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This was the sweetest place in Columbia City in the 1920’s and ‘30s. It was a regular stop for all the school kids on their way to and from Columbia Grade School. Standing in the entrance is Nick and Mrs. Vamkros, owners of the Columbia Confectionery. One of the main attractions of his store at 4867 Rainier Avenue occurred every Saturday morning. It was the day Nick made his famous peanut brittle and all the kids, and some adults with a sweet tooth, came by to watch and savor the aroma emitting from his shop. He made other kinds of candy including chocolates which you can see on the trays displayed on the two lower shelves in the front window. Notice the popcorn machine moved out onto the wood planked sidewalk to attract customers. The sign at the lower right offers “Ice Cream To Take Home” and the upper windows advertise Henry the Fourth and Chancellor Cigars. The small vending machine to Nick’s left, attached to the door casing reads “Pulver Chewing Gum” and to entice passers-by, is the slogan “One Cent Delivers a Tasty Chew”. Below, to Nick’s left, is their “paper vending” chair with the twisted and curved wire back that holds copies of that morning’s Seattle Post Intelligencer. The white vending machine at the far right, attached to the building, pronounces in vertical letters, “Wrigley's Spearmint”. My fondest memory of Nick’s Confectionery was in the ‘30s when he had “grab bags” for sale. I can remember stopping at Nick’s every day on my way home from school and purchasing, for a nickel, one of his grab bags. If I didn’t have a nickel, I would scrounge up some milk bottles and trade them in for the treat. Not knowing what was going to be in those white paper bags was the fun part, but it always contained some of his homemade candy and sometimes a really neat toy. Nick was a great salmon fisherman. He would be out on the Sound every chance he had. That was in the days of the Seattle Times Salmon Derby and Elliot Bay would be jammed with boats, mostly rentals from the several marinas along the shores. One of his favorite fishing spots however was on Camano Island, a little over 70 miles north of Seattle. He would leave his home on the corner of 45th and Dawson, across the street from Whitworth School, and drive up to Camano and like most people in those days, rent a cabin and a 16 foot Reinell outboard boat and motor. In those days you always caught salmon. It was just a question of how big and how many. He usually rented a cabin at Camp Lagoon resort on the Northwest side of the island. That was only about two blocks from a group of about twelve summer cabins built by residents of Rainier Valley’s Columbia City area. In a previous article I mentioned that group of cabin owners and the unofficial, but functional, post office address they had, Columbia City #2. I knew Nick quite well and ironically my wife and I purchased one of the remodeled Camp Lagoon cabins in1978. My grandparents, Will and Edith Brown, had sold their Columbia City #2 cabin about 1955 that they had built in 1927. My fond memories of spending my summers there enticed my wife and I to again have a cabin on that stretch of beach. I wonder how many times Nick had stayed in that same cabin which we enjoy today. Unfortunately there are no salmon left to catch, but the crabs and clams are plentiful. Confectionery stores were popular in the early days. Pierre Weiss had one next door at 4871 Rainier Avenue in 1911 that included sporting goods along with the usual fare. Ulysses S. Tibbetts and his wife Mary had a confectionery at the same location as Nick’s, also in 1911, according to the King County Directory. Others at that same location were Fraker’s Confectionery and M. Paul’s Confectionery, date unknown. Later at that same location there were several drug stores including Otto Richardson’s Drug Store that later moved to Hillman, Rainier Drug Store and Elmo’s Drug Store. The one thing I remember was they had a soda fountain and I was a regular customer always ordering either a green river or a vanilla malt. Today the Wellington Tearoom is at that location. Owner Gwyn Baker has also just opened a second location in West Seattle. Seattle Magazine focused on the Wellington in an article on Columbia City, and Gwyn was featured in a national coffee and tea magazine and both the Seattle Weekly and the Seattle Times had articles about the Wellington. They are now offering weekend brunches. The Wellington is yet another example of the positive things that are happening in Rainier Valley and particularly Columbia City. Days Gone By South District Journal 11/3/1999 By Buzz Anderson

The location of the grading in progress was on Orcas Street in Hillman City, almost a block west of Rainier Avenue in front of St. Edwards Catholic Church. The photo of the grading project was donated to the Pioneers of Columbia City by Mona and Hugo Sobottka, possibly in 1955, as it was that year the two of them shared the presidency of the Pioneers of Columbia City, the predecessor of the Rainier Valley Historical Society. Hugo Sobottka’s parents built their family home in 1907 on the southeast corner of Orcas Street and 42nd Avenue. This grading project would come up to the front of their house and around the corner, leaving their house and lot about four feet higher than the street that was about to be put in. In the photo the neighbors are looking over the grading equipment after working hours. One of the neighbors is at the controls, pretending to be the operator. The boys in the photo, one standing on the bucket while the other is leaning against it, are the Sobottka’s two sons, Hugo and Herb. Hugo, on the left, was born in 1900 and looks about ten in this photo which helps to date the photo at about 