“Folks could be seen running down to the dock in various stages of undress, scrambling to not miss their transport.”

Just back from vacation I saw one of the single coolest comments that’s ever been left on this blog. Back in January, Dan left a comment saying he and a buddy just dived at the sunken Ferry Dawn in Lake Washington. This August he came through with a short video of the dive on his site DCS films:

It’s four+ minutes of a piece of Mercer Island history, with somewhat ghostly images of drowned windows and circling divers. Definitely worth a watch.

The DSC site also has some great old images and reminisces of the Ferry Dawn, including the quote at the title of this post:

“The fare for a ride on the impressive little steamer was 25 cents a round trip, but steady commuters could purchase a ten trip ticket for 1 dollar. Students got 20 trips for 1 dollar! Commuters and students alike would do whatever it took to catch the early boat. At times, folks could be seen running down to the dock in various stages of undress, scrambling to not miss their transport. “

Dan, thanks for diving and filming the dive! Those of us who are unhealthily addicted to local history owe you one. Be sure to let us know when you post more videos.

Steamboats of Lake Washington

It’s been a while since we had a history post. But recently I came across an article on the steamboats of Lake Washington that brought up the subject, together with a couple of unanswered questions.

To set the stage here’s a photo of a steamboat. Strangely, searching Flickr for photos of working steamboats doesn’t work well. Technology epoch mismatch, I suspect. But the Smithsonian delivers:

A while back we examined the disasters of the Ferry Dawn, a plucky ferry that served Mercer Islanders going to and from Leschi.  The Ferry Dawn was once hit by a seaplane and twice sank, the second time apparently the last time as Dawn still sits submerged off the coast of Mercer Island.

These steamboats started in the 1870s, predating the Dawn. Per Wikipedia:

• “Atlanta left Leschi Park six times daily for points around Mercer Island.”
• “Cyrene left Leschi Park eleven times daily for East Seattle and points on the west side of Mercer Island.”

Which points would it go to, back in the 1800’s? Well, certainly the C.C. Calkins Hotel, a fancy hotel that burned to the ground in 1908 (there’s a photo in the South Island QFC.) But where else? For a guide we can refer to a map showing the age of Mercer Island homes, and then speculate wildly:

• “Points on the west side of Mercer Island” must have certainly included some areas in Mercerdale, the oldest area on Mercer Island.
• To some older homes on the east side of Mercer Island, nearest Bellevue?
• Hunting and fishing resorts or grounds on the south side of the Island, perhaps– we know this was a popular hunting spot.

Any other thoughts? Anyone got an old photo of a Lake Washington steamboat? Any old stories?

Cheese Deluxe: Mercer Island in the 60s

A few months ago I heard about a book called Cheese Deluxe, a memoir of living on Mercer Island as a teenager in the 60s.

For having bought a book based solely on the setting, I got lucky. Greg Palmer, the author, creates a cast of characters (many of whom he says are based on real people) and follows them through a series of loosely-connected stories. That’s probably a better way of expressing high school life than presenting a tight story arc. Palmer isn’t afraid of poking some taboos now and then, like in the first chapter when he describes a Boy of the Month nomination that was aborted over a misunderstanding of fairies.

Island Books apparently had the author in the store back in December, but I missed it. There’s a nice video in the MI Reporter article of Greg reading from the book. Of the people on whom the characters were based, “a few are here tonight.”

It’s worth reading, even if unlike me you aren’t hung on on wondering what places looked like in past decades. You can get it on Amazon.

Early Mercer Island Was a Haunted, Dangerous Place

Think the snow makes things tough? Our predecessors had to deal with a sinking Island, bears and murder. Read on:

Mercer Island Named for Supernatural Pioneer, 1860

Our island was named Mercer’s Island for Thomas Mercer, an early Seattle pioneer who often visited the Island. The Native Americans believed the Island was haunted and sank into the lake every night. Once Mercer spent the night on the Island, causing the natives who rowed him to and from to believe that he had supernatural powers.

This story is from historylink.org, an online encyclopedia of Northwest history. I love this site. It lets me indulge my addiction to Northwest history, despite blog stats that show that readers routinely pass over history-related posts.

What else happened on Mercer Island in the 19th century?

Man Kills Bear on Mercer Island, June 1873

Please report any bear sightings to mercerislandblogger@yahoo.com. Be sure to tell the police, too.

Mr. G. Proctor sighted a bear near his premises and gave chase. Not only did he kill the bear, he pursued it out into the Lake and dragged it back on shore.

Now THAT’S killing a bear. Full story by Greg Lange.

James Colman is Murdered Near Mercer Island, February 1886

This story of murder includes such evocative details as:

• ” Suspicion falls on George Miller, whom Colman had accused of illegal land dealings.”
• “The boat was beached on the west side of the island, directly opposite the Mathieson home in Seattle. Blood stained the wooden seats.”
• “At the trial in Port Townsend, 9-year-old Alla Olds took the stand, but when the prosecuting attorney made her cry, she told her story to the judge instead.”
• “For years, many on Mercer Island referred to the island’s southern end as Murder Point. The place where the boat was found became Deadman’s Bay.”

