The present-day Washington State National Guard Armory at Smith Cove is a 1973 Brutalist building of no particular architectural distinction . However , Seattle was previously home to least four prominent armory buildings , two of which survive in other uses . An armory built in 1888 on Union Street between Third and Fourth Avenues served as a temporary seat for the city government after the Great Seattle Fire the following year . From 1909 to 1968 , a " fortress-like " Washington National Guard Armory sat on Western Avenue at the north end of Pike Place Market , roughly the site of present-day Victor Steinbrueck Park . It boasted a castellated parapet , round corner turrets , thick red-brown brick walls and a Romanesque-style arched stone entranceway with a wrought iron portcullis . The architect is not known
Great Seattle Fire
Great Seattle Fire
Architecture of Seattle