Happy Labor Day, FDR

This was the best I could do for a Labor Day themed post — from my personal collection, a 1944 pamphlet published by a group of Seattle's American Federation of Labor (AF of L) union councils endorsing Franklin Roosevelt for re-election.

The University of Washington's Pacific Northwest Labor and Civil Rights Projects' website, "The Great Depression in Washington State," sheds some additional light on the Puget Sound region's experiences with strikes and unions during the early 20th century.

Let me tell you a story about a train car...

Yesterday we took a drive up to eastern Skagit county via the old South Skagit Highway. On the south side of the Skagit River, it's a beautiful alternate route to Highway 20 (the North Cascades Highway) on the north side of the river.

We ended up in the town of Concrete, once know for its cement production and the legend of the reaction its inhabitants had to the radio broadcast of "War of the Worlds" in 1938.

Still no Martians to be found in Concrete, but we did come upon something unexpected: a vintage passenger train car, parked just 50 feet from the Concrete Town Hall and Sheriff's office.

The car sits in perpetual slumber on the eastern edge of the Cascade Trail, a 22.5 mile former BNSF right-of-way between Concrete and Sedro Woolley. Alas, the only photo that turned out of the exterior is this one, but you get the idea.

I was surprised that when I turned the door lever on the platform entrance of the old car that it was open.  Inside, I discovered a surprisingly intact example of a mid-century passenger car.

A short hallway led me to the Ladies Lounge door, which had some graffiti on it, but was mostly intact.

To the left of the Ladies Lounge door was this original intact lithograph. Train travel was so elegant once...

Further inside, the interior wall of the Ladies Lounge door also had these original lithographs.

To the right of the lithographed wall, two sinks for hand washing, and one for "dental use"...

...and towels and cups for your convenience.

The hallway from the Ladies Lounge leads to the main cabin which appears to have become a hangout for local teenagers... they keep it pretty clean, there's even a garbage can. I think the blue and red seats may be original to the car.

This little "roomette" at the far end of the train was probably a "first class" private room, or maybe used by the conductor?

A slightly better view of the "roomette," with its lithograph and once fine wood paneling.

Beyond the "roomette" was another small room, but at this point the only light I had was from the camera flash, so I didn't go in any further.

A second view of the room at the far forward of the train car, admiring the wavy glass on the door.

On the way back out, I saw these foot rests, attached to what must be heat vents.

Last but not least: Mystery solved? This Hiawatha logo on the wall of the main passenger compartment suggests the car came from the Milwaukee Road railroad route that serviced Chicago-Minneapolis-Seattle between roughly 1946 and 1971. Which explains the hints of orange and red under the decades of grime on the exterior. How it got to Concrete, however, is another mystery....

Skagit River Bridge collapse - Then & Now

Photo courtesy Dan Kerlee

"The bridge that collapsed Thursday into the Skagit River happened about 1,200 yards west of where another bridge collapsed 110 years earlier."

Full story here.

Photo courtesy Heraldnet.com

Blogging: An exercise in brain rehabilitation

Have I mentioned I often dream of trains? Ellensburg Northern Pacific Depot,  2007. Photo by A. Miller.

If you have wondered what happened to this blog, I have been struggling the last few months with coherent writing and editing... a lingering side effect of what they refer to as "chemo brain," from my brush with breast cancer in 2010-2011.

Last summer I finally surrendered to it, and decided to take a break. I didn't intend to take this long of a break, however, but other distractions arose and the site looked to become a derelict historical artifact of its own.

But a few weeks ago, I realized something significant was missing from my life, and looking through this site's archive, I realized what it was. Writing. About history.

As with other therapies I've undertaken in the last few months, it seems that the best course of action with regard to writing is simply to keeping trying. I think an apt description is "A writer at rest tends to stay at rest."

What to expect from here on out? When my head is clear, you may see some lucid essays. When I'm feeling foggy, there will be days or weeks when I simply "show and tell" historic images and memorabilia.