1910. The photo was probably shot from the north side of Orcas Street a little over half way up the block as the old St. Edwards Church can be seen in the photo to the right. The cables coming down from the overhead boom and attached to the bucket indicates it was a drag-line excavating project. The bucket was dropped from the end of the boom and scooped up the dirt as it was drawn toward the machine. Like most machinery in those days it was powered by steam. At the lower left in the photo you can see the steel railroad type wheel on a steel rail supported underneath by wood ties. This temporary rail line supported the machine and was extended forward as the work progressed. This machine was used on many street-grading projects in the valley and the streetcar tracks were used to transport it from one job to the other. A spur would be put in the main line at the site of a new project and the tracks were laid as the grading progressed up the hill. On the lower right of the photo notice the 3 to 4 foot high bank that has resulted from the grading. If you look at many of the streets in the Valley where there is a steep slope, the grading that was done is apparent. A cement block retaining wall next to the sidewalk is very common on the hilly streets and many times there is a steep bank above the retaining wall. Another street that was graded is Hudson Street, east of Rainier Avenue, where some of the homes were 15 feet above the finished road. The accompanying photo was taken during this 1911grading project at 39th and Hudson, using the same machine as on the Orcas project. The machine is turned sideways on the track, showing the boom in operation with smoke or steam coming out of the stack. Mona Sobottka died last August at the age of 91. She was very active in community affairs, was a “lifetime flower show judge” and worked for 23 years at Grayson & Brown Hardware and Furniture in Columbia City as, among other things, an interior decorator. In her early years she was valedictorian for the first graduation class at Garfield High School. She turned down a scholarship in business administration at the University of Washington as she wanted to pursue her dream of being an artist. She took a job at Frederick and Nelson where she met her future husband, fellow employee Hugo. They were married and moved into the Sobottka family home on Orcas Street where they raised two sons, Hugh and Tom. Hugo worked for R.H. Brown Co. for most of his career. He died in 1972. Mona and Hugo were approached by the church about buying their property and they agreed to sell. It is now the site of the new St. Edwards Church. More grading was done on the lot when the house was removed as the entry to the Church is now level with the street and sidewalk.

Bill Phalen was an organizer. He was also a professional baseball player, a politician (Columbia City's mayor), and he started Columbia City's first volunteer fire company, organized a baseball team and he owned and operated one of Rainier Valley's largest stores. Bill came to Seattle in 1903 from the mid-west and settled in Columbia City, purchasing the two-story Knights of Pythias building that had been constructed in 1892. He had experience in the grocery business in the east and established himself in the same business in Columbia City with the Reliance General Store, located in the building he purchased. He changed the company's name to Phalen's Grocery as on the truck sign, however the sign on the building above the truck states, W. W. Phalen, your Grocer. He probably didn't have space for all those letters on the truck sign. The upper floor was a meeting hall used by a variety of organizations for meetings, social gatherings and dances and came to be known as Phalen's Hall. He organized and was chairman of the first Rainier Valley Fiesta in 1915. The truck in the accompanying photo was Bill's entry in the parade. He was promoting his grocery business by having his employees as passengers with a sign stating "The Bunch That Deliver the Goods." The truck had solid rubber tires and a chain drive as transmissions were yet to be developed. A canopy, and what appears to be side curtains, covered the truck bed. Ten of Bill's employees were riding with him in the truck. Bill Phalen, with the mustache, is seated to the right, behind the driver. Behind him are three ladies with their large fancy hats that were stylish at the time. Two of the ladies were the Curtis sisters. For this photo the truck was headed north on Rainier Avenue standing in front of their store. The first floor of the building exists today and houses the Tropicana Restaurant. A fire in 1941 that started in a closet of the Columbia Bakery on the first floor, destroyed the second floor of the building. The dance floor was only scorched so rather than rebuild they just added a roof. We have one of the 20 page Official Programs from the 1915 Fiesta in our archives. Hidden between all of the advertising that covered every page is a listing of the Fiesta's events. To give you a feel for what the Rainier Valley Fiesta of 1915 was all about, a description of some of the events is listed here. The celebration started at two p.m. on a Sunday afternoon in July with one of the Rainier Valley streetcars, carrying a Calithumpian Band, traveling between downtown Seattle and Renton. They were promoting the Fiesta that was about to start in Columbia City and would continue until late into the evening. Children's activities were from 2 to 4 p.m. featuring a Punch and Judy Show, pony riding, merry-go-round and sports competition with prizes. Cavanaugh's Band played from 3 to 6 p.m. Following the printed announcements of these events listed in the program, a statement relevant to the performers was usually included. For this