"The Brick Store" Georgetown's oldest brick building

Dating back to 1898, the structure standing at 5919 Airport Way South is Georgetown’s oldest brick building and is associated with its residential and commercial boom that took place between 1890 and 1916, which was fueled by the Seattle Brewing and Malt Company (SBMC) and the influx of foreign immigrants. Georgetown’s population reflected this tremendous growth, expanding from 1,913 in 1900 to 7,000 in 1910.

Historically known as the “Brick Store,” the building has served many functions, including a grocery and drug store, tavern, restaurant, meeting hall, hardware store, boarding house, and apartments. The building first appears in the 1898 Seattle City Directory when it was occupied by the “Duwamish Drug and Grocery Store” operated by Chas R. Ray. The company stayed at this location for only a brief time, however, and does not show up in the 1900 directory.

By 1904, John D. Mathews was operating the “Georgetown Grocery Company,” according to an advertisement in the Georgetown-South Seattle
News that stated: “We carry a full line of groceries. Buy your groceries from a grocery store.” According to the city directory, Mathews lived above the store. The 1906 directory shows the store at 201 Rainier Avenue North (renamed Airport Way South), with Mathews in partnership with Miles C. Conner.

Wilbert F. Robb leased the building at some point. Robb was a city councilman who went bankrupt and lost it all. In 1907, the building’s first floor was converted to a saloon with a lunch counter occupying the north side. An attached club room for gambling and placing bets for the Meadows Race Track was added around this time; the Seattle Club ran the show.

When prohibition hit Washington State in 1916, it put an end to the saloon business and the building was remodeled once again, this time adding apartments to the second floor. Bertha Rau bought the property in 1923 and built a rear garage, measuring 10 feet by 18 feet, that same year. Anton Rau, who is identified as the owner in 1934, applied for a building permit to alter the storefront and convert it for use as a hardware store. A tax asessor’s photo shows the first-floor brickwork painted with a checkerboard design and a “Sherwin Williams Paints” sign above. The hardware store remained in business until 1936, when it was purchased by Margaret Fox Herrman. She also bought the adjacent one-story masonry
building that housed a barber shop.

In September 1936, Jules Maes, Inc. leased the building and obtained a building permit to occupy it as a restaurant, beer parlor, and meeting hall. Jules Maes passed away two years later; however, it remained in the Maes’ family ownership for the next 58 years.

Jules Maes, a Belgian immigrant, started out as bartender and co-owner for August Ozar’s South Park saloon in the early 1900s. He returned to Belgium in 1905, married Leonie Verhulst and then came back to Seattle. Sometime between 1906 and 1908 he ran “The Maple Leaf Saloon” at 823 Rainier Avenue South, selling it in 1912 so that he could take over the Rainier Bar at 5953 Duwamish Avenue (now Airport Way South). An October 1912 article makes reference to his latest venture: “Mr. Maes understands that line of business thoroughly and is well liked and should
do a good business at his new place of business.” another article indicates that he had the place “repainted, repapered and put in good condition generally, and it presents a much more inviting appearance.” Initially, Maes’ bar offered wines, liquors, and cigars, but during prohibition it
changed its menu to soft drinks, cigars, and meals. By the early 1920s, the name changed to “Jules Maes” and in 1928, Jules’ youngest brother,
Valentine, started working there. The building was damaged in a fire in 1936 and torn down, forcing Jules and Valentine to move a few blocks
away to its current location. (Another story, told by Val’s daughter Mildred Maes Driscoll, says that Jules was told by the owner that he had to move,
so he went to city hall and had the building condemned.)

The new business contained a restaurant and beer parlor in the first-floor front section and a meeting hall in the rear room. According to one article (Seattle Post-Intelligencer, May 3, 2000), “There was food and drink. Men used to play cards in the back. They won 5-cent tokens. ‘Good for trade-in,’ Maes had printed on one side of them to make sure winnings stayed in the
saloon.” The Citizens’ Club regularly held meetings and hosted boxing matches called “smokers” in the back room, while the upper floor took on various uses throughout its history - hotel, boarding rooms, pigeon races, and offices of the original Georgetown Gazette. The upstairs was later converted to three apartments. Georgetown resident Joe DeRose rented one of the upstairs apartments for roughly 50 years.

