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

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