Panama Hotel Receives National Historic Landmark Recognition
Historic Seattle held its quarterly members’ meeting and “Learning from Historic Sites” event at the Panama Hotel (605 1/2 South Main St) in Seattle’s Japantown (Nihonmachi) on Monday, October 15, 2012. About 60 members and new friends attended this special event that offered tours of the bath house and upper floor hotel spaces. What made the evening even more special was the recognition of the Panama Hotel as a National Historic Landmark (NHL)–the highest honor bestowed on a historic place. The property was designated an NHL in 2006. The NHL nomination was prepared by Professor Gail Dubrow who has worked hard to document places of significance in Asian American heritage in the West. The Panama Hotel is featured prominently in her book with Donna Graves, Sento at Sixth and Main. Of course, more recently, the Panama Hotel has gained fame in the book, Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet.
Jacqueline Ashwell, Superintendent of the Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park in Seattle, presented a beautiful bronze plaque to Panama Hotel owner Jan Johnson in the building’s tea and coffee house. Below is Ms. Ashwell’s speech, eloquently prepared by Gretchen Luxenberg (National Park Service, Cultural Resources). The plaque ceremony was followed by Ms. Johnson’s stories about the building history and the people associated with making the Panama Hotel such a unique and important part of Seattle heritage. Historic Seattle thanks Jan for being such an incredible steward of the building and for her continuing efforts to teach us all about the significance of the Panama Hotel in Japanese American history. (more…)