After Jules Maes death in 1939, his wife Leonie took over the tavern, in partnership with Valentine (vice president) and Valentine’s brotherin-
law, Remi Kerkof (secretary-treasurer). The 1940 directory shows Leonie, widow of Jules G., as the president of Jules Maes Company and living at
6307 13th Avenue South. The 1943 Census lists Valentine J. Maes and Remi J. Kerkof as owners of the restaurant and beer parlor. By 1945, the
business is listed as a restaurant only. After Leonie died in 1949, the business passed to Valentine, who held onto it until 1962. Valentine died ten years later.

Throughout his life, Jules Maes was known as fair and generous. During the Depression, he was always willing to help out with a loan. Community service was also important – he served as the vice president of the Georgetown Merchants Base Ball Club and earned the nickname “The Mayor of Georgetown.” Many local residents have fond memories of this place. Dawn Hammer recollected that back in the 1950s there was “a big long counter that would hold around 15 people. Behind the counter were the cooks and their grill and the dishwashers were back there in front of everybody. And the cooks at lunchtime had a big pitcher of beer.”

Jay Espeland and his mom, June, bought the property in 1988 and operated the “Jules Maes Saloon and Eatery.” The regular bartender was Remi Maes, Jules’ nephew, who had worked behind the bar for the past 40 years. June, a former waitress, tended bar sometimes in the evening. Jay, who lived in one of the upstairs apartments, was in charge of the meals.

Following the Espeland’s ownership, Wolf’s Door – manufacturer of art glass and custom-made entryways – purchased the building and occupied
the first-floor space. The current owner bought the building from Patricia Barry in 2004, renovated the interior (including removing the second-floor apartments) and reopened it as the “Jules Maes Saloon,” thus continuing its historic use.

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION
This two-story brick structure is an intact example of a late-nineteenth century commercial building. Sited at the corner of Airport Way South and South Nebraska Street, the building occupies an angled footprint measuring 32 by 66 feet. A one-story wood-frame addition extends from the rear (west) end and contains a secondary entrance to the bar and game room. A one-story masonry building (#5915) situated adjacent (north) of the building – the old OK Barber Shop built in 1923 – is part of the property.

Although it has been altered and remodeled over the years, the building’s exterior still displays its distinctive two-part commercial block main (east) façade: plate-glass storefront at the firstfloor level and tall segmental arched windows at the upper level. The storefront level contains a central recessed entrance leading to the first-floor tavern, and an offset recessed entryway on the north side provides access to the second floor.

The second-floor windows and the intermediate cornice feature decorative brick dentil work. A corbelled brick cornice ornaments the building’s flat parapet roof. Windows on the south elevation have been replaced with aluminum-frame sash and shutters have been added. Several of the openings on the south façade have been enclosed with brick and/or covered with plywood. The interior still contains the original walk-in icebox at the end of the bar, an enormous office safe, and a 100-year-old Brunswick bar that was shipped all the way around Cape Horn. The firstfloor interior was remodeled in 2004 to return it to its use as a saloon, appropriately called “Jules Maes Saloon.”

The second-floor apartments were removed during this remodel and converted to a single apartment containing a large, open living area, front bedroom and kitchen, and rear rooftop deck. Interior features include exposed brick walls, new fir flooring, and replacement windows (south wall). The original double-hung, wood-sash windows are intact along the north, east, and west facades.

BIBLIOGRAPHIC REFERENCES
Department of Neighborhoods, Office of
Urban Conservation, 1997 Architectural Survey
(Site No GT025); WSA, PSB, Bellevue Community
College, King County Tax Assessor’s Real Property
Records; “Jules Maes, A Brief Biography,” by
Friends of Georgetown History, The Gazette,
February 28, 2005; Seattle City Directories; Baist’s
Real Estate Atlases; Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps;Kroll’s Atlases of Seattle.