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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2023 Issue 5 - A Trip Through History, The History of the Washington Dinner Train.pdfREAL LIFE HISTORY9GO HAWKS!MUSEUM REPORT From 1992 to 2007, the Spirit of Washington Dinner Train brought the romance of the rails to King County's Eastside. For a price guests enjoyed an excursion through the communities east of Lake Washington from Renton to Woodinville and back, with a dose of history and a good meal along the route. In the end, the popular attraction lost out to changing transportation systems, including rail abandonment, bridge replacement, and freeway construction. The Coming of the Dinner Train Our story begins at the Ellensburg Rodeo during Labor Day weekend 1988. The Temple family — father Nick and brothers Eric and Brig — had recently purchased a short- line freight railway they called the Washington Central Railroad. Entrepreneurial sorts, they decided to try an experiment in rail excursions. They leased a set of old dining Also In This Issue... Continued on page 5 2 FUN WITH MAPS113 RENTON HISTORICALSOCIETY & MUSEUM Winter December 2023 Volume 54 Number 5QUARTERLY A TRA TRII P TP T HH RR OO UU GH HIGH HISS TT OO RRYY : : TT HH E SPE SPII RIT RIT OO F F WWAA SHSHII NN GG TT OO N N DD INNER TRINNER TRAA II NN By Eleanor BobaBy Eleanor Boba 2 | RENTON HISTORY MUSEUM DEL MEAD (1923 – 2023) An extraordinary Renton woman, Delores “Del” Mead, passed away in October. Del served as Renton City Clerk from 1972 to 1982, and after retirement, she continued as a volunteer greeter at City Hall from 1982 to 2000. In her volunteer roles, Del was a friendly face to thousands of Rentonites. Few people knew she started her working life as a USO performer and magician’s assistant. Del was also key to the founding of the Renton Clothes Bank. She made a lasting difference in our city. GO ‘HAWKS! In November the Museum received its first donation from the Seattle Seahawks organization, the largest bass drum in the NFL, retired by the Blue Thunder Drumline in 2015. A crew from Lumen Field brought the drum, along with Drumline co-directors Keith Rousu and Tony Soldano. For almost a decade, the drum had been a key component of every game, including three Super Bowls, and many community events. At 100” and 500 pounds, the drum is one of the largest and most exciting objects in our collection. It is currently on exhibit in our main gallery. caption VOLUNTEER TRAINING Coming up in early 2024, we are planning some new volunteer training that may interest those of you looking for volunteer opportunities. On Sat., Jan. 27 we’ll be introducing “Pocket Engagement” training, a chance for those interested in using historic objects to engage visitors in critical thinking and analysis. And we’ll also be looking for new oral history volunteers. If you’re interested, please reach out to Museum Office Aide Stephanie Snyder at ssnyder@rentonwa.gov or 425-255-2330. MUSEUM REPORT QUARTERLYWINTER 2023 A recent Hidden Brain podcast reminded me how far we as people will go to preserve our memories. Filmmaker and tech entrepreneur Justin Harrison was terrified of losing his mother after she received a diagnosis of stage 4 cancer. He set out to “preserve the essence of their relationship” by creating a virtual Mom, one who would still be there for him after her death, asking about his day, reminding him about his health, comforting him when he needed it. He put together a team of AI specialists and they began working on her “Versona,” a virtual persona available whenever he needed her, even after death. He spent months collecting their phone calls and text and email exchanges, all data that would be used to craft her virtual likeness; the phone calls in particular allowed the team to recreate her voice and craft likely responses to anything Harrison might say. The result was “YOV-You, Only Virtual”—pronounced “you”—an audio (so far) avatar that Harrison can use to connect to his parent. Harrison’s mom was the beta test—the team had just perfected the first stage of his mother’s Versona and he was about to pitch the idea to investors in Hong Kong when she passed away. This is a real company, providing a real service, and you can check them out. They describe themselves on social media as “a posthumous communication platform forging the future of human connection.” YOV is another in the history of innovations seeking to defy death, even