musical group the message was: "Let joyfull, weird and soothing music sounds cause all forgetfulness of care." During the dinner hour intermission the booths were open and people were encouraged to visit them as "Mr. Gardner has arranged many attractive ones." The Calithumpian Parade consisting of bands, floats, horses and people started at 7:30 p.m. at Edmunds Street, proceeded to Kenney Street and returned to Columbia City. ("Calithumpian" is not in the dictionary. Does anybody have a clue as to what it means?) After the parade, there was music by the Lakewood Choral Club. At 8:45 p.m. there were selections by the Eagle Band, followed by the Tillikum Drum Corps. Then a Drill by the Eagle & Redman Drill teams. The reception of Seattle's mayor, H. C. Gill was next. The program comment was "The Mayor is with us. Give him a goodly reception." At 10:00 p.m. a fireworks display was presented by Columbia City's own "Hitt Brothers Fireworks Co." The comment for this announcement was "Hitt Fireworks Co., are known all over the United States. We are fortunate in having this great and original attraction. ( H. Bruskevith, provided for the excellent night display.)" This was followed by a showing of Lantern Slides by Rev. R. D. Nichols. The program stated "Be sure and see the lantern slides. They will interest and edify your understanding." The last event on the program, at 10:45 p.m., was the Street Dancing. "Dance, and the winds of the night dance with you." And the final comment in the program was "From this time on, let all the citizens within the limits of this place, amalgamate as one." The Columbia City Fiestas continued for two additional years and the streets were crowded with people from all over Seattle. Unfortunately, Bill Phalen died of a heart attack in 1917 while in New York attending the baseball World Series. That year, 1917, was also the final year of the Rainier Valley Fiestas. Days Gone By South District Journal 10/13/1999 By Buzz Anderson The Rainier Valley Historical Society's office and museum are located at 3515 S. Alaska Street just West of Rainier Avenue, in the Rainier Valley Cultural Center building.  Stop by and see our displays of Rainier Valley's unique history.

The above photograph was one of four donated to the Historical Society last year that contained an image of the second Brighton School. This one shows Rainier Avenue in the foreground with Brighton school in the distance.  The school building was built in 1905 and as the building appears new in the photos, it establishes the approximate date of the photos. The original Brighton School was completed in January of 1901 and was located at 51st and Graham Street.  It was a one-room school for grades one through three and used until the new Brighton was built.  It is now the site of the Graham Hill School. The new Brighton School on Holly Street was partially destroyed by a fire in 1946 and was replaced by the present brick building. I decided to write this article about the Brighton community because the 124 unit Brighton Place apartments has just been purchased by the Southeast Seattle Senior Foundation and renamed "The Brighton". The dedication is scheduled for September 30th.  (See article in this issue of SDJ.)  I didn't know as much as I should about the Brighton Community so I did some research. Printed on the lower left corner of the photo is "#280 at Brighton".  I don't know what the significance is of the #280 but I thought the "Brighton" would indicate it was Brighton Street, right?  Wrong!  The photo was taken on Holly Street looking west, across Rainier Avenue. Brighton Street is one block south between Holly and Willow but it does not cross Rainier Avenue.  It dead-ends on the West Side of the Brighton School property and then continues on the East Side of the school toward Rainier Avenue.  It then dead-ends a little less than a block from Rainier.  Coming from the lake on the eastside of Rainier, it dead-ends at 51st Avenue S. next to the former Brighton Presbyterian Church. When the contractor and former owner, John Conners built the Brighton Place apartments in the late '60s he had Brighton Street vacated.  It is interesting to note that "The Brighton" is situated exactly where Brighten Street used to be.  I think everyone will agree that keeping the Brighton name was an appropriately decision. I looked at the 1920's Seattle plat map we have that shows all the streets and every lot.  It showed Holly Street on the north and the next street to the south was Willow Street.  Brighton Street was not even listed.  It must have been added later when the lots in the area were platted. I next checked our Polk, King County Directory of 1911-12.  The community listed under Brighton had the following description: Also called Brighton Beach.  A station on the S. R. & S. Electric Ry. and Lake Washington, within the (Seattle) city limits, 5 miles south of Pioneer Place.  (It had)  Telephone connections.  Mrs. Mary E Knapp P M. (postmaster). It listed eleven businesses and the mix of those businesses tells us some interesting things about the community.  Boyle & Kelley, real estate;  Emil Carl, fuel; Ernest Hadlock, grocer;  Thos H (Mary) McGrath, grocer & feed;  Cepha C (Fannie) Morrison, cigars and confectionery." There was an interesting thing about the remaining six businesses.  They were all in the floral business.  Frank Bell, florist; A. E. Buxton, carnation grower, Tel Beacon 826; Clarence E McCoy, florist; Aug D Risdon, florist; J A (Ida) Sahli, nurseryman and florist, Tel Beacon 966;  & H B Slauson, florist.  Truly a gardening community. Notice the sidewalk on the left side of Holly Street that goes from Rainier Avenue all the way to the school.  It has a fence on the left side and is partially elevated over what appears to be a garden area.  