So I hope you'll join me again in following my meandering train of thoughts on history in the Puget Sound region. It will be an interesting ride. 

When Seattle Was...

I've been remiss in promoting a new book, "When Seattle Was," authored by my father, Rolin Miller, and his best friend of many years, Michael Barrett. Here's the Damnation Peak Press description of the memoir.

When Seattle Was: How the Queen City Got Its Kicks Before Emeralds, Windows and Cinnamon Dolce Lattes is an anecdotal coming-of-age book about what it was like growing up in Seattle, Washington, before it was radically changed by the 1962 World's Fair.  

It was a different time before the fair: of Saturday matinees at the local movie theatre, active participation in a growing rock music scene, and relative freedom to explore the city's historically nefarious underbelly. 

Written by former Roosevelt High School classmates Rolin Miller and Michael Barrett, the 177-page softbound book tells tales of teenagers discovering oft-risky ways of entertaining themselves when Seattle was still the Queen — not Emerald — City. 

It was a more carefree time, a period of steel and stone rather than glassy skyscrapers and Plexiglass Bubbleators. 

The Century 21 Exposition, which operated from April 21 through October 21, 1962, opened the doors to out-of-towners and big-city ideas like never before. The skyline quickly grew to dwarf the Smith Tower, once the tallest building west of the Mississippi River, and Seattle's primary symbol long before the Space Needle became its new icon. Indeed, the fair may have even hastened the arrival of megacompanies Starbucks, Microsoft, Costco and Amazon.com where Boeing had earlier stood alone.  

When Seattle Was is a must-read for for anyone old enough to remember the "good ol' days" and for those who came later but want to know what it was like.

When Seattle Was contains a number of rarely seen photos of the era from several local historical archives, including the Seattle Library, the Museum of History and Industry, The Shoreline Historical Museum and others.

You can currently find When Seattle Was on Amazon.com; Volume Two (!) of When Seattle Was is expected to be released in Summer 2013.

Seattle's Seafair: a tradition of hydros and beer

It's the final weekend of Seafair, Seattle's annual summer megafestival, which traditionally culminates in the Unlimited Hydroplane Race at Stan Sayres Memorial Park on Lake Washington, and the U.S. Navy Blue Angels show.

These days I think most people outside of Seattle tend to avoid the event, myself included, because the traffic is horrendous, parking is horrendous, and there are just too many people everywhere (i.e. even worse than usual).

But once upon a time, Seafair was really more a regional event, particularly the hydroplane races, which are said to have attracted 500,000 people in their heyday a half century ago. That's half a million people -- in 1960, Seattle's entire population, according to the U.S. Census, was 557,087.

I have few bits of ephemera from "the old days" of Seafair -- including the 1961 program you see above.

My favorite part of the Seafair program, however, are the advertisements, such as this classic one from "Light"  Olympia Beer, at left.

"A brisk and refreshing companion, light Olympia Beer is always 'welcome aboard.'"

And lest we forget, "It's the Water." (the ending tag "... And A Lot More" came later in the 1970s).

These days, you're more likely to find microbrews filling the coolers of hydro race fans. One can hope that there are a few bottles of Olympia being shared out there for old times sake, but sadly, Olympia Beer is no longer even brewed in Tumwater, WA, where the Olympia Brewing Company was founded in 1896.

The Seafair tradition continues for a new generation, as Beth Knox, Seafair's CEO, insists in a Seattle Times interview last month. For the rest of us, there are just memories... and a few cool souvenirs.

On the passing of J.P. Patches, my childhood 'pal'

J.P., Gertrude, Ilga and me at the Arlington's Children's Parade, circa 1979.

My husband broke it to me this afternoon that a beloved icon of my childhood had passed away.

Chris Wedes, better known as Seattle children's TV host J.P. Patches, died today after a lengthy battle with cancer. He was 84.

Now, why on earth would I burst into tears at this news?

I think because, like many "Patches Pals" around the Puget Sound are feeling right now, I feel as though I have lost someone who, while I didn't know him personally, felt like my friend.