if it is a particularly self-centered one. People have used rituals like funerals, wakes, grave-visiting, and -decorating; Day of the Dead gatherings and shrines enable family and friends to revive their shared memories communally, through stories. More extreme versions include seances with spiritual mediums; the magician Harry Houdini and his wife ran a decades-long experiment after his death to see if they could reconnect. The Victorians sought to preserve the last image of a deceased loved one or a last lock of their hair in jewelry. Museums also preserve our relationships to a past place or time or people, but in ways that change and grow as our experiences make us mature and think differently about our place in the world. We cannot offer you a historical Versona who says all the right things at the right time, but my guess is that would get pretty boring after a while. What we do offer is a physical interactive platform forging the future of human understanding and creativity, and that’s a pretty necessary innovation right now. by Elizabeth P. Stewart, Museum Director RENTON HISTORICAL QUARTERLY Pritchard Design Graphic Design & Layout Karl Hurst City of Renton Print & Mail Services RENTON HISTORICAL SOCIETY BOARD OF DIRECTORS Dan Clawson, President Erica Conway, Vice President Leilani Hampton, Treasurer Bob Wilson, Secretary David Wakukawa Kim-Khanh Van Chris Howell Elizabeth P. Stewart, Board Liaison MUSEUM STAFF Elizabeth P. Stewart Museum Director Stephanie Snyder Museum Office Aide RENTON HISTORY MUSEUM 235 MILL AVENUE S RENTON, WA 98057 P (425) 255-2330 F (425) 255-1570 E rentonhistorymuseum rentonwa.gov HOURS: Tuesday - Saturday 10:00am - 4:00pm ADMISSION: $5 (Adult) $2 (Child) Members always FREE Elizabeth P. Stewart Director Cover photo: Spirit of Washington ribbon- cutting ceremony at the Renton Depot, March 1992. L-R: City Councilmember Kathy Keolker (in blue), Mayor Earl Clymer, Eric Temple, and his wife Patricia Temple (holding bouquet). (Photo by Warren Wing, courtesy Pacific Northwest Railroad Archives, #WWAPC0634.) Death portrait of unidentified child with his family, ea. 1900s. (#2014.026.001) Late 19th-century brooch with woven hair decoration. Belonged to Marie Arps Miner. (#1980.999.0151) WINTER QUARTERLY, 2023 | 3 4 | RENTON HISTORY MUSEUM PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE O n September 23rd, Renton Historical Society held a fundraising luncheon and auction at VFW Post #1263, our first in-person fundraiser since 2019. Loyal members and guests gave $10,549 to fund our mission: supporting the Renton History Museum, preserving the Renton area’s history, and making that history accessible to all. We enjoyed a fabulous multicultural feast and music by local musician Biff Moss. Attending dignitaries included Janice Tanner, Renton Councilmember and RHS Board Member Kim-Khanh Van, former Councilmembers Toni Nelson, Randy Corman, and Angelina Benedetti, and Burien Deputy Mayor Kevin Schilling, who also served as MC and auctioneer. Many thanks go out to Laura Clawson, Theresa Clymer, Terry Higashiyama, Cailin Hunsaker, Lynne King, and others who jumped in to assist with little or no notice and helped make the event fun for everyone. Leilani Hampton has joined the Board as Treasurer. Leilani recently graduated from Clark Atlanta University with a B.A. in History cum laude and works for the Renton School District as a Behavior Interventionist. Her energy, creativity, and passion for history will make Leilani a very valuable addition to the Board. We also welcome Erica Conway to the Board as Vice President. Erica received her B.S. in Sociology and Criminal Justice from Virginia Union University in 1997. She is currently the Seattle Criminal Courts Operations Supervisor and Second Vice President for the NAACP of King County. We are extremely fortunate to have a person with such a strong organizational background and experience in the leadership of a successful nonprofit on our Board. Your volunteer and financial support makes our outstanding Museum and the many learning opportunities it provides to our community possible, while helping the Historical Society build and maintain its extensive collection of historical items, photos, and documents. It’s easy to donate or renew your membership on the City of Renton website Museum page—search “Renton History Museum” with your browser and click on “Get Involved.” Renton Historical Society