Kirkland Views

2019 08 17

The venerable M. V. Kehloken

Matt McCauley News ferry, Houghton, Kirkland Views 0

Kent helped me resurrect another one of the articles I wrote for the sadly-defunct Kirkland Views blog. Check out the story of the M. V. Kehloken to learn more about its ties to Kirkland history. Enjoy!

Kirkland History

2 weeks ago

I've been seeing hoopla over the new playground equipment at Juanita Beach--which is fine, glad it is there!--but if you are a Boomer or Gen Xer who grew up here then you probably have some great memories of this set of play equipment. No, it had no plastic parts and was not high tech powder coated or treated with UV-resistant polyurethane--it was pretty much just welded steel pipe with thick vulcanized rubber swing seats. It got really hot in the summer, especially the slides, and in such cases it was best to go in the lake and then once as wet as possible run to the slide so your butt didn't burn as badly on the hot metal, hoping the line wouldn't be so long that you dried before it was your turn to go down. There were also a LOT more kids back then. Much of today's City of Kirkland was still semi-rural unincorporated King County and Kirkland was mostly a working and middle, middle class community, which meant lots of young families with young kids. It has since become quite different, planned largely as an urban community for the rich, very rich and housing subsidized poor--the middle class 2500sf house with a normal sized yard inhabited by young couples who like to take their kids to the beach in the summer and let them run around all day have been deemed obsolete, sadly. Thick density, mixed use high rises and McMansions are the future. I hope that a few of you near my vintage have some happy memories jogged loose by these photos, courtesy of my dad, Bill McCauley, 83, who still shoots pictures (now of his great-grandkids playing) and the King County Archive. -Matt McCauley ... See MoreSee Less

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Kirkland History

3 months ago

Fun, FREE online "The Coals of Newcastle--100 Years of Hidden History" book release online event!In its earliest days, Seattleites realized that logging and milling were not its destiny, so it looked east, across Lake Washington to a small collection of coal-bearing land claims that held the promise of making Seattle Puget Sound's most important city--big dreams for a settlement with under 300 residents!From 1864 to 1963, Newcastle, Washington was the center of a busy coal mining industry producing nearly 11 million tons of coal from a crisscross of tunnels under present day Cougar Mountain, Coal Creek Natural Area and The Golf Club at Newcastle. There were two main town sites as well as large mining structures, buildings and homes. Today, little evidence of the once bustling coal mining town of more than 1000 people remains. The 2020 edition of the book, Coals of Newcastle - a Hundred Years of Hidden History, tells the story of the mines, coal companies, transportation and the people of an almost forgotten era.Members of Newcastle Historical Society will discuss select stories and photos from the updated book to celebrate the October 19 book launch, the community and the unique history of Newcastle. In partnership with Newcastle Historical Society. This event is part of KCLS' Author Voices series.Please register. You will be sent a Zoom invite within 24 hours of the program.kcls.bibliocommons.com/events/5f8878469aadc72f00570750 ... See MoreSee Less

Online: The Coals of Newcastle-100 Years of Hidden History

kcls.bibliocommons.com

For adults. From 1864 to 1963, Newcastle, Washington was the center of a busy coal mining industry producing nearly 11 million tons of coal from a crisscross of tunnels under present day Cougar Mounta...

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