I watched "The J.P. Patches Show" religiously from the time I was old enough to sit up and watch TV, until the final show in 1981 — yes, 1981, when I was entering my freshman year of high school.

The show went off the air just at that moment I found myself at that fragile threshold between childhood and adolescence — where I still wanted to play with Barbie dolls, but also yearned to wear makeup (Cover Girl makeup, not clown makeup).

It was literally not just the end of an era, it was the end of my childhood.

While the show was on, though, I had the opportunity to meet him not once, but twice: first, on a tour of the KIRO-TV studios in elementary school, and the second time, during the summer of 1979, when my lifelong friend Ilga and I entered ourselves into the Arlington Children's Parade as a pair of gypsies. We won first prize in the "group" category, and were presented with a cash (!) award by J.P. and Gertrude.

At its peak, "The J.P. Patches Show" on KIRO/7 had more than 100,000 daily viewers daily and was broadcast in the morning and afternoon. It debuted Feb. 10, 1958, and when it went off the air in 1981 it was the longest running locally-produced kids show in the United States. — seattlepi.com

Now as an adult, Wedes' passing signals another end of an era, the loss of one more icon of the Seattle of my childhood in the 1960s and 1970s, a place that had true character... and characters.

So thank you, J.P., for being my "pal." You will be missed, and always remembered.

Today in History: First drive-in theater opens

Google reminded me with this clever and creative "Doodle" that today is the 79th anniversary of the opening of the first drive-in movie theatre.

Coincidentally (or not), it also happens to be my father's birthday today — he himself a writer and historian of varied interests, in particular that of drive-in theaters and historic movie houses.

An article which he wrote in 2005 for Journeys, AAA's magazine, "When drive-ins die... and when they won’t" is sadly no longer online (the subject of relying on newspapers and magazines to maintain archives is a topic for another time).

However, I happen to have a copy on my hard drive. The full article is now archived here on this Beyond the Depot page, for those interested.

It all began in Camden, New Jersey in 1933:

Richard M. Hollingshead, Jr. had a whale of a notion during the early years of the Great Depression. After tinkering with bedsheets, drop cloths and a secondhand Kodak film projector, he filed for exclusive rights to protect his idea. In May 1933, the U.S. Patent Office granted Hollingshead approval on patent number 1,909,537. He immediately formed Park-In Theaters, Inc., erecting the world’s first movie facility accommodating both patrons and their automobiles. On June 6, 1933, the Camden, a converted vacant lot, screened the long forgotten talkie Wife Beware for the paying public. (Source: Rolin Miller,  ("When drive-ins die... and when they won’t")

June 1959 Everett Motor Movie ad.

The concept of the drive-n theater didn't really take off on the West Coast until after World War II, and perhaps was a little slower coming north from California because of the Pacific Northwest's rainy reputation.

Eventually, Washington State was home to more than 40 at the height of their popularity in the 1950s and 1960s— and nationwide, more than 5,000 drive-in screens.

Locally, I'm sure many readers remember Marysville's Thunderbird Drive-In, Burlington's Skagit Drive-In, the Everett Motor Movie and Puget Park in south Everett, Lynnwood's Sno-King, and the Kenmore Drive-In.

However, by the 1990s, the lure of rising real estate prices saw many local drive-ins shuttered.

The sprawl of suburbia brought with it a wave of mall and commercial strip development. Sparsely settled space that not long ago was the domain of roadhouses, two-pump filling stations, $3-a-night Bide-A-Wee auto courts — and, today, only memories of lost landmarks like the Everett Motor Movie — became high-priced real estate. By 1997, only 14 outdoor theaters remained operating in the state, and each passing year has marked the closure of another of the survivors.

Today, there are just six drive-in theaters left in Washington State. Since his article was written in 2005, Puget Park Drive-In in south Everett and the Vue Dale in Wenatchee have closed, both in 2010.