is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, and your donation may be tax deductible. You can contact us directly at rentonhistoricalsociety@gmail.com. by Dan Clawson, President Dan Clawson President RHS acknowledges RHS acknowledges we are on the we are on the unceded traditional unceded traditional land of the land of the Duwamish people. Duwamish people. A people forced to A people forced to relocate, but who relocate, but who have persevered.have persevered. The Museum views the history of Renton to include since time immemorial to today and is committed to exploring that through its partnerships, exhibits and programs. WINTER QUARTERLY, 2023 | 5 initial destination in Woodinville was the Chateau Ste. Michelle Winery. After a year or two, when the active event schedule at that winery became an obstacle, the Dinner Train moved on to the Columbia Winery, where guests had a break of about 45 minutes to stretch their legs, perhaps taste some wine, and browse in the winery gift shop. Views along the journey ranged from the gritty and industrial (Boeing, PACCAR) to the scenic (Lake Washington, Mercer Island). Riders experienced the harrowing crossing of the 102-foot-tall Wilburton Trestle across the Mercer Slough in Bellevue. The train traveled under both Interstate 90 and State Route 520, took in the ever-changing skyline of downtown Bellevue, chugged through the tony residential neighborhoods of Kirkland, and fetched up in winey Sammamish Valley. Wait staff provided running commentary on the passing sights, expounding on the abrupt drop in the lake's shoreline occasioned by the opening of the Lake Washington Ship Canal in 1916; the building in 1904 by the Northern Pacific Railway of the Wilburton Trestle, at 975 feet the longest wooden trestle in the Pacific Northwest; the industrial roots of Kirkland; and the growing wine industry of the bucolic Sammamish Valley. The Spirit of Washington was powered by F9 diesel electric engines built by General Motors in the 1950s — one at each end. F9 number 84, painted red and with the Spirit of Washington logo on its nose, pulled several passenger cars and two domed cars; the latter offered better views for a premium price. Train cars bore iconic names: “Olympic,” cars from the Canadian Railroad Historical Association and offered a dinner excursion along the Yakima River Canyon south of Ellensburg for the duration of the rodeo. The trip proved so popular that the Temples continued the enterprise the following spring, even adding a second route from Kennewick to the Hogue Cellars winery in Prosser. With the 1989 centennial of Washington's statehood in mind, the family christened the train “Spirit of Washington.” May 1992 found the Temple family moving the dinner-train operation to Puget Sound with hopes of benefitting from a larger market and a year-round temperate climate. Eric Temple was put in charge of the operation. The little-used Woodinville Subdivision of the Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF), once dubbed the “Lake Washington Belt Line,” offered an excellent route between the burgeoning city of Renton at the south end of Lake Washington and the popular wineries of the Sammamish Valley near the lake's north end. The Temples brought their collection of vintage engines and passenger cars across the Cascades and set up shop at the Renton Depot, contracting with BNSF for use of the line and retrofitting the dormant passenger station to serve as a welcome center. Dinner and a Show The Dinner Train experience offered a 3 1/2-hour excursion six days a week from Renton to Woodinville and back, approximately 24 miles each way. Guests were served dinner on the way up and coffee and dessert on the way back. Soon a weekend brunch train was added. The Continued from page 1 Riders on the Spirit of Washington Dinner Train enjoyed a gourmet meal while exploring the scenery between Renton and Woodinville. (Photo courtesy of Gary Palmer.) Traveling over the 102-foot Wilburton Trestle spanning the Mercer Slough was the most breathtaking part of the Dinner Train journey. (#2023.014.157) 6 | RENTON HISTORY MUSEUM Pietsch recounted a lively trip on the train with a group of Renton city officials and a delegation from the People's Republic of China during which a bottle of Chinese plum brandy made the rounds surreptitiously. Former Renton city councilmember Marcie Palmer remembered a trip arranged by the Renton Chamber of Commerce for representatives of Nishiwaki, Renton's