Search Results

The holidays bring back many memories of family celebrations and the way things were when we were children. Neighborhoods also have pasts, and are fondly remembered by those who traveled through the shortcuts, yards and alleys of the past. Did you ever wonder what the terrain of Rainier Valley looked like in the days prior to concrete roads? Have you ever been asked what used to be on that corner where a new business is opening? Some of these questions can be answered by our elders. Peggy Duncan, long time resident of South Seattle answered some of these questions regarding the site of Day Street Park, just underneath the west end of the I-90 bridge. Peggy spoke of her grandfather Christian Miller who had built cabins on the lake shore back in the early 1900s. This photo shows some of the cabins. A closer look reveals many family members and friends enjoying the summer day. Children contentedly sitting in the bow of the boat under the watchful eyes of a parent. The couple in the center of the photo quite possibly have just arrived from far away Queen Anne Hill to enjoy the holiday. Gentlemen stand off in the background perhaps discussing plans for the 4th of July celebration. Peggy told a wonderful tale of a family effort to celebrate the Fourth. The spectacular display included fireworks and a great balloon undoubtedly enjoyed by families for miles around. It seems that Peggy’s uncle Adolph Schmick was a crafty individual who delighted in his contribution to the annual celebration. He worked quietly in his daylight basement, with brightly colored paper, scissors, and glue to construct a large paper balloon about ten feet tall. The top of the classically shaped hot air balloon was held outside the upstairs window. The crossbars carefully  placed in the lower cylindrical opening held a can of alcohol or other flammable liquid. The fuel was lit and the balloon filled with hot air as a cooperative and patient family member held the upper end of the paper balloon out the upstairs window. When hot air sufficiently filled the multi-colored balloon (or perhaps when someone’s arm became tired) the glorious spectacle, freed over Lake Washington, soared amidst cheers from all onlookers. Evidently the balloon stayed aloft for quite a while, as reports in the newspaper tracked it out over the lake, visible from the eastside and far north of the release site. Children would come from Leschi and Dearborn, taking a path through the woods to the lake. The gentlemen carefully ignited fireworks purchased from perhaps Hitt Fireworks in Columbia City. The glorious day caused all cares of the workaday world to be forgotten and freedom celebrated. Hard to believe that families would come over the hill from downtown to their “summer place” on the lake. Friends would come all the way from Queen Anne Hill to join the family for picnics and relaxing respite at the lake. Peggy also reminisces about her father’s livelihood as a chef. He ran several restaurants in hotels in Seattle. He would stay at a place for a time and then move on to another establishment. Her fondest memories include sitting at the counter in the Stevens Hotel watching the men throw dice. At the Rainier Grand, owned by J.J. Kelly, Peggy got into a little mischief playing on the elevator. Mrs. Kelly had taken a shine to Peggy, letting her have the run of the hotel. Mr. Kelly, however, thought to teach the boisterous girl a lesson, waiting for her as she stepped off the elevator, nearly scaring her to death. Mrs. Kelly entertained Peggy, taking her to plays and other performances at Cornish. Inevitably, Peggy’s father moved on after two or three years, to the Savoy, St. Regis, Claremont, and to the Old North Inn in Bothell. Dad’s final restaurant was on the Seattle waterfront at the ferry dock. Growing up with a chef for a Dad, the housekeeper only had to clean. Dad provided the meals, all the help had to do was warm up the dinner he had brought home. Days Gone By South District Journal 12/30/98 By Mary Ann Balch

The date is 1902. Car #20 of the Seattle, Renton & Southern RY., traveling southbound, has just crested the hill between Genesee and Edmunds Street. On the left side of the photograph, next to the tracks, is a trunk that is part of the freight hauled by the streetcar line. Most of the line was single track with passing tracks through the business districts. The black box on the pole to the right of the car contains a switch for signal lights to let other motormen know when the single track is in use. The switch is operated by a pull on the dangling rope. The first building on the left is Charlie Nelson’s Meat Market. He moved there from Hillman about 1909. The business, was later operated by his son Richard, known by many as “Butch”, and his wife Fran. At his death the business was sold to Bob Ackley who operated it as Bob’s Quality Meats. Bob just recently sold the business to his son Jim and his grandson Abraham. The corner building to the left housed a variety of businesses over the years including DeWit Orvis, Real Estate; Rainier Valley Undertaking Co., O. A. Phelps Mgr.; L. Natoli Produce Market; Belmont Grocers; Burkhardt Grocery Store; Taylor Brothers Price-Rite Grocery; Millard’s Mens Shop; Wades for Men;  Rector’s Men’s Shop and the current business Fashion Nails. The path going up a slight incline to the right of the light pole goes to the home of D. C. Brown at 3815 Edmunds Street. Mr. Brown was Columbia’s first