Beeson Building Audio Tour • Edmonds Historical Museum

Standing firm through time, the Beeson Building has witnessed an ever-changing Edmonds. Look through historic photos and listen to an audio guide to learn more about the businesses that have filled the space.

Edmonds fire at 4th Ave and Main Street, July 8th, 1909. Pictured are the remains of the U.S. Post Office Building. Shortly after the fire, the property was bought by Florance Roscoe Beeson.

Postcard photograph of the newly constructed Beeson Building along Main Street around 1910-1913. In the building are Chandler & Smith Drugs, Edward L. Turner Lawyer, and Crescent Grocery.

Interior of the Chandler & Smith Drug Store inside the Beeson Building. The owner, Edgar Smith, is standing at the cash register. The balcony is a demonstration parlor for the Edison Phonograph.

Edmonds Auto Club in front of the Beeson Building at night in 1914.

The Beeson Building during the “Big Snow” of 1916.

Edmonds Co-op Grocery Store located in the Beeson Building around 1919.

Beeson Building around 1942-1951. The businesses in the building are Dr. P.H. Burke Dentist, Swanson Drugs, Puget Sound Power & Light, Edmonds Grocery & Market and a cafe.

Main Street looking toward 5th Ave around 1960-1966.

Transcript

At the turn of the 20^th century, all of the buildings in Edmonds were wood and the roads were dirt. Or, for those in the know about Pacific Northwest weather, mud.

After a fire destroyed the wooden structures on the 4^th and Main Street block in 1909, Florence Roscoe Beeson – Edmond’s mayor from 1918 to 1923 – purchased the land and constructed the new two-story building in 1911. This Spanish Mission Revival style building, unusual for this time and era, was the first permanent concrete building in Edmonds.

Over the years the Beeson Building has been home to a variety of businesses, such as grocery stores, medical offices, and boutiques. In the early 1910’s, Locals could stop by and see a demonstration of the latest technology, the Edison Phonograph, at the Chandler and Smith drug store. A photograph of the store’s interior shows the demonstration parlor on a balcony, where people of all ages could listen to the recordings and music of the time.

“I am the Edison phonograph, created by the great wizard of the New World to delight those who would have melody or be amused. I can sing you tender songs of love. I can give you merry tales and joyous laughter. I can transport you to the realms of music. I can cause you to join in the rhythmic dance. I can lull the babe to sweet repose, or waken in the aged heart soft memories of youthful days.” (Edison Phonograph advertisement from 1906)