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JUNE 2008 NEWSLETTER REDMOND HISTORICAL SOCIETY
VOLUME 10, NUMBER 6 16600 NE 80th Street, Room 106
Redmond, WA 98052 ~ Tel 425.885.2919
Our Mission:
To Discover, Recover, Preserve, Share and website ~ www.redmondhistory.org
Celebrate Redmond’s History e-mail ~ [email protected]
NEW HOURS: Monday, Wednesday and Thursday:
HISTORY IS HAPPENING IN REDMOND! 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. ~ and by appointment

P otluck Picnic:
June 14th
We don’t have a general meeting
D erby Days are Here Again!

in June. Instead it’s a potluck picnic

at Anderson Park, from 11:00 a.m. to
2:00 p.m. with entertainment by the
Oldtime Fiddlers! Even if you don’t
cook, we’ll have plenty of hot dogs,
punch and handmade ice cream to
go around! l

O

ur History is
Hip!
Check out the May/June issue
The caption on this Seattle P.I. photo taken by Clarence J. Rote stated: “The 1947 Redmond
Bicycle Derby began with a parade of children in costume and the crowning of the derby's
queen. The bicycle race, run under the rules of the National Amateur Racing Authority, began
of the glossy magazine “425” for a in the early afternoon, with classes for men and junior and senior boys and girls. Junior
riders raced from Issaquah to Redmond and senior riders raced a 25 mile route around Lake
long article on what makes Redmond Sammamish.” (Photo courtesy of Seattle P.I. via the Museum of History and Industry.)

unique!
Redmond-raised reporter Times have changed but not our tradition of bike races, parades
Georgie Nickell notes that “one and a town party! This year it’s on July 12, and all are welcome to join the
Redmond Historical Society in its parade entries: walking with us (we’re
of Redmond’s newest trends is
even sponsoring the history theme in the kids
celebrating its past.” She then quotes
parade) or riding in a retired schoolbus or
Society historian Nao Hardy: “We
fire engine. Contact the office if you’d like RHS SUMMER
have monthly speakers, videos and
details of where to meet by phoning us POTLUCK PICNIC
discussions that draw overflowing
at 425.885.2919 or redmondhistory@
crowds . . . all about Redmond’s rich SATURDAY, JUNE 14TH
hotmail.com.
11:00 A.M. TO 2:00 P.M.
history. In the summer we offer a By the way, do you know the at
guided walking tour of the historic street corner where the photo above ANDERSON PARK
downtown area . . . and we recently was taken? The buildings are still there, in
Downtown Redmond
published ‘Redmond Reflections: and one offers clues as to location. See
From Settlers to Software.’” l page 5 for the answer! l

The Redmond Recorder ~ June 2008 History is Happening in Redmond!

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 NEXT
2008 RHS
GENERAL MEETING
SATURDAY, SEPT. 13TH
10:30 to Noon
AT THE
R
edmond Klondike Connection
Our Klondike Gold Rush presentation in April included some
REDMOND PUBLIC quick research that found just one person from Redmond in the rolls of
LIBRARY
thousands who traveled north. That person was W.P. Wilson. Society
Picnic replaces June Meeting!
See page 1! historian Nao Hardy has added him to her “Who’s Who in Redmond”
database, which has some 14,000 names!
2008 Executive Board “W.P. Wilson is the only Redmond resident documented as travelling
Judy Lang President pro tem
Chris Himes Vice-President to the Klondike during the Gold Rush,” Nao says, noting that he is buried at
Miguel Llanos Vice-President
Joanne Westlund Treasurer the Old Redmond Cemetery with a headstone that reads only, “My Brother,”
Margaret Wiese Corresponding a sign that his sister, Sallie Hutcheson, was his closest surviving relative.
Secretary
Beryl Standley Turns out William P. Wilson was a granduncle of Society member
Recording Secretary Frances McEvers. Society Corresponding Secretary Margaret Wiese, a
Board of Directors genealogy guru, has been helping Frances with some of her family history,
Mary Hanson
Nao Hardy and found out that Wilson was indeed a miner in Alaska from before 1900
Jon Magnussen to at least 1910, according to the Censuses, having arrived in 1897 from
Doris Schaible
Joe Townsend Piedmont, Wash., a town on the Olympic Peninsula’s Lake Crescent where
Patti Simpson Ward he had been a logger. “William's sister Sallie was Frances' grandmother,”
Office Manager Margaret adds.
Monica Park
The 1920 Census had William, who was born in Tennessee, listed as a
Attorney farmer in Boisfort, a town in Lewis County, Washington, and living with his
Charles Diesen
widowed sister Sallie, his nephew Charles Hutcheson and niece Margarie
Birthday Card Coordinator
Amo Marr Hutcheson.