My guess would be flowers.  I suggest that the fence could have been installed to keep the school kids out of the flowerbeds on their way to and from the school and the streetcar line. That area was quite swampy in those early days and the school probably installed the sidewalk to keep them out of what must have been a very muddy street. The buildings in the photo of the intersection of Rainier and Holly probably house some of those businesses listed in the directory.  That will call for more research at a later date to identify them. Just beyond the porch of the building to the right, you can see the top of the streetcar line's, Brighton Beach Station.  There appears to be a man waiting for the S.R.& S. Ry. streetcar on the platform next to the tracks. The corner property across Rainier Avenue with the white storefront and the double doors is now the site of the Arches Apartment designed by local architect, Ken Koehler.  He was also the architect for The Brighton apartment building.  And John Conners who built The Brighton also built the Arches Apartment. Norm and Barbara Chamberlain own the Arches and Norm told me the white store building with the double doors is still there.  The Arches building was built around it and it became part of the apartment complex.  Interesting things come to light when you start investigating the area's history. Across Holly Street, the building on the left is now the location of the S. E. Seattle Senior Center.  "The Brighton" is located just to the left of it, bringing the dream of a Senior Campus closer to reality. Many thanks to the dedicated people from our community that worked all year to put together the financing for the purchase of The Brighton, the only senior retirement apartment complex in Southeast Seattle. Days Gone By South District Journal 9/29/1999 By Buzz Anderson

The date was April 30, 1910 when a runaway coal car hit streetcar #102 on the "Seattle, Renton & Southern Ry." streetcar line.  Two passengers were killed and twenty were injured. The accident occurred on Rainier Avenue at Willow Street. The power apparently failed and the shop-built locomotive pulling the coal car had no emergency braking system to cover such an emergency. The locomotive was used for hauling freight cars, especially coal, as it was doing when the collision occurred. There were fuel yards scattered throughout the Rainier Valley in those early days as everyone used either coal or wood to cook with and heat their homes. The locomotive picked up carloads of coal, probably at Newcastle and delivered it to the fuel yards that in turn delivered it to their customer's homes by horse and wagon. On arrival at the home the coal was shoveled into a big steel buckets about the size of a garbage can as the horses waited patiently and the local kids came by to watch. When full of coal, the workman, with a thick pad on his back, would put his back against the heavy bucket that was sitting on the bed of the wagon, grip the bucket at the top, lean forward to take the weight, and head toward the customers house. He would have to go upstairs and downstairs, sometimes for long distances, before dumping it down the coal chute into the coal bin, usually in the basement. Then back for another load. The locomotive was also used as a repair car for maintenance on the rail line between Renton and Pine Street in downtown Seattle.  Louis Hipkins, the master mechanic and blacksmith built the locomotive at the company car barns on Rainier Avenue at Hudson Street. He was known as "Pa Hip" to all his friends and fellow employees. He worked for the car line, building and repairing the cars for 50 years. When the car line changed ownership, which it did many times, the new owners insisted he remain with the company before the sale was finalized. In 1937, when the line closed down and the city busses replaced the streetcars, he retired. He and his wife moved to their cabin on Camano Island where about ten Columbia City residents also had summer homes. The post office address for their "little community" was what else but "Columbia City #2, Camano Island". Streetcar #102 was new, having been in service only about a month, when the accident happened. It was one of eight larger steel cars, with two doors, built for the Rainier Valley line by the Moran Shipyard Company here in Seattle. After the accident, it was repaired and returned to service as car #109. The original cars they replaced were built of wood. According to some of the old timers in the valley, but not able to be verified, the motorman of the doomed car #102 escaped injury by diving out of the window. Also a woman passenger wouldn't get off, as she was concerned her transfer might not get her on another streetcar. The accident attracted a sizable crowd as evidenced by the photo. Everyone seems to be dressed up including the boys in the center of the photograph, particularly the one in knickers, suit coat, tie and a pork pie hat. Their attire suggested they might be going to Sunday School. Also notice the long shadows indicating it is early morning. The date was written on the back of the original photo, April 30, 1910,  so I looked up that date on a perpetual calendar and sure enough, it was on a Sunday. Days Gone By South District Journal 9/8/99 By Buzz Anderson

