Renton Then and Now, Renton, WA (2026)

05/28/2026

The circa 1900 "then" photo shows Thomas Harries' cash grocery store at the NE corner of 3rd and Wells. Harries is the fourth person to the right of the power pole. A Seattle, Renton, and Southern Railway streetcar is stopped in front. The trolley's sign reads "Hillman City" and "Garden of Eden." Hillman City was a small community in the Rainier Valley that was annexed into Seattle in 1907, and Garden of Eden is today's Bryn Mawr neighborhood just north of Renton.

In addition to running one of Renton's first grocery stores, Thomas Harries was the town postmaster and the Post Office was in this building as well. In 1909, Harries demolished the wood frame building and replaced it with the 2 story brick building we see today. In the 1930s and 40s a major tenant was Renton Drug Store (Brendel's Drugs). Since 2007 one of the main tenants has been Common Ground Coffee & Cupcakes.

Photos courtesy of Puget Sound Regional Archives and Renton Historical Society, colorized.

05/27/2026

The 1983 "then" photo shows the It'll Do Tavern at 209 Airport Way, across the street from Renton Airport. Built in 1968, its been several different taverns over the years. The original business was Angelo's Tavern, owned by Angelo Barei from 1968-74. It was It'll Do Tavern from 1975-84, owned by Harry Naon and later Gerald Neisingor. From 1985 to the early 90s it was Bergie's Tavern, owned by Barbara Bergman. In the early 2000s to 2010s it was Love's Landing Bar & Grill. Lastly, it was Hangar 205 Sports Bar until around 2019. The building is currently vacant.

Photos courtesy of Puget Sound Regional Archives, colorized.

05/21/2026

The 1943 "then" photo shows Renton Bowling Recreation at 111 S 3rd St, across the street from Safeway. According to bowling historian Scott Handley (Facebook Scott Handley), the 8 lane facility was the first bowling alley in Renton, and remained in operation until 1958. It was built by long time local contractor George Custer, and owned by Louis Delaurenti from 1949-1956. It may have closed due to competition from Strato Lanes, a larger and more modern bowling facility that opened in 1957 less than a mile away on Rainier Ave (near today's Brown Bear Car Wash). In 1969, the building was remodeled into Palm International Health Spa. Around 1994 it was converted into Freddie's Club, a card room and restaurant. In 2003 a second story office addition was built. Freddie's remained in operation until 2019 when it became Fortune Casino.

Trivia: In the 1943 photo there's a sign that reads "Cabin City" on the left. This was for Cabin City Court, a large motel with 63 units and parking for cars and RVs. It later became City Center Motel. It was demolished in 1988 and is now a Safeway parking lot and gas station.

Photos courtesy of Puget Sound Regional Archives, colorized.

05/16/2026

The 1984 "then" photo shows Mathewson's Automotive at 271 Rainier Ave N, just west of Renton Airport. The "now" photo shows them in a much larger building constructed in 1990 on the same lot. Mathewson’s has served Renton since 1933, providing service and repair for classic and modern cars for nearly 100 years.

The 1953 and 1968 photos shows their original building when they were a Shell service station and Rainier Tire.

The 1956 Polk City Directory lists Oliver Mathewson as president, Harry Mathewson Jr as vice president, Ross Mathewson as secretary-treasurer, and Joseph Mathewson as attendant.

Photos courtesy of Puget Sound Regional Archives, colorized. Video courtesy of City of Renton.

05/13/2026

72 years ago the Boeing "Dash 80" jetliner was unveiled to the public at Boeing's Renton Factory. It rolled out of Building 4-20 on May 14, 1954. Thousands attended to see the state-of-the-art jetliner prototype. It employed many design features still used today, such as swept wings, complex flaps and spoilers, and engine thrust reversers. The Dash 80 design would be refined to become the Boeing 707 airliner and the KC-135 Stratotanker. The Dash 80 was then used as a test plane for new engines and other systems, but in the early 1990s it was restored by Boeing employees and retirees and in 2003 it was flown to the Smithsonian's Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center (Chantilly, VA), where it is on display.

Video courtesy of YouTube BritishPathe.