Town Marshall in 1891. In 1907, Will Brown, D.C.’s son, built a two story brick building on the location of that pathway. The building’s first tenant was the Record Publishing Co. on the first floor with doctor’s offices and apartments on the second floor. In 1909 the owner of the Record Publishing Co. was killed when the kerosene driven press exploded. Mr. Grayson then moved his hardware and furniture store into that location from the Toby building next door to the north. About 1916 Will Brown left his job as superintendent of the car line when it went bankrupt and became a partner with Mr. Grayson and it became known as Grayson & Brown Hardware and Furniture Co. until 1984 when Welch Hardware moved in for six years. It then reverted back to furniture and became Saver Furniture. Just to the right of Brown’s building, across the alley, is the building that housed the Van Meyers and Corbett’s Columbia Furniture Co. in 1911; followed by Fred Hitt’s Hardware & Electrical Repair Co.; Gunnar Larsen’s Shoe Shop; Economy Fair Hardware; World War II Surplus Store; Rector’s Dry Goods & Women’s Store and now the Rainier Office Supply. Rainier Avenue is to the left of the streetcar tracks and was covered with wood planks that solved the muddy street problem but made for a very rough ride for the horse drawn wagons and buggies. The planks in the foreground lain parallel to the tracks appear to be in really poor condition. What appears to be a stack of new planks, at the far right, are probably awaiting installation. This photo was taken on July 6th, 1915 looking south along Rainier Avenue up to Columbia. The streetcar in the distance is at the same location as car # 20 in the accompanying photo. Many changes have taken place in Columbia during the thirteen years since the other photo was taken. The buildings on the left have been built and apparently Rainier Avenue has been regraded as the tracks are now on the west-side of Rainier and there are two sets of tracks rather than one set. The planks in the foreground indicate the location of the trolley stop at Angeline Street. Also, in the foreground, notice the spur leading off to the left. It was used to transport the coal cars to the bunkers of the Valley Fuel Co. located just off Rainier in the gully on Alaska Street. The gully was later used as a landfill and is currently the site of the Columbia City Post Office. Days Gone By South District Journal 12/16/1998 By Buzz Anderson

This photo shows the Columbia Mill that was built in 1890, the same year the streetcar tracks were laid starting at Railroad Avenue on Seattle’s waterfront. The street cars came up Washington Street with the aid of a counter balance and then south through the dense forest and marsh lands over wood trestles and dirt fill to Columbia City, along the route that years later would become Rainier Avenue. The developers plan was to cut the trees and convert them to lumber for the homes and businesses to be built on the logged off area. The location of the mill was the northwest corner of what is now Rainier Avenue and Brandon Street. The photographer for this photo was looking southeast. One of the first streetcars on the “Rainier Avenue Electric Railway” line can be seen to the left, sitting on the tracks that ran behind the building. It was the first commercial structure built in the Columbia City area. The gigantic trees taken from the virgin forest in Rainier Valley were equal to any logged-off timber in the state.  To the right of the mill can be seen several five to six foot diameter logs, waiting to be made into lumber. Teams of horses were used to drag the logs to the mill. The mill also generated power for the rush hour needs of the car line during peak hours. The first lots were sold in Columbia City on April 4th, 1891, to those responding to the downtown advertisements telling about lots that sold for $300, with $10 down and payments of $1 dollar a week, with no interest. The $10 down and $1a month terms were a first for the Seattle area. The trolleys, towing flat cars with benches and a sign saying “Watch Columbia City Grow” were used to bring the potential buyers out to Columbia. There were too many people for the streetcars so some had to walk to Columbia on the muddy wagon road that wound its way around the eastside of Beacon Hill. Those first buyers, strangers at first, quickly became friends and organized to form a town council. They elected a mayor and the town marshal and started building the town’s first two buildings, the town hall and the school. The above photograph was in the 1915 issue of the “Rainier Valley Citizen Annual”, published by the local newspaper of the same name. The title under this and two other related photographs read:  “The hand of commercial man soon after wrought wonderful changes here. Business houses and comfortable homes now stand closely together in the place of this forest.” Days Gone By South District Journal 11/4/1998 By Buzz Anderson The Rainier Valley Historical Society publishes a quarterly newsletter, the “Rainier Valley Heritage News” that focuses on our Valley’s unique history. Family memberships are $30.00 per year. Our mailing address is P.O. Box 18143, Seattle, WA 98118, or we can be reached by phone at 206-722-2838.  Our office and museum is located on the lower floor of the Rainier Valley Cultural Center building at 3515 S Alaska Street, behind the Columbia Library. We are open on Fridays from 10 AM to 2 PM or by appointment.

