city’s history at large on display at the Museum of History and Industry (MOHAI). Thanks again for your comment!
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This a wonderful report, itโs wonderful to see the original Starbucks again. Fond memories of purchasing coffee from Zev and his wife in 1971. But I would make one correction, the first espresso bar was actually in a coffee tea house on Brooklyn called the Last Exit on Brooklyn. It was there in 1974. The owner,who was black, moved the espresso bar to the Corner Market Building when it was remodeled as part of the Pike Market restoration in the late 70โs. I think it was called Le Capitale or something like that. If I recall, a cappuccino cost about $.50. Seemed quite dear at the time but was so good.
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Thank you very much for your kind comment, and for letting me know about “The Last Exit on Brooklyn”.
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