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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

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