The future is uncertain for the remaining theaters, as they face the same dilemma as small movie houses such as the Olympic Theatre in Arlington: the impending switch from 35 millimeter film to digital. The conversion can cost tens of thousands of dollars — for independently owned theaters, it's a make or break deal.

So where can you still see a movie locally through your windshield? I'll let Rolin Miller take over here.

• The Blue Fox (Oak Harbor WA): The most ambitious multi-purpose drive-in complex in the state, it is home to a go-cart track, game entertainment center, and the Brattland Express train ride for children. All of this is in addition to an ambitious, usually first-run playbill changed weekly during a year-round operation. Opened in 1957, it “seats” under 200 cars, many belonging to appreciative Navy families, and boasts the spiffiest (and newest) restroom facilities a mother could wish for at any theater.

• Valley 6 Theaters (Auburn WA): The Valley began life as a “one-lunger” in 1960 and just kept growing. In terms of dimensions alone, this 55-acre 6-plex is the state’s lollapaloosa, hemmed in by the city of Auburn. Manager Keith Keel masterfully books and pairs up the latest releases, operating all six screens during June, July and August (cutting back to three before Memorial Day and after Labor Day). Try for a high summer visit: the drive-in aficionado will grow goose bumps, after dark, taking stock of a half dozen simultaneously lighted screens. It’s a sight.

• Wheel-In Motor Movie (Port Townsend WA): Located just south of town on Theater Road, off Highway 19, this well-concealed gem carved out of native evergreens, is cute as a bug’s ear — and about the same size. Richard Wiley, who has operated his father-in-law’s creation nearly all of its 52 years, runs a tight ship for all ages, including those who are too young to remember Johnny Mathis. Parking is on grass and listening via original Eprad speakers you’d best never try to make off with. 

• Rodeo Triple Drive-In (Bremerton WA): Washington’s oldest active drive-in — since 1946 — is located minutes west of Gorst in Kitsap County. Don’t blink or you’ll overshoot the entrance hewn out of the woods along this stretch of Highway 3. Owner Jack Ondracek has enjoyed increasing success with the Rodeo in recent years. However, with three double features to choose from, it’s a good bet the uninitiated will find one worth watching anytime during the spring-to-fall operating season. The Rodeo’s rural setting is deceptive — the theater is state of the art and there isn’t an RCA speaker to be found anywhere on the sprawling complex.

• Skyline Theater (Shelton WA): From the tasteful neon sign just off Highway 101 to the manicured landscaping incorporated into the facility, the Skyline is an impeccably cared-for centerpiece of Americana. Every speaker on the lot is in operating condition, each pair residing on a stanchion crowned with a guiding red light. Parking for about 275 vehicles is regulated so that big rigs don’t ruin the viewing for ground-huggers. Large, appreciative crowds are allowed to make themselves comfortable in an all-ages-kid-friendly atmosphere. The first run double features (nearly always PG) are a bargain for big and little families, and the booming snack bar is a sight to behold.

• Auto Vue Drive-In Theatre (Colville WA): Celebrating its 60th year in operation in 2013, the Auto-Vue has been owned by the same family since opening (the Wisners also operate the indoor Alpine Theater in town). Today the theater is looking at a fourth generation legacy. It’s a long drive from anywhere, to be sure, even for the $10 a carload Wednesday night double feature, but it’s a worthwhile effort. You’ll never see a darker night than the kind served up in Colville for an outdoor movie.

(Editor's note: Happy Birthday Dad)

'Darrington, Wash., on the Great Northern R.R.'

Another one of those head scratchers -- there may well be thousands of these postcards, and variations thereof, still in existence:

Notice anything odd?

Some early enterprising photographer rushed to get this view of Whitehorse mountain and a young Darrington onto the postcard carousels at newsstands, post offices and general stores around the Puget Sound region.

The only problem? The Great Northern Railway never had a route to Darrington. It was the Northern Pacific Railway that built a branch route to Darrington, arriving there in June 1901.