The date is January 1938. The event is the dedication ceremonies for the new Snoqualmie Ski Bowl near Hyak Station at the east entrance to the Milwaukee Railroad Cascade Tunnel.  The music is furnished by the Franklin High School all boys band, on skis, under the direction of Victor McClelland. The band gained national publicity for their part in the inaugural trip of the first regularly scheduled ski train in the country. The event was covered by Universal news reel and was showing at the Music Box Theatre in Seattle as well as across the nation. Performing on skis resulted in spills and dents and in one instance the base drum arriving at the bottom of the hill before the band. Victor, called “Mac” by his students, was in his second year at Franklin as band director and on his way to establishing an institution that would continue for 20 years and become the envy of schools throughout the area. Mac recruited incoming students whether they could play an instrument or not. Fine if they could but if they had no training he would get them into “junior” band, supply an instrument if they couldn’t afford one and teach him how to play it. If they could play a piano or a stringed instrument he would recruit them away from the orchestra and hand them a trumpet or a drumstick and expect them at the next practice. The band, about 65 in number, became a very close knit group and the officers, elected by the members, coordinated all of the jobs that were required with their busy schedule of performances. During the war years of the early ‘40s the band spent much of their time performing at bond rallies and other patriotic events. Mac stayed in touch with the alumni that were fighting overseas and for them, kept alive his vision of an alumni band when the boys came home at the war’s end. He kept his promise but after several rehearsals at a hall at Seattle U it was discontinued mostly because of scheduling problems. His wish was to give the boys overseas something to look forward to and to that end he was successful. Mac did not want girls in the band. It would never happen today but at that time, during the war, with the band’s dark, navy officer style of uniforms with gold braid on the shoulder, officer stripes on the sleeves and officer caps, it seemed the best way to go. On many occasions the uniforms would prompt a salute from passing navy personnel.  Mac did have an all girls band however that was very successful. With the advent of the swing music in the late ‘30s, Mac switched to playing that style in addition to the marches and classical and it was an instant success. The P.T.A. dances at the Rainier Fieldhouse were about to be dropped for lack of attendance. With the band’s new sound and lots of special features and decorations, the attendance soared to about 1000 and the dances continued. The band members made a slapstick movie called “Wilderness Woo” which was shot at Seward Park.  It featured the villain, Weazel Puss and the heroine, Wocky Woo Woo. Others in the script were the Lone Ranger, Witherspoon, Witherfork and Withertonsilsout. It was presented at their Spring Concert with narration and specially written background music by the band.  For an encore it was run backwards and the audience “went wild” according to the critics. Benny Goodman made an appearance at one of the band’s assemblies and the 2000 students went berserk when he borrowed a clarinet from one of the band members and gave them a swing rendition of “Dinah”. Vic McClelland was one of a kind. He was one of those rare teachers that set an outstanding example and made an impression on his students that they would carry with them all their life. He retired from the band in 1952. Well not really retired as he went back to the University and studied Biology and returned to Franklin as a Biology teacher. He arranged for one of his former band students, Phil Adams from the class of ’45, to take over the band. Phil was there for six years and moved on when he heard rumors from the administration that girls were going to join the band. I was in the band for four years from ’41 to ‘45 and they were some of the best years of my life. Days Gone By South District Journal 10/21/1998 By Buzz Anderson