sister city in Japan, noting that the Dinner Train was the go-to activity for impressing out-of-town guests: “It was so beautiful — especially in the domed cars. It was just so pleasant. It didn't matter what the weather was; it looked so bright inside. The food was actually good. You didn't think it was going to be. That's not why you went.” Celebrities spotted riding the rails included actors John Travolta, Tom Skerritt, and James “Scotty” Doohan; Guns N' Roses lead guitarist Slash; plenty of Seahawks and Mariners; and, of course, Bill Gates. Many a car was reserved for group events; the train's Murder Mystery Parties, staged by the It's a Mystery acting troupe, were especially popular. Birthdays and anniversaries were celebrated. At least one couple was married aboard the train. Stopped in Its Tracks With business booming, in 2005 Eric Temple expanded his Renton operation to include management of the city's new conference center. Temple signed a 10-year lease to operate the Pavilion, a former auto dealership building in the heart of Renton's downtown revitalization target area. The renamed Spirit of Washington Conference Center “Mt. Rainier,” “Columbia Winery,” “City of Renton,” “Cascade,” “City of Seattle,” and “Chateau Ste. Michelle.” Gretchen's Of Course, the well-known caterer, provided the meals in the early days. Once the business was established, Eric Temple built a catering kitchen adjacent to the Renton depot and took meal preparation in-house. Washington wines (and some others) were available, of course, for an additional cost. The full train had an advertised capacity of 370 passengers, with a crew of 43. Promotional literature dubbed it “the biggest dinner train in the country!” Some riders quibbled about the bumpiness of the ride, the quality of the food, the shared tables, and the sometimes less-than- pristine views. (While many onlookers waved and smiled at passengers, more than one wag “mooned” the train.) In addition, the train ran into the safety problems inherent to operating a railway in a densely-populated area; there were at least nine accidents on the track during the train's run, two of them fatalities (one a suicide). Although it traveled at very slow speeds, the Dinner Train had to navigate 45 crossings in each direction—27 public and 18 private—and chronically overgrown vegetation affected visibility for both train engineer and car drivers. In 2002, a BNSF freight train, the only other train still active on the southern portion of the route, crashed into the stationary and unoccupied Dinner Train at the Renton Depot, damaging the engine. A Major Draw As heritage tourism the Dinner Train was an unqualified success. According to figures supplied by the business itself, the train drew approximately 100,000 riders per year for a grand total of 1.4 million over the course of its stay on Lake Washington. At the same time, it pumped millions of dollars into the local economy. Alex Pietsch, Renton's Director of Economic Development from 2001 to 2012, remembered the Spirit of Washington as much-beloved by local folk and a major draw for Renton: “The Dinner Train was the reason people from around Puget Sound came to Renton in those days. Alongside the Pacific Science Center and the Space Needle, it was what you did when grandma came to town.” By early 1992 the Burlington Northern Railroad had abandoned the Burnett Avenue depot, creating an opportunity for Eric Temple and his family to rejuvenate the line. (#2019.007.237) The Northern Pacific Railroad Depot, shown here in 1912, was built in 1906 – 1907, using salvaged parts of the Black River Junction station. Early on, the depot handled freight and passenger trains. (#41.0568) WINTER QUARTERLY, 2023 | 7 provided catered events, with food prepared in the kitchen adjacent to the train depot, a mere two blocks away. Change, however, was already in the air. As the century turned, BNSF looked to reduce its responsibilities by abandoning the Woodinville Subdivision. Things came to a head when the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) announced plans to demolish the Wilburton Tunnel over I-405 in 2008 in order to widen the freeway. The tunnel, actually a lid over I-405, had been built in 1972 to convey the BNSF tracks over the freeway. Removal of the lid would by necessity break the rail line. Any re-routing of the track would take considerable time and effort, something neither WSDOT nor BNSF was interested in doing. Renton