Fremont Trolley Barn
{{Short description|Building in Seattle, Washington, U.S.}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=February 2025}}
{{Use American English|date=January 2025}}
{{Infobox building
| name = Fremont Trolley Barn
| alternate_names = Theo Chocolate
| former_names = Redhook Ale Brewery
| image = Fremont trolley barn 08.jpg
| caption = Fremont Trolley Barn in 2017
| location = 3400 Phinney Ave N.
Seattle, Washington, U.S.
| coordinates = {{coord|47|39|03|N|122|21|15|W|display=inline,title}}
| completion_date = 1905
| embedded = {{Designation list | embed = yes | designation1 = Seattle Landmark | designation1_date = September 20, 1989}}
}}
File:Seattle Municipal Railway car barn in Fremont, September 23, 1919 (SEATTLE 72).jpg
Fremont Trolley Barn is a building in the Fremont neighborhood of Seattle, Washington, United States. Originally built as a carbarn (maintenance and operations base) for trolley cars, it has served numerous purposes during its years of existence (including as a warehouse and garage for garbage trucks) and is widely remembered as the brewery for Redhook Ale, considered by many to be Seattle's first craft beer brewery. Redhook brewed here from 1988 until 1998, when they moved to a larger site in Woodinville. The building then functioned as the production center of Seattle-based chocolatiers Theo Chocolate,[https://seattle.curbed.com/platform/amp/2017/9/20/16341508/fremont-trolley-barn-building-history The many phases and faces of the Fremont Trolley Barn] curbed.seattle.com. September 20, 2017 who, however, announced in 2023 the closure of their Seattle manufacturing facility in this building.[https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/theo-chocolate-to-close-seattle-factory-announces-job-cuts-merger/ Theo Chocolate to close Seattle factory, announces job cuts, merger] The Seattle Times. June 29, 2023. On February 16, 2025, the store was closed entirely.[https://www.kiro7.com/news/local/seattles-theo-chocolate-closes-flagship-bellevue-square-stores/FUFGBHPZBNHCNKDEXMOD63NLEA/ Seattle’s Theo Chocolate closes flagship, Bellevue Square stores] KIRO 7. February 17, 2025. The Fremont Trolley Barn was designated a Seattle Landmark on September 20, 1989.[http://www.seattle.gov/Documents/Departments/Neighborhoods/HistoricPreservation/Landmarks/RelatedDocuments/fremont-trolley-designation.pdf Official Designation of Fremont Trolley Barn as Seattle Landmark, 1989]
History
Built in 1905 by Boston engineering firm Stone & Webster at a cost of $31,225 (equivalent to roughly $850,000 today), the building started out as storage space for Seattle's streetcars, its yard being large enough to accommodate up to 60 vehicles. It is also known to have been used as a trainsmen's quarters and repair shop during this time.[https://pauldorpat.com/2014/08/02/seattle-now-then-the-fremont-trolley-barn SEATTLE NOW & THEN: THE FREMONT TROLLEY BARN] pauldorpat.com. August 2,
2014 The city's streetcar network continued to expand with over 400 vehicles in operation by the mid-1930s; however, the increasing dilapidation of the vehicles led city authorities to switch the network over to buses and trackless trolleys. The last streetcar pulled into the barn on April 13, 1941; the building was subsequently taken over by the army and used for storage space during World War II.[https://www.seattle.gov/Documents/Departments/Neighborhoods/HistoricPreservation/HistoricResourcesSurvey/context-fremont.pdf Historical overview of the Fremont area in Seattle.] City of Seattle
After the war the building was used by the Seattle Disposal Company to house garbage trucks and continued in this function for nearly 40 years. During the late 1980s it began to be leased by Quadrant Corp. in preparation for the eventual takeover by Redhook Ale Brewery, who had previously been operating out of a former transmission shop in the Ballard neighborhood. By 1991 the brewery had gone from producing 40,000 to 75,000 barrels of beer per year.[http://redhook.com/about Redhook Brewery - About] The building also housed a pub named the Trolleyman, named in honor of its original function.[http://www.dailyuw.com/news/article_0ee56455-6a8f-5b0f-9aa1-1e710c29d72f.html The Trolleyman - a well-built pub.] The Daily UW. November 7, 2001
Continued growth saw Redhook open a much larger brewing facility in Woodinville in 1994; in 1998 the company stopped production at the former trolley barn, with the Trolleyman pub closing four years later.
Stream, K. Brewing in Seattle (Arcadia Publishing, 2012), p.112 From 2006 the building was the production center and home of Theo Chocolate, the first organic, fair-trade certified chocolate makers in North America.[https://www.theochocolate.com/blog/our-story/ Theo Chocolate - Our Story] Around 60,000 visitors toured the factory each year.[https://www.seattletimes.com/life/food-drink/no-golden-ticket-needed-for-these-theo-chocolate-experiences/ No golden ticket needed for these Theo Chocolate experiences] The Seattle Times. August 2, 2012 Chocolate manufacturing at this location, however, ended in or shortly after 2023. As of 2025, their flagship store was still operating in the building,[https://theochocolate.com/flagship-store Theo Flagship Store] but that store closed entirely on February 16, 2025.
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [https://www.redhook.com Redhook Brewery]
- [https://www.theochocolate.com Theo Chocolate]
{{Fremont, Seattle}}
Category:1905 establishments in Washington (state)