The upper, 1891 photo was taken in Columbia City, the year the first lots were sold there and a year after the streetcar line was put in. The location was on Ferdinand Street looking east across Rainier Avenue. It shows two of the first streetcars of the Rainier Avenue Electric Railway Company standing on passing tracks. Most of the streetcar line, however, was a single track through the wilderness. Some of the tracks were laid on a trestle over the swampy areas, particularly Wetmore Slough that started at Alaska Street and went north almost to Franklin High. When Lake Washington was lowered 9 feet in 1917 the swamp mostly dried out. Rainier Avenue was built later and was a two-lane dirt road beside the tracks. Because of the mud it was “paved” with wood planks laid crossways the entire length of the valley. With more people coming into Rainier Valley a two lane road was added on each side of the tracks and was paved with paving bricks from the “Denny Renton” brickyard in Renton. Note the car on the left is an open-ended car that could be quite miserable for the motorman in our wet northwest winter weather. However pioneer motorman Will Brown stated in a newspaper interview that it had its advantages. He took his shotgun along on his runs through the uninhabited woods and meadows that were in abundance at that time in Rainier Valley and occasionally bagged a bird or two for dinner. When firewood was needed on cold winter days for the streetcar’s pot bellied stove the motorman would stop in a wooded area and the passengers would all get off and help to gather wood along the tracks. The fare was 4 cents from the foot of the Washington Street counter balance in downtown Seattle to Columbia Station and an additional 5 cents to Rainier Beach Station. The lower photo shows car number 104, a steel streetcar with a center door that was built by the Moran Shipbuilding Company here in Seattle. This photo was taken in 1915, 24 years later than the one above. The men standing in front of the car were the same crew and others that were in the photo of 1891. The man with a newspaper in his hand at the left is Dr. Snyder. He was the newsboy in the 1891 photo. This photo was taken from almost the same location as the 1891 photo. The building at the far left, with an awning is currently the Rainier Office Supply Co. Days Gone By South District Journal 10/7/1998 By Buzz Anderson

It took a lot of lobbying by the local citizenry to convince the downtown officials to build a library in Columbia City. With grants from the Andrew Carnegie foundation the city was building several libraries around Seattle and our local leaders were persuasive enough to get one built in Columbia. It opened on December 30, 1915. The total cost including furniture and fixtures was $35,000.  We think the design chosen for our Columbia Library was the best of any of them. Rainier Avenue, at that time a two-lane, wood planked street was to the right of the streetcar tracks in the above photo. Later Rainier Avenue was graded, the streetcar tracks were moved to the right and Two lanes of brick paving were put in on either side of the tracks. Old timers tell about the horse that died when it fell into the ravine and they concluded there was no easy way to get it out. The local people were starting to fill the ravine with garbage so they decided to leave the horse where it was. The garbage soon filled the ravine and it became the Columbia Park that we enjoy today and was recently the site of the Rainier Valley Heritage Festival. A creek came down a deep ravine behind the library, through a small lake named Lake Austin, and into Wetmore Slough which extended north along Rainier Avenue as far as Franklin High School. It also went east along Genesee Street to 47th Avenue and north along 43rd to Lake Washington. This p[art of the slough is now known as Genesee Park. Salmon used to come up the creek behind the library to spawn. There was a lot of talk about the town of Columbia becoming a lake port by dredging Wetmore Slough, but when the locks were built in 1917, Lake Washington was lowered 9feet and the slough dried up. The park was threatened in the ‘50s when a commercial developer wanted to build on the park. The Pioneers of Columbia City, the predecessor to the Rainier Valley Historical Society, led by local attorney Phil Weiss, got involved and convinced the city it should remain a park.  A lawsuit between the city and the developers worked its way up to the U.S. Supreme Court and ended with a victory for the park. Days Gone By South District Journal 9/16/98 By Buzz Anderson

This photo was taken in 1912. The location was the southeast corner of Rainier and Alaska Street in Columbia City, where the Post Office is situated today. Rainier Avenue as well as Alaska Street was raised to accommodate the streetcar tracks which had originally been built on a trestle across the Wetmore Slough. The fill for Rainier And Alaska created a deep ravine on most of the block, similar in elevation to the Rainier play field located on the north side of Alaska Street. The Valley Fuel Company coal bunker was situated in the ravine with a spur off the streetcar tracks on Rainier Avenue which allowed coal cars to be pushed over the top of the bunkers. Then gravity could feed the coal into the bunkers and into the wagons and trucks on the lower level. This photo shows the Valley Fuel Co.’s coal bunkers being raised to a higher level to match the tracks after a Rainier Avenue regrade. As the demand for the coal diminished the bunkers were adapted to handling sand, gravel