Kirkland’s historic Marsh Mansion opened its doors to the Kirkland Heritage Society’s (KHS) members on Sunday, Dec. 13 for the…
On the Fourth of July, 1881, Harry D. French (one of Kirkland’s earliest settlers) had a picnic.
When the Washington Equal Suffrage Association published their Washington Women’s Cook Book in 1908 it was dedicated: “to the first woman who realized that half the human race were not getting a square deal, and who had the courage to voice a protest.”
As I sip my latte at Carillon Point’s Starbucks, it’s hard to believe that this peaceful lakeside spot was once the site of the bustling Lake Washington Shipyards. At the peak of its production during World War II, the LWS employed about 8,000 workers, repaired 477 war weary ships, ranging in size from tugboats to large transports, and built 29 warships for the US Navy. These were heady times for a small town that had a pre-war population of only about 2000.
By the time the first benefit dance was held in Juanita Park Pavilion on February 18, 1933, the world was in the throes of a deep depression. The U.S. stock market had crashed in 1929, and the Smoot-Hawley Act of 1930 —- a measure that increased tariff barriers to protect American-made goods —-resulted in protectionist retaliation around the world.
In April 1933, Kirkland’s City Council passed a beer ordinance by a three-to-one vote. Although our town had been dry since its incorporation in 1905, it was now legal to sell 3.2 percent beer on draft and in bottles in restaurants and cafes, and bottled beer in grocery and drug stores.
It was 1918 — the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month. The Great War, which had begun in August 1914, had finally come to an end. This “war to end all wars” had dragged on relentlessly and, by the time the US entered the conflict in April 1917; it had already accounted for millions of lives.
Have you ever wondered how a place gets its name? Sometimes it’s logical, such as Seattle (Chief Sealth), but often it’s not. Take the Strait of Juan de Fuca. This was named after a Greek navigator who “discovered” the channel in 1592, and used a Spanish pseudonym in honor of his employer.