Library Liasion Ten years later, the 1930 Census had William working as a farmer in
Andy McClung Hollywood, Washington, aged 70, and listed him as having married at 28
................................................... but then becoming a widower. l
Our finances are public record and

B
may be viewed at the office.
...................................................
FREE Newsletter elieve It or Not!
If you don't already subscribe,
please sign up. Call the office at
425.885.2919 or e-mail
[email protected]. State your
preference of e-mail or U.S. Mail
(e-mail is cheaper for the city and
the photos look better on-line).
The Redmond Recorder
Published nine times annually
Miguel Llanos Editor
Patti Simpson Ward
Newsletter Graphic Designer

Major Sponsors

How to protect a river bank from erosion? This 1955 photo shows an attempt by the U.S. Army
Corps of Engineers to shore up the Sammamish. (Photo courtesy of Eastside Heritage Center.)

The Redmond Recorder ~ June 2008 History is Happening in Redmond!

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J oel Coval, one of the partners in the upscale hamburger restaurant about to open inside Odd Fellows Hall, shared
with us some of the bottles found around and under what was once Redmond’s first dance hall and cinema ~ as
well as a place to swig some hooch! If anyone has first-hand experience with these bottles and Odd Fellows, please
contact us at [email protected] or 425.885.2919 to share some of that history! l

The Redmond Recorder ~ June 2008 History is Happening in Redmond!

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W

ere You at Our
May 10th, 2008 Meeting?
We counted 85 attendees ~ several of them newbies.
A Heap of Historical
Thanks to:
Loita and Dale Hawkinson of the Kirkland
First time attendees are noted in BOLD TYPE! Heritage Society for 1955 photos from the
Sammamish Slough Race that we used at last
Adams, Ray Llanos, Miguel
month’s meeting.
Anspach, Ray Lutz, Brian
Aries, Annette Lyons, George
Kris Swanson for home video of the water
Aries, Jim Lyons, Jackie
ski races that were also held on the river.
Bartley, David Magnuson, Cheryl
Bartley, Elsie Magruder, Joan
Jerry Torell for newspaper clippings of
Bernauer, Sylvia Martin, Bob
Broadie, Douglas the raft race, the third water tradition on the
Martin, Daryl
Campbell, Sally Sammamish.
Martin, Ward
Carlson, Jack McClung, Andy
Comer, Gordy Carol Trapp for donating a Redmond
McCormick, Elma
Davies, John Octoberfest mug from 1978.
McCoskrie, Eileen
Dudley, Gordon
McKelheer, Mike
Dudley, Irene Sally Campbell, Amo Marr, Richard
Miller, Larry
Emmanuel, Tony Morris, and Roxie and John Phillips for
Montgomery, Mary
Garbarino, Frank booth sitting at the Saturday Market.
Muñoz, Alexa
Garbarino, Peggy
Nelson, Robert
Gilbert, Evelyn Roxie and John Phillips and Monica
Newhard, Vic
Goetschius, Millie Park for attending a 4Culture "collections
Norvold, Jan
Goetschius, Russell
Phillips, John preservation" workshop.
Goshorn, Herbert
Phillips, Roxana
Goshorn, Jean Etta
Rosenbach, Patsy Clara and Jerry Hammersberg for
Greaves, Steve
Rossiter, David joining several board members on a committee
Hammersberg, Clara
Salmi, Anne to plan the Society’s long-term goals.
Hammersberg, Jerry
Hansen, Tom Schaible, Doris

Hanson, Marge Smith, Elsie

S
Hanson, Roy Standley, Beryl
Hawkinson, Dale Stensland, Don
aturday Market
Hawkinson, Loita
Himes, Christine
Stray, Fran
Stray, Fred
Help?
Hudson, Carolyn Swanson, Kris
The Society is hosting a booth the first
Ingersoll, Jo Ann Tollfeldt, Anne
Saturday of each month at The Redmond
Isackson, Diana Tollfeldt, Harvey
Townsend, Joe Saturday Market. If you can donate two hours
Isackson, Lloyd
Johnson, Mary Ann Trapp, Carol for a shift (9:00 to 11:00 a.m., 11:00 a.m. to 1:00
Johnson, Roger Turner, Judy p.m., or 1:00 to 3:00 p.m.) please let us know
Keeley, Elaine Vallene, Arlyn by e-mailing [email protected] or
Kenyon, Bruce Weiss, Rose
calling the office at 425.885.2919. The Market’s
Kenyon, Cheryl Wiese, Margaret
Kuhl, Betty not only a great place to share our history,
Williams, Audrey
Kuhl, Howard Williams, Larry it’s also a great place to run into friends and
Lang, Judy Aries Williams, Lois neighbors strolling by! l

The Redmond Recorder ~ June 2008 History is Happening in Redmond!