Smith M. Wilson started in the dairy business on Beacon Hill in 1916. There were many small dairy farms throughout the sparsely settled Rainier Valley in those times and he was one of the successful ones. He soon relocated his business to Columbia City at 4922 Rainier Avenue, on the Northeast corner of Rainier and Hudson Street. The building he moved into about 1922 had a variety of businesses preceding him. It started about 1908 with the Columbia Undertaking Company, next came the W. A. Copeland Painting and Paperhanging Company, and then C.R. Hepler Real Estate, who also sold wood and coal. After the Rainier Dairy occupied the site, it became Pat's and Jeff's Meals and Card Room. Following that it was a popular Ice Cream Parlor for several years until it became the Christian Science Reading Room in the '50s. Now it is being remodeled into an Italian Deli and restaurant. The photo above shows Smith Wilson's business and delivery truck at 4922 Rainier Avenue. He is the man on the right leaning against the fireplug. His business thrived and he soon needed a larger building. His new, modern facility was at a new location just north of Genesee Street on Rainier Avenue at Adams Street. He had eleven delivery trucks at the new location. The Rainier Valley Dairy was noted for the high quality of their milk products they delivered throughout the Valley. This was indicated by the U.S. Department of Agriculture Report of September 30, 1927. They had a rating of 97.66, which was the highest of the 26 dairies tested in the Seattle area. In 1929 he merged with the Kristoferson Dairy, that was located just south of Dearborn Street on Rainier Avenue. Alfred Kristoferson had started his dairy business in 1898 by rowing across Lake Washington with three, one gallon milk cans and a quart measure. He then set forth on foot for his morning rounds. Smith Wilson, as part of the merger agreement, became an employee of the Kristoferson Company. No position was created for him so he left the company, sued them, and won a settlement. He then decided to run for Seattle Port Commissioner. His platform promised efficient government and he demanded honesty. He promised he would place the interests of the public above politics, personalities and special interests. He was elected in 1932, served almost three terms and kept his promises. During his term as Port Commissioner he acquired and managed the University Dairy on University Way. He died of a heart attack while at work at the Dairy in 1942 at the age of 49. The  Smith Wilson home was on the corner of 39th Avenue and Americus Street just north of Columbia City, on the hill overlooking the Rainier Playfield.  Every Christmas he would decorate, with lights, the large holly tree in his front yard. It became a tradition in the neighborhood before lighting outdoor trees became so popular. For the people driving south on Rainier Avenue, the tree became a landmark and its presence was anticipated every Christmas by the whole community. The Seattle Times gave awards for the best decorated trees in the city and he was a consistent first place winner. His daughter Donna, now living in Snohomish, donated family photos and printed material and also met with us for an oral history interview. The information we obtained was added to the Rainier Valley Historical Society archives and was the basis for this article. Days Gone By South District Journal 8/18/1999 By Buzz Anderson

Taylor's Mill shown in the photo was located on Lake Washington, one mile south of Rainier Beach near the present Seattle City limits.  Sanford Taylor's first mill was also on Lake Washington but further north at the base of a bluff near Leschi. Conveyor belts connected the mill with planing mills at the top of the bluff. About 1901 heavy rains caused the bluff to slide and severely damaged the operation.  Taylor loaded their machinery onto a barge and moved south, setting up the mill shown in the picture. The business was also known as the Rainier Beach Lumber Co. The workers at the mill formed a small community the post office designated as "Tamil." Although the town was never incorporated, "Tamil" appeared in the 1911-12 Polk Directory. The names of all the residents appeared in the directory and it listed their job descriptions at the mill. The mill employed about 100 workers but only 78 were listed in the directory.  The others that didn't live there probably commuted on the streetcar line's special car that showed the name "Taylor's Mill Express" on the front. The only name in the directory not associated with the mill was the branch post office clerk listed as "M. R. Metcalf, clerk in charge." The building now on the corner of 68th and Rainier was originally the town's grocery store with apartments above. It is presently the '"Lakeside Tavern" with one side of their sign turned upside down.  Just south of the grocery store the mill had built some bunkhouses for the workers. When the mill first opened, Rainier Avenue had not been constructed beyond Rainier Beach Station. Lumber was delivered by railcars on the streetcar line either south to Renton or north to Seattle. Lumber delivered locally to the many homes that were being built, was hauled on a wagon pulled by a team of horses. The only road in and out of the mill went south along 68th Avenue and followed Taylor Creek, also known as Dead Horse Creek. The area, still thickly wooded, is now known as Lakeridge Park. The road made an abrupt right turn, climbed the steep hill now named Holyoke Street up to Waters Avenue and then on to deliver the lumber to the location of the new house being constructed. At that time however, and still referred to by some, it was known as the "Dead Horse Canyon" road. It was necessary to add a second team of horses to the lumber wagon to climb the hill and it was rumored that one of the teams went off the road, killing one of the horses. This explains the name "Dead Horse." When the mill first started operating, their supply of logs came mostly from the heavily wooded Skyway area. The trees were very large, mostly Douglas Fir. To get them to the mill a chute was constructed from the top of the hill, over the streetcar tracks, and down to the mill. In an Interview with Mort Taylor, now hale and hearty at the age of 100, he said several relatives worked at the mill. His uncle Bill was a logger, uncle Dave operated the boom, his dad was foreman and one of the girls in the family ran the mill restaurant. The pay for loading lumber was 22 cents an hour. At the left in the photo Mort, as a young boy, is holding the hand of his dad with his sister at his right. The Hitt Fireworks Company located in Columbia City just after the turn of the century is the subject of the current display at the Rainier Valley Historical Society's office. It is a fascinating story of the Hitt family and their small company that made it big in the fireworks manufacturing business and became famous worldwide. Days Gone By South District Journal 6/2/1999 By Buzz Anderson

