Probably no organization was as prominent and powerful a force in 1920’s Kirkland civic life than the Warren O. Grimm Post 83 of the American Legion. Its members were said to “run Kirkland”. Indeed, mayors and council members of that era were often legionnaires, for example popular town physician, Dr. Ernest McKibben, Sr., served [...]
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Downtown Kirkland’s 1930s-era Ferry Clock Restoration Gets Underway
Kirkland’s historic ferry clock might soon be repaired and restored to it’s original glory, at least if the spunky Sue Contreras, a Kirkland Park Board member and the ambitious group she’s assembled get their way. From 1905 until 1950, Seattle-bound Kirklanders lined up at the foot of Kirkland Avenue to board a ferry crossing [...]
Kirkland Now & Then — Downtown in the 1940′s
This color image looking north over Moss Bay comes from the collection of the Kirkland Heritage Society and is not dated, but is likely the winter of 1948-49. The image shows the old Kirkland ferry dock and bumper dolphins still in place and those were removed in 1951, so the photo obviously pre-dates that. Color [...]
Kirkland Now & Then | Downtown from the early 1970s
This drawing of downtown Kirkland’s Central Business District ran as part of a newspaper ad appearing in a 1973 issue of the old East Side Journal. This is, of course, the block on the west side of Lake Street, between Kirkland Avenue and Central Way. Several of the businesses shown, including Betty’s Apparel, Kid’s Stuff [...]
Kirkland Now & Then | The Brooks Building on Market Street
In Kirkland’s history, there are several families that are prolific: Brooks and Patty are two such names. From the 19th century up to today, the branches and roots of these two family trees blend and twist through Kirkland’s past like a 1960s wallpaper design. John B. Patty was born in Tennessee in 1836. In 1861 [...]
Kirkland Now & Then | Kirkland’s First Park
Kirkland’s first park was located at the site of today’s Heritage Park, off Waverly Way. The land had originally been a part of Andrew Nelson’s Homestead, a claim he staked in 1877. When Peter Kirk came in 1887 and began his work building a town that would support his envisioned steel manufacturing complex, Kirk’s [...]
Kirkland Now & Then | The colorful history of Kirkland & Houghton circa 1963 (Photos)
On September 12, 1963, Kirkland and Houghton were two separate cities. Kirkland, incorporated in 1905, had a population of 6500 and Houghton, incorporated in 1947, consisted of 3145 residents. Tension ran high, the next Tuesday, September 17, voters of both towns were to decide whether or not to approve a dramatic change: Consolidation, thereby removing what the East Side Journal [...]
Kirkland Now & Then | Kirkland Woman’s Club
On January 24, 1920, several ambitious Kirkland women met at the Baldwin home. These civic minded women sought to better Kirkland, so they formed a club, “…to encourage and promote all subjects of education and loyalty to country and government and to pursue such studies as outdoor art, current events, and such other subjects as [...]
Kirkland Now & Then | Norkirk Neighborhood’s Piccadilly Hill
In 1888, Peter Kirk’s newly incorporated Kirkland Land & Improvement Company set out to plat a townsite, Kirkland, its backers and staff believed would soon blossom into the ‘Pittsburgh of the Pacific.’ Kirkland was to be a company town of ‘progressive’ design and modeled after another, Pullman, IL. Kirk’s staff engineers plotted each street and avenue with care and deliberation. Streets [...]
Kirkland Now & Then | 101 Kirkland Avenue
Today, the corner of Kirkland Avenue and Lake Street is the home of The 101 apartments. The corner was home to banks and real estate companies during most of the twentieth century. The photos above, provided by the Kirkland Heritage Society, show the various buildings located at this site over the years. In the summer [...]
Kirkland Now & Then | The Kirkland Cooperative Cannery
The old Kirkland Cannery building stands at 640 Eighth Ave. The wood-frame structure was built in 1935 by the Works Progress Administration. In June 2001 the cannery closed after years of canning produce for local families and then evolved into a smokehouse and did custom-smoking for local fishermen. The Cannery also sold a line of [...]
Rob Butcher, Editor
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