had invested money and energy in promoting the Dinner Train as part of its “Renton: Ahead of the Curve” marketing campaign. Naturally, the city was not happy about the demise of its premier tourist attraction. Marcie Palmer, at that time chair of the city's transportation committee, recalled that City Attorney Larry Warren filed an appeal with the Surface Transportation Board, arguing that the abandonment of the line would deprive Renton of a major source of income. “We were left with nothing. When Larry Warren filed papers in Washington, DC, that was when Burlington Northern literally came to the table. A vice president named Mr. [Jerome] Johnson came with his entourage of attorneys, and WashDOT came, and the city council transportation committee, and Mayor Kathy Keolker. I can still visualize sitting across from them at City Hall. The end result was that Burlington Northern offered to rebuild three railroad bridges that the City had known for years were not up to code. It saved the City millions.” The outcome of the negotiations worked out nicely for Boeing. Previously, in order to avoid the too-narrow and outdated Cedar River railroad bridge on the rail line accessing Renton from the west, the company had been using the tracks south of Snohomish along the Eastside to ship its 737-900 stretch fuselages into its Renton plant. The replacement Cedar River bridge allowed Boeing to ship all its Kansas- manufactured fuselages southward through Seattle and then up through downtown Renton. End of the Line Resolution of Renton's beef with BNSF was cold comfort to fans of the Dinner Train, which was now a lost cause. With the handwriting on the wall, Eric Temple had been actively exploring his options, including the possibility of moving the headquarters of the Dinner Train to Bellevue, Redmond, or Woodinville, with a run heading up into Snohomish County. Ultimately, he accepted an offer to move the entire operation to Pierce County. On July 31, 2007, the Spirit of Washington made its last run out of Renton, with many bystanders waving a farewell. Three days later, on August 3, the train began a new excursion route between Tacoma's Freighthouse Square station and Lake Kapowsin. Hopes were high that the new route might eventually be extended as far as Mount Rainier. But after 10 months Temple scrapped the enterprise as unprofitable. Rails to Trails Proponents of biking and walking trails eagerly looked to the day when the east side of Lake Washington would have a continuous recreational trail from the Snohomish County line down to Renton. After complex and fretful negotiations, various sections of what was now called the Eastside Rail Corridor (ERC) were sold off to the City of Kirkland, the City of Redmond, Puget The newly remodeled Spirit of Washington Depot in 1993. (#2002.053.5837) The iconic red Spirit of Washington locomotive forged a dramatic path through the Eastside landscape from 1992 to 2007. (#2008.037.014) 8 | RENTON HISTORY MUSEUM Sound Energy, Sound Transit, King and Snohomish Counties, and the City of Woodinville. All owners, as well as other adjacent jurisdictions and the Eastside Greenway Alliance, agreed to work together as the Eastside Rail Corridor Regional Advisory Council (RAC), “to achieve connectivity and multiple uses, maximizing public benefit and enjoyment throughout the corridor both directly and indirectly.” In October 2017 King County Parks held a spike-pulling ceremony at Gene Coulon Beach Park in Renton, the symbolic start of efforts to transform the old Belt Line into a recreational trail. As of this writing, the trail is open from Gene Coulon all the way to Interstate 90. A smaller section connects up with the existing Cross Kirkland Corridor and the stretch from Kirkland to Woodinville is open. Additional stretches of train track remain the subject of continuing planning, surveying, historic-resource inventorying, funding, and controversy. The Wilburton Trestle remains fenced off for safety while the City of Bellevue evaluates its use as a high-flying part of a trail system. The last remnant of train travel on the route, the short stretch between Woodinville and Snohomish run by Eastside Freight Railroad, ceased entirely in 2020. The old depot in Renton was converted to a tourist information bureau run by the city's Chamber of Commerce. Rain City Catering took on operation of the Renton Pavilion using the commercial kitchen constructed by Eric Temple adjacent to the