and other building materials. The ravine where the bunker had been located was used as a garbage fill starting in the 40’s. When that was filled the city continued the garbage fill east from the play field up to 47th Avenue and north across Genesee to the lake where Sayres Hydroplane Pits are today. This area was known as Wetmore Slough and also included the area north along Rainier as far north as the junction with Empire Way, now  Martin Luther King Way. When Lake Washington was lowered nine feet to build the locks at Ballard in 1917 the Slough dried up. The smell from the garbage fill permeated the neighbor and made living nearby almost unbearable on warm summer evenings. They weren’t as quick to cover it with dirt as they do today. The fill was completed in 1964 and is now Genesee Park. Days Gone By South District Journal 9/2/1998 By Buzz Anderson The Rainier Valley Historical Society publishes a quarterly newsletter. Membership dues are $30.00 annually. Our office and Museum are located in the Rainier Valley Cultural Center at 3515 S Alaska, just west of Rainier Ave S. We can be contacted at 206 722 2838. Our mailing address is P.O. Box 18143, Seattle, WA 98118.

This photo was taken about 1905 looking North along Rainier Avenue from Hudson Street. The building on the left housed the equipment for the volunteer fire department that included a water pump cart and a hose reel cart. The adjoining building with the copula roof is the town hall, one of Columbia City’s first buildings. It was built in 1891 just south of Hudson Street and then moved to this sight just north of Hudson Street. The building costs were covered by private subscriptions from the pioneers that bought the first lots in Columbia.  This is where they set up their town government. They incorporated the town in 1893, electing a Mayor, Marshall and the Town Council. One of their first ordinances banned saloons in the town. The first school classes met in this town hall while Columbia School was being built. The children moved into the first floor of the school while the second floor was still under construction in 1892. A Sunday School was also started in the town hall and almost all the residents participated. The town of Columbia was annexed by Seattle in 1907 and the Town Hall building then had other uses including the Seattle Public Library in 1911 and the City Light office in the‘20s. The cement building currently on the site was built for the Seattle police department, precinct 5, in the ‘30's. When the precinct relocated to have more space, it became a public health facility. That original town hall building still exists today as a duplex, one block west on the south side of Hudson street. It now has a conventional shaped roof. The next building on the left was a pool room and barbershop that exists today as Angies Tavern. On the right of Rainier Avenue is Guy Dickie’s “Columbia Hardware and Tinsmith Shop”, and “McKenzie’s Plumbing.” Days Gone By South District Journal 8/26/1998 By Buzz Anderson

The Tower at the ‘Columbia School, seen here in 1906, was the original home of the bell that has since been kept in storage at Orca at Columbia Elementary School.  The inset in the photograph is an illustration of the bell from the 1897 Sears Roebuck & Co. Catalog. The price was $9.00. The bell from the old Columbia School bell tower has been rescued from obscurity. The 175 pound, 22” diameter bell called the local students to classes from 1893 to 1922. Members of our predecessor organization, the Pioneers of Columbia City, discovered the bell in 1949 in storage at the second Columbia School, now Orca Alternative School. It had been in storage at the school for 27 years. They negotiated with the Seattle School Superintendent at that time, Samuel Fleming, about ownership of the bell. His recommendation was that the School District should retain title to the bell and, quoting the letter from Mr. Fleming, “is very willing that it should be loaned to the Columbia Pioneers for such exhibition as they may care to make of it.” The Pioneers and students at the school raised $175.00 and donated the money to pay for a display cabinet for the Bell in the school hall where it remained until this year. Buzz Anderson, president of the Rainier Valley Historical Society, while putting on a slide show for the third grade students, discovered the bell in the display cabinet had been covered by a blanket and was not visible as intended. Buzz asked and received permission from the school principal, Mr. Ben Wright, for the Society to take possession of the bell under terms of the original agreement. The sound of the bell was heard for the first time since the seventies when it was loaded on a truck and entered in the annual August Heritage Festival Parade through Columbia City.  We will continue the tradition and enter it in all the future Parades.The bell is now mounted on a rack, next to our display cases at our office in the Rainier Valley Cultural Center. Every April the bell will signal the start of the annual meeting of the Rainier Valley Historical Society, formally the Pioneers of Columbia City. We will be holding our 110th annual meeting this year as we have done since 1891. Days Gone By South District Journal 8/12/1998 By Buzz Anderson

