Throwback Thursday: Ballard streets then and now

Our friend Sue over at the Vintage West Woodland blog featured some “then and now” photos of Ballard streets and we wanted to share them with our readers in today’s Throwback Thursday post.

The below photos show a “then and now” view of the area surrounding 1148 NW 54th Street. Originally, Ballard Street Department Barn Number 4 called this address home and can be seen in the below photo, dated 1914.

then

According to Vintage West Woodland, Street Department Barns were used to house horses, wagons, and tools needed to build the boulevards and byways in our growing city. Piles of muddy planks can be seen in the above photo that may have been pulled from one of Ballard’s muddy lanes.

Sue reports that planked sidewalks and roadways could be seen in our neighborhood until the 1930s, when “large scale paving efforts began in the neighborhood.”

These days, the same address looks wildly different and is home to the back of the recently constructed Koi Apartments (shown in the below photo taken this year).

now

Thanks again Sue for the photos and the fascinating information.

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