05/13/2026

72 years ago the Boeing "Dash 80" jetliner was unveiled to the public at Boeing's Renton Factory. It rolled out of Building 4-20 on May 14, 1954. Thousands attended to see the state-of-the-art jetliner prototype. It employed many design features still used today, such as swept wings, complex flaps and spoilers, and engine thrust reversers. The Dash 80 design would be refined to become the Boeing 707 airliner and the KC-135 Stratotanker. The Dash 80 was then used as a test plane for new engines and other systems, but in the early 1990s it was restored by Boeing employees and retirees and in 2003 it was flown to the Smithsonian's Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center (Chantilly, VA), where it is on display.

Video courtesy of YouTube BritishPathe.

05/11/2026

The 1962 "then" photo shows the building at 227 Williams Ave S, when it was law offices for John W. Dobson, Paul Houser, and Wyman Dobson. Dobson and Son provided legal and insurance products and services from this location for decades, and the building was often called the Dobson Building. When it was built in 1946 it was originally Marshall-Wells hardware store. A few years later in 1949 it was Central Hardware and Western Union. Today, the building is occupied by Metrix Engineers.

Fun facts: The Dobson family was a pioneering Renton family starting with Thomas Dobson, who in 1896 opened the Eagle Saloon at the corner of Houser Way and Burnett Ave. Dobson was a member of the first town council that met on Sept. 11, 1901 and was elected mayor in 1914. Dobson family members have owned several taverns, restaurants, and other businesses in Renton over the years.

Photos courtesy of Puget Sound Regional Archives and Renton Historical Society, colorized.

05/08/2026

The Jack in the Box on Sunset Blvd in the Highlands was built in 1970. In the "then" photo from the year it opened, the building has a cube shape with an inside walk up counter and a drive through window. While the drive-through concept wasn't new, Jack in the Box was the first major fast food chain to use a two way intercom system with orders taken and prepared before you reached the window. The restaurant's iconic design was conceived as a "modern food machine" by architect Russell Forester of La Jolla, California.

Behind the building on the left is a Gai's Northwest Bakery delivery truck (Seattle's largest bakery for decades), and to the right is Renton's Hillcrest Bowl. Around 1980 a seating area addition was built and the exterior was remodeled. Other than updated logos and interiors, the building has changed little and remains in operation today.

Photos courtesy of Puget Sound Regional Archives, colorized.

05/04/2026

The 1969 photo shows Gem Burger at 354 Sunset Blvd N. In addition to burgers, they served fish and chips, steak sandwiches, fried chicken, and hot dogs (1967 photo). When the building was first built in 1960 it was Rock Shop jewelry and a fruit stand. The building was also Wah Wah's Restaurant (~1980) and from the mid 1980s to around 2011 it was Omar Al Khyam, a Lebanese and Middle Eastern restaurant owned by Fayez Nakkour. Today, it's Sunset Bistro, a Romanian restaurant.

Photos courtesy of Puget Sound Regional Archives, colorized.

04/30/2026

Towards the west end of downtown at 3rd St and Morris Ave is a curious looking barn shaped building. Built in 1942, the building was Covey Brothers Super Market. While small family-run groceries, meat markets, and bakeries were the norm when Renton was incorporated in 1901, by the 1940s larger "Supermarkets" were being built where you could do all your food shopping.

Joseph Frederick Covey was a partner in Covey Bros and, outside of serving in the US Army during WWII, he worked his entire career at the grocery and lived in Renton until his passing in 2013. The 1943 photo shows central entry doors and a tall squarish area which was a walk in freezer with rentable food locker space. In 1949 additional windows and exterior signs were added. By 1964, a large "Super Market" sign was in the parking lot and a barn-like addition was added. The building would later become Salvation Army Thrift Store, which closed in 2011 after 30 years. Since around 2019 the building has been MTV Furniture and Design.

Photos courtesy of Renton Historical Society, Puget Sound Regional Archives, and University of Washington Libraries, Special Collections (PH Coll 1176.144 and 1176.145), colorized

Renton Then and Now

05/28/2026

05/27/2026

05/21/2026

05/16/2026

05/13/2026

05/13/2026

05/11/2026

05/08/2026

05/04/2026

04/30/2026

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