Nineteen ninety-six marked an important milestone for one of the area’s oldest churches. Bethlehem Lutheran Church celebrated its 90th year. In reviewing the history of the church, major themes and service stood out. Faith strengthened this congregation causing them to persevere in their desire to build the new church at 3818 S Angeline Street. The congregation has served this community in many ways throughout their history in Columbia City. The German Evangelical Bethlehem Church opened in 1906, with its first services held in a small white church on the corner of 39th Avenue S. and Angeline Street. In 1913 Pastor Paul A. Weiss arrived, serving until 1920. During Pastor Weiss’ years, the name was changed to the German “:Evangelisch Lutherische Bethlehem’s  Germeinde zu Seattle, Washington.” During this period of time the congregation added two English services per month. Later, in 1923, under the leadership of Pastor H. Mau, the congregation agreed to use the English language, while holding one German service. Over the next 20 years the congregation grew in many ways. They had three different pastors and added The Ladies Aid and the Dorcas Sewing group in supporting mission work on Papua, New Guinea. The growth in the 1940s caused regular traffic jams before and after services. The need for a new, larger church building was evident. Sunday school classes were held in every available space. Pastor L. Myron Lindblom led the congregation from 1944 through 1961, years filled with faith, hope for the future, hard work and dedication to the community. A new church is built. The three lots west of the parsonage came up for auction at a tax sale. Pastor Lindblom and a local Attorney bid $346 due on the taxes. The auctioneer told the crowd the property was for church purposes and no one bid against them. Architect W.G. Brust drew up plans from a drawing made by Pastor Lindblom. The 90-member congregation planned to construct the basement, using the basement for all services while raising funds to finish the rest of the building. They had just $4500 in the building fund and a $5000 loan from a couple who attended a church in Puyallup. The ground breaking for the new building took place on an overcast day, February 8th, 1948. Reverend Lindblom, in a 1949 interview, explained why the congregation changed their plans: “Faith did it! We knew that by faith we could go ahead—that funds and materials and labor would come to us.” The funds, materials and labor certainly did come in. The congregation applied to the Lutheran Brotherhood in Minneapolis for a loan of $16,000 toward the building of the church. When the lower half was near completion, the congregation went back to the Lutheran Brotherhood for another $25,000 to build the interior of the church. This time the Brotherhood sent their President and other officials to Columbia City to meet with Pastor Lindblom and the members of the congregation.  A letter written in 1996 by Pastor Lindblom states “The head of the loan department was dead set against any further loans. Our men braced them with the question where is your faith?” In the end the president of L.B spoke and said, “I believe in these people1 Let’s give them the loan.” So the church was completed at less than $80.000 and 20,000 hours of volunteer labor. The new building was dedicated December 4, 1949. In 1954 a new parsonage was built at 4509 S Ferdinand. With the old parsonage providing additional Sunday school space until it was purchased by a member and moved to 43rd Ave S. The church bought two houses west of the church which were torn down in order to build the Education-Chapel-Office building, dedicated November, 1958. The 1960’s brought Pastor Morris V. Dalton, his wife, Floy and their four children to the church. During the spring of 1966 Mrs. Dalton led a group of about 25 women in a crafts class. This group made the stained glass windows out of broken glass bottles and colored glass. The church responded to community needs, holding community meetings in their classrooms, senior citizen’s daily meals in their fellowship hall and the use of other classrooms for office space for nonprofit organizations. A community food bank opened and the Harriat Hessler Memorial Piano teaching program was started. The programs continued under the leadership of Pastor Braafladt and Pastor Coffman. Current Pastor, Rev. Joe; F. Ingebritson is also committed to serving the neighborhood. Thanks to Doris Harshbarger and Pastor Joel Ingebritson for sharing their church’s history with the Rainier Valley Historical Society Days Gone By South District Journal 12/23/1996 By Buzz Anderson

