Gold Coast Historic District Background
Several years ago the City was approached by a group of homeowners from the Hains Street area requesting that the City investigate forming a historic district.  As a result, volunteers and the City worked hard over the last few years surveying and categorizing each alphabet home.  More than 5,000 alphabet and prefab homes were reviewed during this process.

The City hosted a public meeting in the spring of 2003 after the information was compiled, organized, and mapped.  From that meeting the City learned that the overwhelming majority of homeowners were interested in forming a historic district without restrictions on property modifications. Historic districts without restrictions are listed on the National Register.  The main reasons for forming a district are neighborhood recognition, historic preservation, tourism, and homeowner pride.

Based on the results of the public meeting the City began a more detailed inventory and review process.  The original area that appeared to meet the criteria to form a historic district was north of Gowen Avenue, east of George Washington Way, and south of Newcomer Street.  Upon a more thorough inventory it has become apparent that the entire study area is not eligible for historic district status, resulting in a smaller area for the proposed historic district. The boundary for the district is generally located north of Davison Avenue, east of Howell Avenue, south of Willis Street, and west of Davison Avenue and Hunt Avenue. The boundary has been modified to exclude groupings of houses that have been significantly modified over time.

The City submitted a National Register of Historic Places Registration to the State Historic Preservation Office in December 2003.  On January 23, 2004 the Governor’s Advisory Council on Historic Preservation (GACHP) met in Richland to review nine statewide historic preservation applications including the City’s Gold Coast Historic District.  During this meeting the GACHP took action to:

1.            Recommend to the State Historic Preservation Officer that the Gold Coast Historic District be placed on the Washington Heritage Register at the national level of significance.
 2.            Recommend to the State Historic Preservation Officer that the nomination of the Gold Coast Historic District be forwarded to the keeper of the National Register for listing at the national level of significance.