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Residents of Rainier Valley are blessed with many beautiful parks and green spaces in which to play.  This area was important to Seattle as a recreational area at the turn of the century. The following excerpts from an essay tell a little about our sports history, giving us a feel for what life was like about 100 years ago.  The essay was written in the 1960’s by Bernie Jacobsen, after his retirement from his job as managing editor of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer: “Before 1890 and the birth of Columbia City (with the building of the Rainier Valley, Renton and Southern Railway), there was a dirt road that wound out the valley from the small town of Seattle to the Cricket Club. “The Cricket Clubhouse stood at the edge of a green meadow at what is now the southwest corner of Rainier Avenue (South) and South Charlestown Street.  The Clubhouse was an impressive two-story, gabled-roof structure with a veranda that ran along the full length of the sides that faced south and west. “From the veranda, the club members, seated on wicker chairs, watched the play on the field and cheered the performance of bowlers and batsmen in the game whose beginnings are lost in antiquity.  There must be, somewhere in Seattle, a record of how cricket got its start here and why the whole thing was finally abandoned, leaving a really lovely clubhouse staring out through broken windows at the empty playing field grown up in buttercups and thistles.  It is known,  however,  that Seattle’s First Hill families frowned on “the goings-on” at the Cricket Club and many would not permit their daughters to attend night events and dances at the club.  Perhaps the reason for this attitude lay more in the isolation of the place and the long trip home than anything that occurred at the parties. In any event, by 1912, the club had been abandoned for some years and residents in the area grazed a few milk cows and horses on the meadow-like grounds that extended from what is now (South) Charlestown Street on the north to just beyond (South) Andover (Street) on the south and from Rainier Avenue (South) to 36th Avenue South.  The cricket grounds at that time (1912) were about 15 feet below the level of the Rainier Valley car tracks.  The supermarket, liquor store, restaurant and other buildings now on the site are on a landfill that raised the area to the level of the avenue.  (Columnist’s note:  The site is now occupied by Rainier Plaza). “It was about 1918 when Mr. Mackey, a neighbor who had a beautiful home, a barn, tool shop and workshed at 36th Avenue (South) and South Andover (Street), announced that he had a contract to tear down the old Cricket Club.  He said he would be selling the lumber from it. “This was interesting because it was the first time any of the neighbors had ever known Mr. Mackey to do any work for money.  He kept himself busy with his horses, cow, garden, large yard and workshop. “Using horses and block and tackle, he pulled down  the clubhouse rapidly.  He hired the boys of the neighborhood to pull the hand-forged old square nails from the lumber, which he sold, some to neighbors, some elsewhere.  There was a lot of tongue and groove Port Orford cedar in the wall paneling and some beautiful oak flooring.” MANY CLUB USES That is the end of Jacobsen’s discussion of the Cricket Club.  Other notes from historian Carey Summers indicate that the club also was used for baseball, football, meetings, and dances.  Boaters also used the property, as a creek ran through there from Hillman City on its way to Puget Sound. One can only speculate as to the reason for the lack of interest in the Cricket Club, but it is interesting that the Columbia City Athletic Club, formed in 1909, had baseball and basketball teams sponsored by the Columbia Congregational Church. In 1913, the land for Columbia Playfield was purchased, and the Lakewood Civic Improvement Club built their clubhouse in 1914.  This was a period when Columbia City changed and grew very rapidly, with progress the goal of the day. Jacobsen, the writer of the essay, had lived in Rainier Valley since 1912 and had served as a president of the Pioneers of Columbia City.  The Pioneers met annually from 1891, when the first lots were sold in Columbia City, until 1993, when the organization evolved into the Rainier Valley Historical Society (RVHS).  The Pioneers’ extensive collection of photos and printed material, now known as the Hall Summers Collection, was deeded to RVHS and is available for public viewing during the Society’s office hours. Benefits of membership include quarterly newsletters, volunteer opportunities, and a wonderful time at our annual meetings, held in the tradition of the Pioneers. Days Gone By South District Journal 7/24/1996 By Mary Ann Balch

Several years ago I had the pleasure of listening to a gem of history as I interviewed Ralph Nichols Jr. The history he had to tell was long, detailed and fascinating. As a community, we were lucky to have a man with such clarity of thought and memory, willing to share his experiences of growing up in the Rainier Valley while our community was still young. Most of the interview was about his father, Ralph Nichols Sr., who was one of the valley’s earliest businessmen. From this interview I would like to impart just one of many “long-forgotten gems” re-discovered: The year was 1893. The Stanford University Football Team was barnstorming the country, playing everywhere. (Barnstorming in 1893 meant getting on a train and traveling for three days before you had a decent meal.) The location of this particular game was the University of Washington campus, and they were playing on university land that now comprises downtown Seattle. The setting is the University’s first major collegiate football game. Ralph Nichols Sr. was the student manager for the university’s football team and had arranged this first time meeting with a major out of state school. Back then the student manager also played the game on the field. It was a tough game. The UW lost to Stanford 40 – 0. After the game, Stanford’s student manager came over to talk with Nichols. Stanford’s student- manager wanted him to know that, despite the loss, Nichols had proven himself well. He asked him to leave the University of Washington and play football for Stanford. He made the offer more appealing by pointing out that there might even be a job waiting tables to help pay for tuition. Ralph turned down the offer with the simple reply, he was “going to school to get an education, not to play football.” Ralph was in the first class to graduate from the university’s present location in the North end. He was involved in campus activities and school politics. Later he had the Rainier Fuel Co. on Edmunds Street in Columbia City with a branch at Rainier Beach. He was also Columbia City’s attorney. He built a steam plant for the apartment building he built on  Angeline St. and extended the pipeline to the Masonic Lodge building, The Heater Glove Co., and across Rainier Avenue to his own and two other houses. He was drafted to run for mayor of Seattle by the Seattle Star and although he didn’t want the job and didn’t campaign, he won. He hated corruption in government and when the mayor left town for a trip east, he appointed Ralph as the acting mayor. As soon as the mayor left town Ralph fired the police chief who was noted for running a corrupt department. When the mayor returned he hired him back. “What happened to the student manager from Stanford?” you ask. Well, the two of them kept in touch for years after and he invited Ralph to Washington D.C. for his inauguration as the 30th  president of the United States. His name was Herbert Hoover. Days Gone By South District Journal 1/18/1995 By Buzz Anderson