Rainier Valley has seen a lot of traffic revision these last few weeks.  We have many new traffic circles, sidewalks and curbs, thanks to the Seattle Engineering Department. It’s only fitting since the valley is a natural place for a transportation system to be located. Back in the early days, streetcars ran along Rainier Avenue. In 1889, J.K. Edmiston began laying tracks for the Rainier Avenue Electric Railway.  The steep grade of Washington Street required a counterbalance of heavily laden flat cars traveling in a tunnel on tracks beneath the street.  The cars pulled a cable that was gripped by streetcars ascending and descending the hill.  A pneumatic cylinder cushioned the cars at the bottom of the hill.  Tracks traveling down a private right-of-way on Rainier Avenue were laid on trestles and filled, due to the swampy ground. Despite the challenging ground conditions, the railway quickly was built.  It began to serve the community in 1891 with a car leaving Railroad Avenue every 45 minutes.  The tracks ran to 14th Avenue, then traveled southwest along what is now Rainier Avenue South.  Service was initially provided to the edge of the Dunlap property and extended to Rainier Beach in 1891 or 1892. Power for the line was purchased from Union Truck Lines, but the railway company also built its own generating plant, with supplemental power coming from Columbia Mill.  The building of the railway brought many folks out to explore the timberland that was Rainier Valley. Lots for sale Edmiston, also a principal landowner in the area, began to plan Columbia City in 1890 with Percy Rochester and a third man.  Forty acres were logged and cleared between 37th Avenue and 42nd Avenue on the east and west, and Hudson and Alaska Streets on the south and north.  The sale of lots in Columbia City began on April 4, 1891, just four months after the opening of the railway.  Lots sold for $300.  Payments were $10 down and $1 per week for 300 weeks.  The larger lots sold for $750 and required $1.50 per week.  There was no interest charged.  If a land-buyer died before completing his contract payments, his obligations were canceled. The streetcars sported banners advertising the lots for sale, inviting folks to come out and take a look.  Passengers traveling to Columbia City on the railway paid 5 cents to ride from Seattle to Columbia City.  Those going all the way to Rainier Beach paid an additional 5 cents. Residents of Columbia City and visitors from Seattle could connect at Rainier Beach, which joined the railway with the steamer City of Columbia to Bryn Mawr and Renton.  The steamer fare to Renton was 10 cents.  When they arrived at Renton, passengers had to walk 1 ½ miles from the boat landing to the town. A person could pay 25 cents at First Avenue and Washington Street and enjoy a two-hour ride through Rainier Valley, with picturesque water and mountain views. Numerous outdoor opportunities existed along the line. One could stop for boating, fishing or camping at the lakeside, and picnic grounds with free water and wood were available at Rainier Beach. By 1906, the railway boasted of 23 passenger cars as well as freight cars and locomotives. Different Owners Over the years, different men held an interest in the railway company. Frank Osgood purchased it in 1895, paying$14,300 at an auction. He renamed it the Seattle & Rainier Beach Railway. He managed the company profitably for several years, raising its value to $90,000. He sold his interest in the railway to W.R. Crawford in 1907. The railway’s name was changed to Seattle, Renton & Southern Railway. In 1934, a franchise was obtained from Seattle.  The line ran down Fourth Avenue in 1909 and, in 1910, added the first of its Moran steel cars, which could reach 50 miles per hour. The following year was eventful for the company.  Crawford introduced zone fares and was met by passengers who refused to pay or to leave the cars.  He backed down, but the event caused such a stir that the state formed a Public Service Commission to look into the matter. In March 1911, Seattle voters were asked to approve an $800,000 bond issue allowing the city to purchase the railway.  Crawford raised the asking price to $1.2 million, and the city decided to build its own railway. Crawford then refused to accept transfers from the Seattle Electric Co.  Passengers again had the upper hand and made him change his mind and keep accepting the transfers. The company remained in business for many years, adding service down Genesee Street.  As late as 1930, the line allowed students from Mercer Island to ride a boat named Alice – names after the skipper’s wife – to Rainier Beach, where they caught the streetcar to Franklin High School.  