Alan J. Stein did a beautiful writeup on the murder and also brought us the story of the naming of Mercer’s Island. Stay warm & stay away from Deadman’s Bay.

Photo credit: Roy Mac, flickr (bear) and Canadian Elligirl, flickr (rowboat).

Mercer Island Gas– More Info, But Still High

The Big Picture blog, one of the best blogs on the economy, writes that gas is down to $1.75 per gallon nationally.Gasbuddy provides a nice heatmap of national gas prices. Here’s Puget Sound,weighing in at above the national average:

Strange that in gasbuddy’s chart, Mercer Island is among the cheaper areas. It usually seems to be among the most expensive to me- am I wrong?

Why?

The question is, why are our prices higher than average? Mike Cero, commenting on an earlier post about gas prices, altered us to a study by Attorney General Rob McKenna on Washington state’s investigation into gas prices. According to Mike,

“The investigation, which included an in-depth analysis of factors influencing prices at the pump, found variations across Washington communities are due to the cost of obtaining and transporting fuel to stations and local competition – not illegal price manipulation. Increasing worldwide demand for oil and an inability for regional refineries to meet local supply demands are the primary contributors to erratically climbing prices, experts added.”

If you ever start a blog, make sure you get smart commenters. It makes your job much easier. Anyway, it sounds like price fixing has been ruled out but we’re still stuck with expensive gas.

Bonus Mercer Island History Riff

And not because it’s relevant to the discussion of gas prices, but just because I love Mercer Island history and it’s a great read, I’m going to copy most of Mike’s second comment here:

I would like to comment about the passing of an era occurring at Pete’s station. Pete’s converting to the newer more efficient and thereby more competitive swipe and pump service pumps. Call me nostalgic, but I enjoyed the personal interaction of manually processing the credit card. I took a little pleasure at the inconvenience of having to find Jeff or Brian under a car to ask them to “please reset the pumps so I can spend my money.” Fueling at Pete’s station had a soothing effect of slowing the days pace. About half the time, someone would walk out and watch as I pump. Doesn’t take an MBA to see this inefficiency, but I will miss the Rockwellian experience of talking about the weather and complaining about gas prices while watching the numbers click on the dial. – Mike Cero

Info Porn: The Evolution of Mercer Island

The site PropertyShark is worth a look. It’s got all kinds of data, like demographics and zoning. Here’s a map (in two pieces) of the age of MI homes.

Notable on North Island is the group of older homes in Mercerdale, the first neighborhood on the Island.

South Island is much newer, with a cluster of pre-1949 and pre-1925 homes on the East side of the Island.

Together, these maps say a lot about the settlement pattern of the Island:

• The oldest homes (dark blue) are primarily on North Island.
• A few other old homes are around the edges of the Island. These must have been built as vacation homes with only boat access.
• The newest homes (magenta) are also around the edge, showing where property values have encouraged owners and developers to tear down and build anew.
• The majority of homes in the inner neighborhoods were built between 1950 and 1969.

Those old houses on the east Island waterfront are intriguing. Does anyone know their story? Who built them, when, and why?

Thanks, PropertyShark.

Steinbruiek’s Old Drawings of West Mercer Way

At a used bookstore clearance sale in Capitol Hill I came across Seattle Cityscape (U of W press, 1962) by Victor Steibrueck, University of Washington architecture maven. ”Through ink sketches and critical observations, the author seeks to portray and establish the unique character and color of Seattle’s physical environment.” Of course I bought it.

Two are houses on West Mercer Way. Here’s the first with the author’s comments:

West Mercer Way on Mercer Island is a showcase of well-designed residential architecture. One of the most pleasing is the home of Dr. and Mrs. Cyrus Rubin at 6105 Southeast Thirty-second Street, designed by architects Ibsen Nelson and Russel Sabin. It is a thoughtful and personal style of home, pleasantly landscaped, which speaks well for both architect and client.  (p. 164)

And the second. I love how the folaige runs out of the frame of the picture.

Architect Paul Hayden Kirk designed this excellent comtemporary wooden house, located in the woods at 4157 West Mercer Way, for his brother, Blair Kirk. It show masterful spatial design and composition, and fine knowledge of wood construction as a design consideration, while confidently making the best of a natural setting. (p. 166)

“Old” in the context of Seattle history is somewhat a loaded term, as I discovered in a Pioneer Square old book shop when I asked for old maps of Seattle. “There aren’t really an old maps of Seattle,” the bookeeper said, “since the fist maps were made on Vancouver’s journey here in the 17oo’s.” I then listened patiently as he explained the history of European exploration of the Pacific Northwest, and then told me he had no maps. So I feel comfortable using “old” here in the PNW to refer to the 1960s. Apologies to my mother, who I don’t consider “old” but who is considerably older than the 1960s.

We’ve got some excellent architecture on the Island, and some monsters. What are your favorites?

Price Trend Graphs for Mercer Island Real Estate

As the longest summer in real estate history drags on, I turn again to our local real esate market and ask: what’s up?