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History Hero Correction and Walking Tours
Congratulations Are Back
In our last newsletter, our 2008 History Hero, Dianna Broadie, cited
preservation of the Stone House as a satisfying moment. Stone House There’s still time to sign up for
co-owner Randy Reeves wrote us after we mixed up his wife’s name! the last walking tours of the season
“Please note that I own the Stone House with my wife Stephanie Reeves along Leary Way. Guide Tom
and with Paul and Patty Gordon,” he said. “Dianna is a wonderful woman Hitzroth has lined up two Sundays
and a passionate advocate for history and the preservation of what is left • June 22
of our heritage. She will be missed!” l • September 21
as long as it doesn’t rain!

Derby Photo Reserve your spot via

425.885.2919 or redmondhistory@
The photo on Page 1 shows the 1947 Derby in the heart of Redmond:
hotmail.com.
the girls are riding along Leary Way, just having crossed Redmond Way.
The cost is $6 per person and
How do we know that’s the spot? While the General Electric Store doesn’t
proceeds will go to purchase a
jump out as a distinctive property, the dormer windows of the building
bench for the walking route. The
behind it are unique to the Odd Fellows Hall on Leary Way. An even closer
1:00 to 2:30 p.m. tour starts at the
look reveals the circular Independent Order of Odd Fellows logo hanging
Justice White House across from
from the building.
Long-timers will have also identified the far left corner of the photo,
Half-Price Books. l
where a “rn” from a sign is visible. That would have been the Corner
Tavern, now O’Leary Park.
Notice any signs from World War II, which had ended just two years
earlier? Hanging next to the American flag are two others: seems like
one is a flag of mourning and the other possibly the flag of France. If
you’ve got information to fill in that bit of history, please contact us at
[email protected] or 425.885.2919. l

✂
Redmond Reflections Order Form
Also available at the Redmond Library!

We ship free for current members, so if you haven't joined or renewed, there's a form on the last
page of this newsletter that you can send in with the book order form below.

Price per book: $21.78 ($20.00 + $1.78 Washington Sales Tax)

(Non-Members, please add postage: $3 for one book, $5 for two and $8 for three or more)

ADDRESS TO MAIL BOOK(S) TO:

Name:______________________________________ Name:____________________________________
Telephone: __________________________________ Address: __________________________________
No. of Books Ordered: ________________________ City/St./Zip: _______________________________
Amount Enclosed: ____________________________ __________________________________________

Mail completed form (please print clearly) and check or money order to:

Redmond Historical Society

16600 NE 80th, Room 106
Redmond, WA 98052

The Redmond Recorder ~ June 2008 History is Happening in Redmond!

5
M

ystery Tool Feedback
We received three possibilities for the tool at
right, which Amo Marr donated. Someone thought it
was from a military jet and used to crack open the
cockpit in an emergency.
Vic Newhard of the Kirkland Heritage Society thinks it “could be a farriers tool used to clean hooves and
nail on new shoes.”
Brian Goetschius is sure it’s a slater’s hammer for “punching holes in slates” and that the sheer side was to
“knock chips off the edge of slates.”
This editor has to go with Brian, since a second donated tool was identified as being a roofing hammer
and the Marrs had lived across the street from a shingle mill. l

J oin the Redmond Historical Society

AND HELP DISCOVER, RECOVER, PRESERVE AND
SHARE REDMOND’S HISTORY!

LEVELS OF MEMBERSHIP (✓ Check one only.) Please make checks payable to:
REDMOND HISTORICAL SOCIETY
$5.00 ❍ TRAILBLAZER (Student)
$20.00

$35.00
❍ PIONEER (Individual)
❍ HOMESTEADER (Family)
✉ Fill out the form below and mail it with your check to:
Redmond Historical Society

$200.00 ❍ ENTREPRENEUR (Supporter) Attn: Membership
$250.00 ❍ CORPORATE (Business) ORSCC, Room 106

$1,000.00 ❍ HISTORY MAKER (Lifetime) 16600 NE 80th Street
All Contributions are tax deductible. Redmond, WA 98052

(PLEASE CLIP AND MAIL THIS INFORMATION WITH YOUR CHECK.)

✂
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(PLEASE PRINT YOUR NAME EXACTY AS YOU WOULD LIKE IT TO APPEAR ON YOUR NAME TAG FOR GENERAL MEETINGS.)

Address: __________________________________ City: _____________________________ State: ______ Zip: _____________

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