In this early Rainier Valley photo, taken about 1905, car number 20 of the "Seattle & Renton RY" pauses at Rainier Beach Station which today is the intersection of Rainier Avenue S. and 57th Avenue S. On the left of the photo is O'Harra's Grocery Store and Boat House. The lake, visible in the foreground, almost came up to the streetcar tracks. The lake was lowered 9 feet twelve years later in 1917, when the locks were built in Ballard. However at the time this photo was made the lake covered all of the land that is now the site of Rainier Beach High School and their athletic field, and the new QFC store parking lot. The post office referred to Rainier Beach station as "Montera." According to the Polk Directory of 1910, there were 25 listed residents, the main store was the Rainier Beach Mercantile Co. whose address was " 57th Avenue S. corner Rainier Blvd.", as Rainier Avenue was named at that time. Two physicians were listed as residents, one being Dr. Jos L. Hutchinson,  father of Fred and Dr. Bill Hutchinson. The car line continued past Rainier Beach Station, through a cut in the bank, on its way along the lakeshore to Renton. The next stop would be Taylor's Mill at what is now 68th Avenue South. The road and sidewalk that paralleled the streetcar line as it approached Rainier Beach Station, is not visible as it turned south, up the hill to the right. The hill was too steep for the streetcars so after several years, a shuttle bus was provided by the streetcar line to transport riders up and down the hill. It was several years before Rainier Avenue was extended along the lakeshore, just above the streetcar tracks, to Renton. Close to Oharra's Boathouse was the landing dock for the steamship "Haas." It was a passenger launch that ferried people across the lake to Kennydale and back. The skipper was  Mr. H. J. Patterson. To get to Renton, passengers from Seattle would depart the streetcar at Rainier Beach, take the ferry to Kennydale and then walk about 2 miles to Renton. School children living on the eastside of the lake would take this route daily to attend the schools in Rainier Valley. The ferry also served the few people who lived on the south end of Mercer Island, stopping on occasion when the residents needed to get to the mainland. Rail service to Rainier Beach started in March of 1891. Track laying for the Rainier Valley line began in January of 1889 at Railroad Avenue and Washington Street on Seattle's waterfront. The streetcars climbed the steep grade of Washington Street with the aid of a counterbalance. Later, regrading would eliminate the need for the counterbalance. The cars then turned south on the route that several years later would become Rainier Avenue. Until Rainier Avenue was put in, if you didn't take the streetcar, there was a muddy trail that went up and over Beacon Hill and into Seattle. The end of the line at Rainier Beach quickly became a popular picnic spot for the people of Rainier Valley. They could get aboard anywhere along Rainier Avenue, perhaps with their blanket and picnic basket, and depart at the end of the line for a day of swimming, fishing or relaxing on the beach. The fare for the streetcar ride was 4 cents per person, each way. Days Gone By South District Journal 5/19/1999 By Buzz Anderson

The members of the Modern Woodmen of America drill team are standing at attention, axes in hand, posing for the photographer. They are apparently participants in a parade on Rainier Avenue in Columbia City as behind them is what appears to be a parade float pulled by a team of 8 horses. The float carries four ladies dressed in long, white dresses, an older gentleman wearing a rain coat, probably an official of the organization, and the driver with reins in hand. The float is decorated using standing evergreen trees with boughs decorating the edges. They are in the northbound, wood-planked lanes of Rainier Avenue next to the streetcar tracks. This interesting photo, taken in 1909, is from the archives of the Rainier Valley Historical Society and was inherited from our predecessor organization, the Pioneers of Columbia City. In order to describe the photo, I had to do some research to learn about the MWA organization. The Modern Woodmen of America was founded by Joseph Root in Lyons, Iowa, when he heard a sermon on a Sunday morning about "the pioneer woodmen clearing the forest to provide for their families." He considered it to be a symbolic message that a new organization could clear away the problems of financial security for the member's families. And so on January 5th, 1883, Root organized a fraternal benefit society. The question of setting up a reserve fund came up in 1897 and it took twenty years before the members finally voted to set it up. Today the MWA is indeed a legal reserve fraternal life insurance society incorporated in the state of Illinois. The ritual which Root prepared for the members meetings had a "strange mixture of Roman dignity and forest freedom…" He also prepared a separate ritual for the ladies circle. The ritual was, of course, secret. Their emblem consisted of the axe, beetle, wedge, five stars, and branches of palm, all displayed on a shield. The order's motto was (still is) Esto Perpetua. 