Inventory, For One Thing

Inventory is certainly up. It’s been going up since January.There are over 200 houses on the market now, versus around 60 in the holiday lull and 100 last fall.

Prices

List price per square foot for houses is slightly down; sale price is slightly up. Condo price per square foot is all over the map.

Sale price as a percentage of list prices were 95.5% (read down the post for MI data) in June and July, a little lower than the average in the region. That’s pretty common for more expensive areas, but it could also be that the large number of homes on the market give buyers some negotiating power.

Mortgage Rates Are Also Up

And the credit markets are still screwed up, which means mortgage rates are up.

I got these charts from Redfin, which just released a page of market data for every neighborhood, city and zip. Here’s the one for Mercer Island real estate. These are the most current and accurate pricing charts out there, in my view, but full disclosure: I work at Redfin, and I’m a real estate data junkie.

Bonus Link: I-90’s Reversible Bulge

Vintage Seattle’s done another post on our own I-90, recalling the days of the reversible bulge, with a link to video news coverage of I-90 sinking in the 1990 storms. That’s a must watch- and must watch again.

Check out the comments on that post for personal histories of driving the bulge, and see a few more from Surrounded By Water readers here.

The Roanoke Inn: Your Favorite Local Bar

Maybe I’m being presumptuous, calling the Roanoke (The “Roey” to its friends or long-time Island residents) your favorite bar. But you’ve got to love it. Its best features include:

• Just off the bike trail and I-90
• A welcoming pub room and lawn seating
• Good beer that distracts from the passable pub food
• Formerly a brothel right off the ferry landing

I think I’m close to getting my Wed morning bike friends to stop there for a drink after our ride, and I don’t even know if it’s open that early.

Convince your East Side and Seattle friends to meet there, it’s more convenient for you. Or just turn up on a summer afternoon because that’s what summer afternoons are for.

I was at the Roanoke at happy hour a few weeks ago. While I’m here, I thought, let me satisfy my curiosity about what really goes on at the Roanoke. The plaque outside told me the place was built in 1914:

But I wanted to know more. I asked three of the staff about the place, all of whom referred me to Maggie. After a bit of loitering I was finally able to find Maggie herself.

• Who comes here? I asked. “It’s a really local crowd. 70% are people we see 3, 4 times a week. Lots of bikers: both motorcycles and cyclists.”
• I asked if there were any bar fights. She laughed and said no. I pushed a little, hoping for great story,  but she stuck to her answer- I guess Mercer Island isn’t a big bar fight town.
• Thursdays and Fridays, from about happy hour through dinner, are the busiest times. It seemed so to me- happy hour was busier than I’d ever seen it in the evening or weekend.

That’s it- the back story of the Roanoke Inn, straight from Maggie, who’s worked there for seven years. If you have special memories of the place, feel free to contribute them. And now you know: If you want to make Mercer Island history, you can start a fight at the Roanoke. But I suggest you just have a beer.

Let’s Go to a Show

It’s theater time on Mercer Island, with two productions open now or soon. Bat Boy, at Mercer Island High School, is about a vampire boy. When John Hopkins did it, they called it “a musical with some guts.” Ouch. Anyway, the show was originally an off-broadway musical, and it’s been banned at some schools, which means it’ll probably be pretty good. Dates and tickets.

The Monkey King is a Chinese play being performed at Youth Theater Northwest. There’s a great clip from the Beijing Opera on YouTube. If the kids can do half of that, they’re pretty talented. And I’ll give them plenty of room on the sidewalk if I see them. Running til May 10; get tickets.

Music on Mercer is still looking for band students for their summer program. And we’ve got a couple of sports programs I’m more than a bit late on- there was registration for the Mercer Island Youth Soccer club on May 4th, but it looks like you can still go to the website and register.

Water Polo: not reported in time to drive attendance on May 2.

And finally, I’m really in deep water on this one, but I didn’t make the goal of getting this game on May 2 on the blog in time. Luckily Mercer Island girls Water Polo has a great website with a calendar.

On the Definitive Authority of the Mercer Island Bulletin Board

I’ve seen some other signs pop up over Mercer Island, in other locations than Island Crest Way and 40th– most notably at ICW at 68th, and occasionally across from the Post Office. In the opinion of this blogger, these are not definitive Bulletin Board locations, for the simple reason that I don’t pass by them regularly and therefore it would be hard to post them here. Other bloggers with more convenient locations can claim them and then we can have a lively debate over the definitive authority of each Bulletin Board location.

Nonsequiter: Keeping Mercer Island History Real

And finally, congratulations to Mercer Island’s Phil Flash. According to the Mercer Island Reporter:

Last Tuesday, Flash was given the Willard Jue Memorial Award by the Association of King County Historical Organizations, or AKCHO, for his persistence, devotion and enthusiastic work in preserving Mercer Island’s historic legacy.

Thanks Phil! I love Mercer Island history, and you’re keeping it real. Richard Sprague suggested I get in touch with you a while back, and I’ll try harder because I went and got married instead.