train depot. The cars of the Dinner Train have been scattered to the winds. As of 2020 two could still be seen at the old U & I (Utah-Idaho) sugar plant in Wheeler, near Moses Lake in Grant County. Eric Temple, meanwhile, took the throttle of the Portland-Vancouver Junction Railroad, operating two short-haul rail lines in southwest Washington. In a 2018 interview he expressed regret that the Spirit of Washington did not survive: “I always had this vision that the dinner train would last forever — that my grandkids would ride it someday. So, it was very sad when 405 needed to be widened and it put me out of business.” Spirit of Washington Dinner Train and depot, decorated for Christmas. (Photographer Glen Larson, Wikimedia Commons.) A green-and-white Burlington Northern locomotive still shared tracks with the dinner train in May 1998. (#2010.002.090) WINTER QUARTERLY, 2023 | 9 Cook and Huntington Motors on Main, and Pedersen Bros. Motors and Sylvia Motor Co. on Bronson Way. The signs uncovered this September preserved a bit of the history of the early Main Ave. businesses; they were probably painted sometime in the 1920s, after the old wagon works came down and before the Holms building went up. The first advertisement memorialized O.K. Garage operated by “Armstrong & Sons,” and the second touted “Union Gasoline,” perhaps a product used and sold by O.K. Garage. The third sign, with its once-bright blue and yellow bus, advertised the Seattle- Renton bus line, with its “half-hourly service.” The fourth, and best-preserved, sign was added by Uptown Glassworks, the business that operated out of 230 Main Ave. when the signs were uncovered the first time by the 1998 demolition of the Holms building. In 1998 the Renton Historical Society and the Renton Municipal Arts Commission joined with the City of Renton and the property-owner in preserving the 1920s signs. Although all the signs are currently in poor condition after almost 30 years of weather and tree branches, for now they remain a remarkable vestige of Renton’s early automobile history, the city’s only surviving ghost signs. ENDNOTES 1 Much of the information contained in this article, including this paragraph, comes from the author’s interview with Eric Temple, August 31, 2018. 2 Brochure: Spirit of Washington Dinner Train, undated, Spirit of Washington Dinner Train subject file, Renton Historical Museum. 3 “Dinner train accident-prone,” The Olympian, May 22, 1997, p. C4 4 Eleanor Boba interview with Alex Pietsch, August 23, 2018. 5 Eleanor Boba interview with Marcie Palmer, September 6, 2018. 6 Abandonment is a legal term for the process under which, in 2008, the railroad sought and received permission from the United States Surface Transportation Board to cease operation and maintenance of 42 miles of the rail corridor and to sell the right of way. (Five miles of the 47-mile long line, from the old Black River Junction to Gene Coulon Park in Renton, remains in BNSF hands, largely to serve Boeing's Renton plant.) 7 Palmer interview. 8 “About The ERC Regional Advisory Council,” King County, Eastside Rail Corridor RAC website accessed September 9, 2018 (https://kingcounty.gov/ council/issues/erc/about.aspx 9 Not all were happy with the outcome. While negotiations dragged out, rail enthusiasts rallied to save a corridor they believed might still be used for commuter rail. Eastside Rail Now! and All Aboard Washington advocated hard to keep the line intact. With construction of light rail well underway in Seattle, All Aboard Washington made an abortive effort to purchase the line from BNSF in 2007. (Keith Ervin, “Port of Seattle to pay BNSF $81M for Eastside Rail Line,” The Seattle Times, December 21, 2009.) 10 Confirmed by Dan Bolyard, Big Bend Railroad History and by Google Maps. 11 Temple interview. A version of this article appears on HistoryLink.org (www.historylink.org/ File/20637). The Renton History Museum is situated in a neighborhood with an interesting early transportation history, one that was documented in a series of painted signs on the side of 230 Main Ave. S., now GHY Bikes. In mid-September, after a fire in the arborvitae behind the Veterans Memorial, the Renton Parks Department decided to take down the tall trees, uncovering these ghost signs for the second time in their history. Along with Burnett Ave. S., Main and Park Avenues attracted numerous livery stables and blacksmiths, which gradually become service stations and auto dealers