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Benjamin Lukoff

Born and raised in Seattle, Benjamin Donguk Lukoff had his interest in local history kindled at the age of six, when his father bought him settler granddaughter Sophie Frye Bass’s Pig-Tail Days in Old Seattle at the gift shop of the Museum of History and Industry. He studied English, Russian, and linguistics at the University of Washington, and went on to earn his master’s in English linguistics from University College London. His book of rephotography, Seattle Then and Now, was published in 2010. An updated version came out in 2015.

Latest posts by Benjamin Lukoff (see all)

• Marginal Place SW – January 27, 2022
• W Pleasant Place – January 27, 2022
• Birch Avenue N – January 25, 2022

This street, which runs about 850 feet from NE 63rd Street and 17th Avenue NE in the northwest to 20th Avenue NE in the southeast, was established in 1906 as part of the University Scenic Addition to the City of Seattle, platted by “Naomi A. Young and S.E. Young, her husband.”

Naomi Althouse Young and Samuel E. Young were from Albany, Oregon, where they and son Percy Althouse Young operated the S.E. Young & Son department store (see more about the building’s history). S.E. Young was also president of the First National and First Savings Banks. In 1940, Anna Althouse, niece of Naomi Young and cousin of Percy, reminisced about the early days of Albany, in which her family played a large part, though “now there are none left save myself and my cousin Percy Young of this city.”