The error continued on several variations of the postcard, including this Puget Sound News Co. version below; its divided back and German origin indicates it would have been published between 1907 and 1915.

Lowman & Hanford Co., a Seattle postcard publisher in business from 1894 to 1955, continued the error on the hand tinted color version below, probably produced between 1915 and 1930.

I don't think the error was ever corrected, as I have never found any newer versions of this card — which is not surprising. Postcard companies routinely updated their images every few years as towns and landscapes changed.

Perhaps Lowman & Hanford commissioned a photographer to return to Darrington to take a new photo — or maybe they gave up on producing postcards of the northwestern Washington region when Arlington's J. Boyd Ellis of the Ellis Postcard Company began producing higher quality real photo postcards.

Monte Cristo Steward program seeks volunteers

A postcard of Monte Cristo from the 1960s -- 50 years later, there are few structures remaining on the town site. 

Monte Cristo has been a "ghost town" far longer than it was a bustling gold mining town, more than 100 years ago.

Located on the Mountain Loop Hwy between Darrington and Granite Falls, Monte Cristo's is a colorful history -- though there are few original residents left to tell its tale.

However, it does have a dedicated group of volunteers who steward it: The Monte Cristo Preservation Association.

Despite being one of many isolated destinations in the adjacent Henry M. Jackson Wilderness, the four mile hike to the town is also very popular. That's where the Volunteer Monte Cristo Stewards come in, providing tours for visitors and maintaining the town site, camp areas, information boards, registration boxes and trails.

The volunteer commitment is a minimum of three days during the summer, which in the rugged wilderness surrounding Monte Cristo is short -- but beautiful.

This year's steward training is scheduled from 8:30 a.m. to noon, Saturday, June 2 at the Verlot Public Service Center, 33515 Mountain Loop Highway, in Granite Falls.

For more information and an application contact Matt Riggen at 360-436-2333.

Whitehorse Trail on CTC agenda May 31

Northern Pacific bridge #10 crossing Deer Creek at Oso.

Now that the Centennial Trail is nearing completion, the Centennial Trail Coalition of Snohomish County is turning its attention to speeding up the completion of the proposed Whitehorse Trail between Arlington and Darrington.

May 31, the CTC will be presenting an afternoon walk and an evening presentation for those interested in the development plans for the Whitehorse Trail.

The afternoon event starts at 5:30 p.m. as a trail walk and tour at Cloverdale Farm, located 1/2 mile north of Hwy 530 on 115th Ave NE, near Trafton. The walk will view the stretch of the Whitehorse Trail between Cloverdale Farm and the “Tin Bridge,” just under a mile west of the farm.  

Following the walk, at 7 p.m., room 65 in the Trafton School building, 12616 Jim Creek Road, the CTC will host its general meeting, featuring a representative from Snohomish County Parks, and local residents who have been active in promoting the Centennial Trail.

With the Centennial Trail's last gaps now being filled in, the timing is right to get the Whitehorse Trail, once the Northern Pacific Railway's branch line connecting Arlington and Darrington, on the map.

Snohomish County has estimated some 500,000 walkers, hikers, horseback riders and cyclists are now using the Centennial Trail each year. The Whitehorse Trail, which branches off the Centennial Trail just north of downtown Arlington, would provide another 27.7 miles for recreational traffic (currently, approximately six miles of the trail is open from Darrington to the Swede Heaven Road; the trail is also now partially accessible from the original railroad switch just past Haller Bridge in Arlington).

But the Whitehorse Trail's potential is not just recreational; it's an economic opportunity that residents of northeast Snohomish County should take seriously. 

Early postcard of NPR tracks near Hazel, with Mt. Higgins in distance.

There are a number of small communities on the route -- including Trafton and Oso -- that became towns as a result of the route opening in 1901. Other place names we know today -- Cicero, Halterman, Hazel, Fortson and Whitehorse -- were also once bustling communities along the rail line. As the logging industry declined, so did the populations of most of these whistle-stops.    