with the transition to horseless carriages. As early as 1909, brothers Charles and Hugh Campbell operated O.K. Livery at 230 Main, renting horses and carriages and repairing them. Next door, facing South Third, was the Renton Wagon Works, operated by another set of brothers, Bernhard and Gotthard Kassner. As the city made the transition from horses to cars, the Kassners’ blacksmith shop disappeared, but O.K. Livery became O.K. Garage, owned by Vern Armstrong. The Seattle-Renton Stage—short for “stagecoach,” but really a bus line—made its turn back to Seattle on Main Ave., using O.K. Garage as a waiting room for passengers. Over the years, numerous car dealerships also opened in the area, including Dexter-Tonkin Motor Co. on Mill Ave., Reid & REAL LIFE HISTORY An occasional series of true stories Murals in 1998, exposed after the Holms building was torn down, but before arborvitae were planted. (#1999.006.5003) Murals in September 2023, showing considerable wear. (Photo by Museum staff.) 10 | RENTON HISTORY MUSEUM MEMORIAL DONATIONS August 12, 2023 – November 28, 2023 MEMORIALS OF $100 OR MORE Lila McWilliams Campen Wayne R. Matta Shirley Newing Hazel Newing Merrie Tonkin Hamlin Irene Tonkin Bill Anardi Darlene Bjornstad Mary Tonkin Lynn Tonkin MEMORIALS Pat Auten Judy Craig Carol Rockafield Collins Elizabeth P. Stewart Cleo Forgaard Roberta Logue Donovan Lynch Del Mead Elizabeth P. Stewart Jean Lyonais Peretti Darlene Bjornstad Gilda Carbonatto Youngquist Richard L. Major CONTRIBUTIONS OF $1,000 OR MORE Kim-Khanh Van Harry Blencoe CONTRIBUTIONS OF $500 OR MORE Ila Hemm Nancy Simpson Rich Wagner CONTRIBUTIONS OF $200 OR MORE Theresa & Stephen Clymer Linda Della Rossa Jill Devenport Caren Donati Dan & Liz Hemenway Terry & Dennis Higashiyama Don & Cailin Hunsaker Lynne King Carla Loux JoAnne Matsumura Rebecca Nickels Tarron Ward PATRON MEMBERS Linda Della Rossa Carla V. Loux LIFE MEMBERSHIP Kim-Khanh Van CONTRIBUTIONS OF $100 OR MORE Angelina Benedetti Carole A. Berg Donna Chevallier Randy & Catherine Corman Judy Craig Kate Dugdale Robert Hill Christina Jarvis Carla V. Loux In honor of the Kasner family Gerald and Mary Marsh Kim Unti CONTRIBUTIONS Janet & Gerald Bressan Don Burrows Shane & Jennifer Klingenstein Kathy McKnight Toni Nelson Karen Peterson Mark & Barbara Santos-Johnson James Wilhoit NEW MEMBERS Ronald Bensley Erica Conway Sue Donaldson Leonard Folino James O’Brien Zachary Pratt BENEFACTOR MEMBERS Marcie Palmer Eric & Emily Tuazon IN-KIND CONTRIBUTIONS Bruce Eldredge Consulting Pacific Northwest Railroad Archive Pritchard Design CORRECTION Recently, members of the Harding and Grant families came to the Museum to do a little research and to share what they know about their family history with us. Marcus McDonald Harding, born in 1882 in British Guiana, immigrated to the U.S. in 1900 and settled in Kennydale sometime before 1920. When he arrived in King County, he worked as a coal miner in Newcastle; later he was a steel worker who also farmed 3-4 acres in Kennydale. The Hardings had seen our June 2007 newsletter feature, “Renton’s Black Pioneers,” and recognized that we had misidentified Marcus Harding. We want to correct the record: in this photo (#1983.076.1817), Harding is the man to the right of #25. We always appreciate new information! WINTER QUARTERLY, 2023 | 11 FUN WITH MAPS I n November, while assisting a researcher with his project, we came across this very early cadastral map that Erasmus Smither filed with his land claim. It shows Henry H. Tobin’s considerable land claim, “Claim No. 37,” in the center, at the junction of the Black and Cedar Rivers. An “Indian Village” is indicated just south of Tobin’s boundary. Other landholders included Christian Clymer, across the Black from Tobin’s land; John Carr and Edmund Carr, south of the Indian village; and William P. Smith, Peter Andrews, and Daniel “Purses” (aka “Pierce”). Pre-dating Erasmus Smithers’ platting of the town of Renton, this may be the earliest map we have seen that shows white settlers. This map tries to pin the Duwamish down to one small area where they had what seemed to whites to be permanent settlements, not at all how Coast Salish people understood their relationship to the land. RENEW YOUR MEMBERSHIP RENTON HISTORY MUSEUM 235 Mill Ave. S Renton, WA 98057 Postcard received by Margaret Lewis, December 1908. This is one of a large collection of postcards from the estate of George and Annie Lewis Custer. (#2000.127.2696)