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Photos show side-by-side comparison of how Seattle's Capitol Hill has changed, from then to now

By Genna Martin, Zosha Millman, SeattlePI

|Updated
Pike Street from E. Crawford Place, photographed in 1920.
Pike Street from E. Crawford Place, photographed in 1920.City of Seattle Municipal Archives

More than ever, Seattle is feeling like a city that can change in an instant.

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One second the Showbox is celebrating its 79th birthday, the next it's fighting for its survival. One day we're all bemoaning a light haze, and not too long after we're waiting out "very unhealthy" air from inside -- a "new normal" Seattle can come to expect, apparently.

But other changes happen over decades; new apartments are built, trees get planted, a facade gets changed.

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As Seattle grows into a bigger city, it's hard to keep track of all the change that happen. Even a neighborhood as oft trafficked as Capitol Hill can go from the money neighborhood to the LGBTQ haven to ... well, whatever it is now.

But how does all that growth look in the actual neighborhood?

Something like this, at least at East Pike Street and East Crawford Place, photographed in 1920 and then again on August 21, 2018:

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At Boren Avenue at Spring Street, it looks a little different. The building on the right is Hofius House, built in 1902, although the picture was taken in 1910. Compare that with August 21, 2018:

Even the classic Rite Aid on Broadway, with its iconic (or, at least, historic) marquee isn't as long-running as you might think. This is that Rite Aid in 1946, when the building was Broadway Theater, compared with now:

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We tracked down more photos from the Seattle Municipal Archives, and then found the real life spots to compare.

Click through the gallery above to see more examples of how Seattle's Capitol Hill neighborhood looks, then and now.

This article was originally published on Aug. 22, 2018.

Genna is a photographer for seattlepi.com.

Zosha is a reporter for seattlepi.com.