When the Whitehorse Trail is completed it will bring in thousands of visitors a week, and with them, money to patronize local businesses. Merchants with the foresight to offer goods and services that cater to trail users are the ones that will probably benefit the most.

Considering the economic challenges our area has experienced over the last 30 years with the decline of logging, farming and fishing -- our heritage industries -- these recreational trails serve not only as a key to our future, they also would be a way to help honor and preserve our area's heritage.

For Memorial Day: A view of Lions/Legion Park

In honor of Memorial Day, here is an Ellis Postcard Co. real photo post card depicting Arlington's Lions Park in the 1940s, what we now know as Legion Park.

The top photo points north, showing a sign advertising Murphy's Feed Store, founded in 1892. Murphy's burned down some time in the late 1980s or early 1990s. The grain elevator and the Northern Pacific depot would have been to the left (west) of that building, just out of camera range; City Hall would be to the north of the feed store, if I recall correctly.

Today the one constant in both photos is the service memorial now maintained by the American Legion, hence the park's name.

Now the memorial is joined by the new gazebo, built almost entirely from donated material and labor, as well as the new Arlington Depot visitor's center, and the Centennial Trail. The park finally feels like a true community gathering place... but still stands as a place to remember our fallen service personnel.

'Because it's the one thing you can't replace'

First, I laughed; then I went and scanned in about a hundred old family photos and historical postcards.

[Warning: NSFW language]

Spend a day in Darrington May 26

Postcard view of "downtown" Darrington, exact date unknown, probably early 1900s.

If you're planning to stick around the area over Memorial Day weekend, you might consider a day trip to Darrington May 26 for their annual Darrington Day event.

Described by the Darrington Area Business Association as "Darrington's annual celebration of wildflowers, waterfalls & outdoor adventures,"the event also celebrates the 121st year of the town's existence.

But for history buffs like me, the town's self guided history and trivia tour is the main attraction. A couple bits of trivia to tempt you:

• According to the 1910 census, the town had 250 residents & 14 pianos. 

• Many homes and business buildings were once part of the Sauk River Logging Camp and were constructed on railroad flat cars, a mobile camp that moved its location five times before becoming part of the town. (Source: Darrington Historical Society)

More history related events take place at the Darrington Senior Center, where there will be a historical logging display by the Darrington Historical Society, and a number of historical photos needing identification.

Ellis Postcard Co. postcard view of Darrington, probably 1940s.

Mountain Loop Books & Coffee will host author Aaron Young, signing his new book about the waterfalls of the Mountain Loop Highway, as well as author Brenda Ballard signing the latest book in her series "The Boy From Granite Falls," set during the 1930s in the Mountain Loop area.

Events take place from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, May 26. There will be various opportunities to learn about outdoor recreation and wildflowers along the historical Mountain Loop Highway and the adjacent Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest; also on the schedule is the Darrington Open Air Market and live music at Old School Park by the Whitehorse Musician's Guild from noon until dusk.

For more information about the town, visit Destination Darrington Washington.

Centennial Trail link completed in Snohomish

A postcard view of a Northern Pacific train and an Interurban car crossing paths in Snohomish, postmarked 1914.

Great news: The Everett Herald reports that the Centennial Trail is one step closer to completion with the opening of a two-thirds of a mile stretch in downtown Snohomish.

The city will celebrate starting at 9 a.m. Saturday, May 19, at the intersection of Lincoln Avenue and Third Street, near the Snohomish Library, with guest speakers, a small health fair and an opportunity for people to walk or ride the trail section. At 10 a.m. city officials will participate in an official dedication ceremony.

Snohomish spent the past 15 years working on acquiring property, repaving the trail and doing landscape work to connect the city's two-thirds of a mile trail to the existing Centennial Trail, project manager Ann Stanton said. 

"It's good to see the former Indian trail return to a walking trail after 120 years as a railroad corridor," Stanton said. 

