I attended the Central Houghton Neighborhood Association meeting July 6 and was surprised how few were in attendance. It is a good format for community members to learn what is going on to improve the lives in our neighborhood. Items discussed were:
Naming of the old Yarrow Bay Watershed. The new name will be Carillon Forest Park.
Planting and ivy pulls. This fall, the cedar and hemlock trees that were on Houghton's Fourth of July float will be planted in Carillon Woods. Returning in the fall will be the ivy pulls, to eradicate the ivy from taking over and killing the trees in Carillon Forest.
A fall favorite, the Houghtdown Picnic, is in the planning stages. Held annually on Labor Day (11 a.m. - 2 p.m.) at Terrace Park, this event is fun for the whole family, with a parade, games, food and best of all, socializing with your neighbors. Help is still needed to post fliers, set up, cook, clean up, and parade management. Contact Lisa at kirby99@verizon.net if you can help.
Improved lighting. Did you know that Kirkland offers $25,000 in grant money every three years to neighborhood improvements? Yep! And the Houghton folks came up with two great projects: improved lighting at the 60th/108th crosswalk, and a T-light at the Phyllis Needy crosswalk.
SR 520 Bike Trail. Are you a bike rider? Would you like to see the existing SR 520 Trail continue on to Seattle? The future replacement of the 520 Bridge may include provisions for this. However, there is a small segment from the east end of the project to the SR520 trail that remains undecided. For more info: www.wsdot.wa.gov/projects/SR520Bridge and click on FAQ's.
Love 'em and Leash 'em. The leash law was discussed, the purpose is not to punish dogs, but to keep them safe, as well as keeping all visitors to the parks comfortable and feeling safe. (Marymoor Park has an off-leash park for those that want to let their pets run free.)
For more info on CHNA, or to look up events, go to www.houghtonlives.com
Houghton days of old
In keeping with the centenial theme, I interviewed a Kirkland resident who grew up in Houghton. I spent a delightful afternoon talking with Dorothy Brennan Daily and this is some of what I learned.
Houghton's population burst when the government-built housing projects to rent out to the workers that flocked here for jobs at the shipyard. The first project built was at Lakeview Terrace. "Project A" was built at the Everest Park location, "Project B" was built at the current International Community School site, and the Stewart Project is where the Northwest University is now located. These World War II war-time workers came from all over the country.
Downtown Kirkland had a bowling alley, and also a teen center above a service station. There was also a building (located near today's Peter Kirk Park) that would house sailors who commandeered the new ships as they were completed. The current BEST High School was the location for an all-purpose building. Two to three times a week they would roller skate there, and about once a week they would have dances. The sailors would often come to these dances.
For fun, kids would play baseball, tennis, hang out downtown Kirkland or hike down Shipyard Trail (at the end of 60th Street) and go to Houghton Beach. For a penny you could get a treat at Jones' Store to enjoy on the trek up the hill, known as Shipyard Hill.
Dorothy shared several memories of her own childhood fun, such as roller skating to town. The wooded area between Terrace Heights and the railroad tracks was where the hobos would be camping. If there was smoke coming out of the woods, they would pass quickly! Another time Dorothy and pal Sandy Carmean tagged along with the older kids, Walt Simpson, Stan Wange, Dick Ostrom and Sandy's older sister Joann and her friends, (to name a few), and ventured down into the Yarrow Bay Watershed. Suddenly a man appeared out of nowhere and yelled at them to get out of there. They made off rapidly!
Another resident interviewed was my husband's aunt. Mildred Wange Hogue grew up in Houghton, too, and was a little bit older than Dorothy. In fact, Mildred was good friends with Dorothy's older sister, Eileen Brennan. Mildred said that her graduating class consisted of 39 kids.
To go over to friends' houses they had to walk. They walked everywhere. Except to go to Seattle, then they would take the Lincoln Ferry to Madison Park, which was a 20-minute ride. Then they would hop on the street car to get into Seattle. If you went every day, the fare was $1/week for the ferry, and $1/week for the street car. They would do most of their shopping in downtown Kirkland, though there were little markets around in Houghton as well.
If you have stories or events to share, please contact me at elizabethwange@cbbain.com.[[In-content Ad]]