The railway company applied to the city for another franchise in 1934, but citizens protested, claiming that the unpaved streetcar tracks that ran between the two lanes of Rainier Avenue were a “thoroughfare of death.”  Evidently, the city had protested the unpaved tracks for 20 years, even though our records only show one fatal accident. On Feb. 10, 1937, the last car returned to the Hudson Street barns, ending 46 years of private streetcar service to Rainier Valley.  The firm was the valley’s largest employer.  Its closing, combined with the Great Depression, hurt nearly everyone in the district.  By summer of that year, however, citizens were celebrating the paving of the center of Rainier Avenue, where the tracks used to lie.  The residents of the valley pulled together and enjoyed a parade featuring Miss Seattle and the community princesses. This article was written by Mary Ann Balch, a South Seattle resident, is a member of the Rainier Valley Historical Society. Title for photo: Car #22 Car #22 at the Kenyon Street turn-around about 1904. Prior to 1900 this car ran in Port Townsend until acquired by the SR&S Ry. Then Mr. Hipkins, their master mechanic and blacksmith, rebuilt it. The sign on the car reads: “Lots $65.00 in Southeast Seattle.” Days Gone By South District Journal 10/23/1996 By Mary Ann Balch

One of Columbia’s most active and civic-minded businessmen was William W. Phalen: grocer, baseball player, and town mayor. Phalen settles in Columbia City in 1901, when he was about 40 years old. His early years prepared him well for the demands of running a business and participating in civic events. At age 21, he left his family’s farm, going to work in a grocery store. He worked in Senator Falls, N.Y., and then in New York City. Evidently, Bill spent some time traveling by railroad. His travels took him to Wentworth, S.D., where he worked for Charles H. Weiss, father of Pierre and Phil Weiss. (The Weiss family also moved to Columbia City in 1905, and they too, were active community members.) Prior to moving to Columbia City, Phalen also played professional baseball for 13 years. In 1895, he played for Mankato, Minn., team, but he also played in New York and South Dakota. He was a grocer during his off-season employment, a necessity in the early days of the game. Community Organizer When Bill came to Columbia he was full of energy, with a vision of the future. Not afraid of asserting himself, Bill organized the volunteer fire department and a baseball team, which he managed for two years. The Rainier Valley Historical Society had a photograph of the fire department, taken in 1906, which shows Pierre Weiss as part of the team. This photo may have been taken as a farewell as Columbia City was about to become annexed into Seattle and the fire department was about to be replaced by Seattle station No. 28, on Rainier Avenue and South Orcas Street. Phalen opened a grocery store, which quickly became the largest in the area. It employed several men on horseback to visit homes and solicit grocery orders. Orders were then delivered by horse-drawn carriages. The store was in the process of changing its name when its picture, which accompanies this column, was taken. The sign above the store reads Reliance General Store, while the carriages’ signs were tagged W.W. Phalen, Your Grocer. The store, at 4863 Rainier Avenue South, was a frame building with an ornate, two-story façade. Phalen had purchased the building shortly after moving here from the East. At the time of purchase, it was known as the Knights of Pythias Hall. The second-floor hall was often the site of community meetings and social gatherings. After a short time, it became known as “Phalen’s Hall.” As Phalen’s grocery business prospered, so did his standing in the community. Elected as mayor in 1905 and 1907, he put up street signs and donated land to Columbia City. It is interesting to note that he ran for mayor in 1906 but was defeated because he opposed an attempt by the Citizens Telephone Co. to obtain a 50-year franchise. He was elected in 1907, on the condition that Columbia City becomes part of Seattle. Town Celebration Phalen served his community. He was chairman of the Rainier Valley Fiesta, an annual town celebration, for its first three years, beginning in 1915. The annual Fiesta was an event to remember: There were bands, booths, parades and rides. One publication at the time estimated the attendance of the first Fiesta to be 20,000 people. Phalen is remembered not only as one on the fairest and most impartial officers ever elected in Columbia City but also as a man who loved people and joyfully celebrated life. He died on a trip to New York City to attend the World Series in 1917. South District Journal 9/25/1996 By Mary Ann Balch This column was compiled from articles printed in past issues of the Rainier Valley Historical Society newsletter. The compiler was Mary Ann Balch, a Southeast Seattle resident and a member of the society.