The city had to buy land from the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad and also paid for surveys. The city had help with only paying about $100,000 of the $2.5 million project, with the rest coming from federal funds, Stanton said.  (Source: The Herald)

With the completion of the Snohomish gap, 21 of the 27 miles of Centennial Trail are now accessible — the last leg of the project, getting underway this summer, is filling the gap between Bryant (north of Arlington) and the Skagit County line.

Social media, circa 1945

We talk about the "revolution" of social media, and yet, if you peruse the archives of any small town paper from the 19th or 20th centuries, you'll find social media has been around much longer than we give it credit.

In this clip from the Feb. 22, 1945 Arlington Times, we have reports from Oso, Darrington, Cicero, Greenwood and Silvana. Previous pages include "news" from Lakewood, Bryant, Victoria and Edgecomb. Some of these places still live on, some are ghosts of what they once were; and others, like Greenwood and Victoria, have faded into obscurity.

Note too the familiar family names -- Giebel, Armstrong, Wangsmo, Hershaw, Husby.

1945's version of social media may have not had the immediacy or interactive qualities of our electronic age, but remember that life wasn't quite as speed-of-light as it is today -- and yet, this six page edition of the Times is crammed full of the same kind of news we share with each other today via Facebook, Google+ and other virtual communities.

Here in Arlington, the adage properly applies: "The more things change, the more they remain the same."

Dear Governor Stevens

Today we have a Northern Pacific Railway ad from the April 2, 1953 Arlington Times, celebrating the achievements of Washington State's first Territorial Governor, Isaac Stevens (1818-1862), for his role in bringing the transcontinental railroad to the Puget Sound.

Stevens set out west in 1853 and eventually determined two possible routes: from Walla Walla west, paralleling the Columbia River, to Portland; and across Snoqualmie Pass over the Cascade Mountains.

Northern Pacific completed the route along the Columbia in 1883, while the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railway completed a line through Snoqualmie Pass in 1909.

Interestingly enough, Stevens Pass, the Great Northern Railway's route over the Cascade mountains, was not named for Governor Stevens, but for surveyor John Stevens, who had been promised the honor by James J. Hill.

It should be noted that at the time this ad was published, business interests such as the railroads still regarded Isaac Stevens as a trailblazing pioneer. In more recent times, however, his reputation has diminished as there is more awareness of his actions while in his dual role as Superintendent of Indian Affairs.

Stevens in fact was responsible for facilitating several key treaties in 1854 and 1855, including the Treaty of Point Elliot which created the Tulalip Reservation west of Marysville. But his means of "compelling" tribal leaders to sign the treaties consisted of intimidation and violence.  

"Greater things to come," indeed. Less than 20 years after this ad was printed, the Northern Pacific would merge with the Great Northern Railway, the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad, and the Spokane, Portland & Seattle Railway, forming Burlington Northern Railroad.

Future of Olympic Theatre may be in question

Oct. 12, 1963 Olympic Theatre ad.

The Arlington Times reports today about a new challenge facing the historic Olympic Theatre in downtown Arlington: the plan by Hollywood movie studios to stop producing 35 millimeter film and go to a digital-only format.

Norma Pappas has owned the Olympic Theatre since 1977 when she bought the space with her dad. She has been running the theater for 35 years doing everything from splicing film to selling tickets and concessions. She prides herself on having affordable prices and being a staple in Arlington, especially for young families who could not afford the movie experience at large corporate multiplex theaters. (Source: The Arlington Times)

The cost of upgrading to digital could be as much as $100,000, according to Pappas. Not the kind of cash a family business has laying around.

I recently wrote an entry about the Olympic, as the start of an occasional series, "My Favorite Places." The Olympic Theatre has been in operation continuously since 1939, and is one of only two independent single screen theatres left in Snohomish County.

I have great memories of seeing movies there in junior high and high school, and we still make the trek down for the occasional "grown up" movie — the Olympic's demographic is families and children, so the schedule is heavy on child-friendly films.