'The society always has had a fair amount of benevolence work under its supervision, most of the work done on the local level. For example, an orphan benefit plan provides for monthly income and makes scholarships available to young people of the MWA, as part of the society's insurance scheme. In 1979 there were approximately 500,000 members, an increase over the previous ten years. In the photo, the brick building in the background housed the Record Publishing Co., publisher of Columbia City's newspaper, " The Record."  The building had been built two years before by D.W. "Will" Brown and had apartments and doctors offices on the second floor. Shortly after this photo was taken, an explosion and fire in the kerosene driven press fatally injured the editor. His wife moved the operation to another location outside the valley and Mr. Grayson moved his hardware and furniture business into Will Brown's building. He and his brother, Doc, had been operating their business since 1904 at 4854 Rainier Avenue in the Toby building shown at the far left in the photo. Will Brown, my grandfather, was superintendent of the Seattle, Renton and Southern streetcar line when it went bankrupt in 1916 so he joined with Mr. Grayson and formed the partnership of Grayson & Brown Hardware & Furniture Co. In 1939 they sold their partnership to my dad, Arthur Anderson and Henry Peterson. Then in 1962 my dad bought out Henry Peterson and I became a partner with my dad. It was a well known institution in the Valley until 1984.  At that time the building was sold and is now the Saver Furniture Co. The Grayson & Brown corporation is still in operation, however, operated by Buzz Anderson, selling and installing window covering from his home office. He hopes to celebrate the firm's 100th anniversary in the year 2004. Information on the MWA was obtained from the Greenwood Encyclopedia of American Institutions. The Rainier Valley Historical Society has established an endowment fund to provide future funding for a paid director, assuring that Rainier Valley's unique history will be preserved for future generations. Days Gone By South District Journal 4/7/1999 By Buzz Anderson

The female high school athletes are closing out basketball season and looking toward the track and softball teams gearing up for spring. As we see our children of today in their slick name brand uniforms and state of the art engineered shoes we may consider the cost of progress, at least the cost in our wallets. In days past uniforms were sensible, a sign of the times. Female athletes were to reflect the modesty of their sex while getting their exercise in sporting events. In the years from 1917-1921 the girls at Franklin High School were proud to display their school spirit, posing here in front of the building in their athletic uniforms. These two are wearing the sensible long black stockings which were the style of the time and also required. The stockings may have been warm, but look at the outfit! The regulation outfit was a square neck belted blouse attached to a pair of bloomers designed to camouflage the shapely figure of the young athlete. Running down the court would have been a something less than a swoosh, but these women were every bit as dedicated to their sport as our women of today. Girls played basketball, indoor baseball and volleyball. After the game the girls would undoubtedly redo their ever popular hair buns, back combed as much as mother would allow, and look for the popular boy who drove a flivver and could deliver them home by way of the lake route. The flivver was a cheap automobile, with side curtains that fluttered in the breeze on warm spring days. Youngsters not able to ride with friends in the flivver would possibly travel by way of the jitney. These private cars functioned as busses, offering riders a lift for five cents. These entrepreneurs posed strong competition for the slower, mundane streetcars which provided mass transit for the rest of the crowd. Charlotte Widrig, shown here on the right with her friend and fellow athlete Virginia Ulurich, was not allowed to ride the jitney, go horseback riding or canoeing. Evidently her mother classed these as dangerous and therefore forbidden activities. Other events recalled by Charlotte include an influenza epidemic which caused the school to be closed for 28 days, nearly one-sixth of the school year. After school reopened "flu masks" were required on public transportation. She remembers an incident when a burly shipyard worker was ejected from his seat and from the streetcar for not wearing his mask. The other unscheduled holiday was an afternoon to remember. Aviation was the new technology of the day, and a formation of 16 airplanes was performing a flight demonstration over Seattle. Teachers, eager to let their classes see history in the making allowed students to be dismissed to the roof of the school, in order to get a perfect view. The ability to congregate on the roof impressed the students as much as the demonstration did. The thunderous roar of the planes overhead seemed a novelty then. Only dreamers in the crowd would venture to think that they themselves could ride in or pilot such a contraption. This event foreshadowed the neighborhood's welcome for the jet pilots of the Blue Angels in years to come. Youth of today recall the thunder of the jets much in the same way Charlotte described the demonstration of her day. History really is similar to today if we can pause long enough to attempt to find connections and listen to the stories of the past. If you are interested in local history or have a story to share contact Rainier Valley Historical Society. Days Gone By South District Journal 3/24/1999 By Mary Ann Balch