So what can be done to keep the Olympic from going dark? So far, a "Save the Olympic Theater" Facebook page has been created by local fans. But thus far there is more talk than action — I think as outsiders looking in, many people are hesitant to offer help or ideas, because they don't want to be perceived as disrespecting Pappas' amazing 35 year commitment to the theater.

As with many things of a historic nature here in Arlington, there is so much potential for more. But things tend to move at a slower pace in Arlington then they do elsewhere.

The movie studio timeline for retiring 35mm film is on track for as early as 2013. That doesn't give the community a whole lot of time to take any action — that means now is the time to step and make a commitment to the Olympic.

But where to start? Easily enough, we can look toward the examples of other local historic theaters:

• The Edmonds Theatre, built in 1923, is privately owned and recently upgraded to digital. I was unable to find information on how the upgrade was financed, but in the last five years the owners have invested some $50,000 in other renovations.

• The Historic Everett Theatre, built in 1901, was rescued from oblivion in 1995 when the non-profit Everett Theatre Society was formed, which purchased and renovated the theatre for both live performances and movie screenings.

• The Lincoln Theatre in Mount Vernon, built in 1926, is maintained by The Lincoln Theatre Center Foundation, a volunteer board of directors who meet monthly. The theatre hosts independent and foreign films, live theater, concerts, and it can be rented for special events.

• The Grand Illusion Cinema in Seattle, built in 1968, was saved from closure in 1997 by the non-profit Northwest Film Forum, and after renovations continues to run independent and foreign films. 

These revitalization stories are just the tip of the iceberg. As more and more historic theaters go dark, it becomes more important to try to save the few remaining movie houses we have left.

And what a treasure the Olympic is for the town of Arlington — like many other historic downtown structures, it serves as a kind of "ballast" for the community.

So now is the time to ask ourselves: does Arlington want to be the kind of town that would let its movie theater close forever? I certainly hope it's not.

A bear den in a saw log.

"Two natives of Washington: A Bear Den and Dwelling in a Washington Saw Log."

Here's one of those scratch-your-head items that I found recently in my digital archives, an early tinted color postcard, probably produced around 1915-1920, picturing a bear den and human dwelling carved out of a giant log. The story goes:

"This log was cut four miles from Aberdeen from a spruce log 40 feet from the butt which was 13 feet in diameter at one end and eight feet at the other. It is 40 feet long, 9 feet in diameter at one end of eight feet at the other, cut to show at the St. Louis Fair, and is now in Belle Isle Park at Detroit, Mich. There are chairs, settee and table cut inside of the log. When in St. Louis it housed two bears and a large cougar."

If the card is referring to the St. Louis World's Fair, which took place in 1904, then that would place the photo earlier than the date it was produced as a postcard. But that's not unusual — this postcard has at least one other version I've seen.

If the log ended up in Detroit's Belle Isle Park, I wasn't able to immediately find anything on the internet about that... not that that means anything. The only other clue to the origins of the photo is the Northern Pacific log car it rests on, number 69318.

Sometimes you don't see the full picture, part 2

Panoramic view of Arlington from 1912.

Recently the above panoramic view was shared with me, following my post titled History can be ugly.

At first glance, this panoramic view, dated 1912, could be identical to the undated view I previously published. They appear to have been taken almost from the exact same position, and probably not taken more than a year or two apart.

The undated "history can be ugly" photo.

The panoramic view, cropped.

And what a different story the panoramic photo tells from the other image!

The panoramic image creates a very different response in the viewer. It seems to illustrate the concept of the "right" side and the "wrong" side of tracks. (although some old timers would argue that it's old Haller City, on the north side of Division St., that was/is technically Arlington's "wrong side of the tracks.")

But that is an assumption made by someone who wasn't there.

However, even "primary sources" — first person accounts, newspaper articles — can be problematic, because personal biases and fading memories can also distort the historical "facts."

That's why when researching history — whether it be that of your family, or that of your community —it is imperative to take into account that there may be more than one version of events. One photo, one artifact, one memory, is only scratching the surface of the whole story — or rather, the full picture.