Dances, masquerades and a rose show were among its first-year events. The Mount Baker Clubhouse is 85 years old this year. (1999). The facility, at 2811 Mount Rainier Dr S., still serves the purpose for which it was built, as a place for meetings and social events in this closely knit community. Completed in 1914, the clubhouse was home to the Mount Baker Social Club. Activities held at the facility in its first year included formal balls, informal dances, masquerades and “Auction Bridge,” as well as an annual rose show. A well remembered activity of later years was the dance for Franklin High School students, held every  Friday evening during the 1940s. Chaperoned by the elderly Mrs. Dose, smoking and drinking were not allowed. Though small in stature, Mrs. Dose had a reputation for ejecting anyone who didn’t follow the rules. Those who chose to toe; the line had a good time. In the first decade of this century, when the Mount Baker neighborhood was being developed, it was named Mount Baker Park. Its attraction today is based on the park-like layouts of its streets and the mature plantings around its attractive houses. These features are no accident, as the neighborhood plan was designed by the Olmstead Brothers, the premier landscape designers of their day. A 11914 booklet advertising the neighborhood states that building restrictions prevent the construction of “cheap” houses, apartment buildings and undesirable business structures.” The booklet describes the Mount Baker Improvement Club, which was established to beautify the neighborhood and encourage homeowners to beautify their property. The booklet ends with a list of the roses that grow well in the Northwest and how to cultivate them. The park at the community’s center has been recently re-landscaped and provides a lovely meander from South McClellan Street north to Lake Washington. The tennis courts, drinking fountains, restroom structure, beach, bathhouse and dock all are part of the original Olmstead design. The Mount Baker Clubhouse burned a little over a decade ago and was rebuilt after a well-orchestrated community fund-raising effort. It was rebuilt in the original style, and the fund-raising campaign echoes the community fundraising done to accomplish its construction the first time around. A well-loved event in the early years of Mount Baker Park was the New Year’s Men’s Day. All of the “Mixers, Good Fellows and Boosters” inn the neighborhoods would assemble at the Clubhouse at 10 a.m. Wearing top hats and dress clothes, they strolled down the streets wishing the neighborhood a happy new year. Perhaps there should be a return of this event for those looking for an unusual way to celebrate this year’s Millennial New Year's Day. Marina King is a member of the Rainier Valley Historical Society. Days Gone By South District Journal 3/10/1999 By Marina King

This photograph shows Dugdale Baseball Park at Rainier Avenue and McClellan Street, home of the Seattle Indians of the Pacific Coast League. The stadium was built in 1913 and from 1919 to 1932 it was the home of the Seattle Indians. It was named after turn-of-the-century Seattle ball player Dan Dugdale who had the distinction of having two baseball fields named after him. The photo was taken on July 6, 1915 from a point on Rainier Avenue, 100 feet north of Lander Street looking south. Notice the wood-plank paving of Rainier Avenue on the right. Most of Rainier Avenue was paved with planks such as these with the timber cut from Rainier Valley's forests. The streetcar tracks on the left that curved into the park, dropped the fans off close to the entrance. The special cars on game days carried signs on the front that read "Baseball Today." The touring car on the right belonged to the photographer that took the photograph. We have a series of fourteen of these photos, all shot on the same day along Rainier Avenue between Dearborn and Rainier Beach and this same auto appears in several of the photos. The stadium burned down on July 5, 1932 resulting in the Seattle Indians playing their games at a ball field next to Civic Auditorium where the Seattle Center's Memorial Stadium is today. Emil Sick of the Rainier Brewery bought the team in 1937 and immediately started to build a new stadium on the Dugdale site. He changed the name of the team to the Rainiers and the new stadium became Sicks Stadium. That year the legendary ball player Fred Hutchinson was just out of Franklin High where he had led the team to the city championship two years in a row and he also made the all-city team those two years. In a game with Ballard, Fred started the game by striking out the first three batters that faced him with nine straight strikes. The Detroit Tigers wanted him but didn’t agree with demands from Fred’s dad that he deserved a $5,000 bonus. Fred stayed in Seattle that year and pitched for the Rainiers. He had a record of 25 wins, 7 losses and was named M.V.P. of the Pacific Coast League and Seattle’s “Man of the Year”. At the end of the year the Tigers paid Seattle $50,000 and four players for his rights. For a brief period after the Rainier’s reign, Sicks Stadium was home to a farm team for the Los Angeles Angels. Then for one season, Seattle enjoyed major league baseball with the Seattle Pilots of the American League. After that first year the Pilots, amidst a lot of controversy, were moved to Milwaukee. Sicks Stadium was then demolished and an industrial building was built on the site for the Swiss based CX Corporation. Eagle Hardware and Pepsi now occupy the site. Days Gone By South District Journal 1/27/1999 By Buzz Anderson