Bad sledding run near Ravenna Park lands woman in the hospital (UPDATE)

January 18, 2012 by 1 Comment

A woman was taken to Harborview Medical Center this afternoon, after a bad sledding run landing near the southern end of Ravenna Park.

Seattle Fire Department Public Information Officer Kyle Moore contacted SFD staff at the scene and got us the details.


View NE 54th St sledding accident in a larger map

The 19-year-old college student was sledding down NE 54th Street around 3:30 PM when she slid over a jump, landed on some rocks, hit her head, and lost consciousness. She had regained consciousness by the time Seattle Fire Department units reached her, but she was taken to Harborview in a stable condition as a precaution.

Many thanks to Capitol Hill Seattle’s own Justin Carder who provided the tip over twitter.

____________________

Please, people. For goodness sake: Make GOOD sledding choices.

Timmy was never the same after the extraction.
(Just kidding. This was an object d'snow art on NE 75th St from the snows of late 2008.)

____________________

UPDATE (Thursday afternoon): Steve Sorbo (@macsosguy) caught some NE 54th Street sledding action for us today at the scene of yesterday’s crash.

Filed Under: 911, Ravenna, University District, Updates Tagged With: , , , ,

Man and woman seriously injured in Ravenna Park attack (UPDATES)

January 12, 2012 by 1 Comment

A man and a woman were both beaten with a baseball bat early this morning in Ravenna Park. Police have not yet located the two suspects, and the investigation is ongoing.

We heard the news first from a resident of the area (via twitter direct message sent at 3:50 AM; kept anonymous due to privacy concerns), who said:

…police and medics congregated at 55th and Ravenna PL after a fight broke out. In the park. As officers arrived, two men emerged from the south end of the park saying that someone had beaten one or both of them with a bat.


View Ravenna Park in a larger map
View Larger Map

Just before 9 AM, Detective Mark Jamieson with the North Precinct of the Seattle Police Department, posted the following on the SPD Blotter:

On January 12th, at approximately 3:30 am, a citizen called 911 after hearing yelling and someone crying for help inside the southeast corner of Ravenna Park (approximately NE 55th Street and west of 25th Avenue NE). As officers arrived in the area, two victims, a 41 year old male and a 54 year old female, emerged from the wooded area. They had been beaten with a baseball bat multiple times. Both victims had head injuries as well as other injuries to their bodies. According to the victims, the suspect is a known male who they had a dispute with earlier. The suspect, described as a black male armed with the baseball bat, was accompanied by a white male. There is no further description of the white male. It appears that the suspect with the bat did the attack.

The Seattle Fire Department transported the couple to Harborview Medical Center with serious, but not life-threatening, injuries.

A K9 team attempted to locate the suspects within the large wooded park, but was unable to find them. The investigation is open and ongoing at this time.

We will update this story here when more information becomes available.

UPDATE (11:24 AM): Talked briefly on the phone and via email with Terrie Johnston, Crime Prevention Coordinator for the North Precinct. The first suspect is a regular denizen of the park, described as a black man in his late 30s-early 40s, wearing a black trench coat, a black backpack, black boots, and carrying a baseball bat. The second suspect is a white male adult. There was a fast response by multiple SPD units who established containment of the area quickly. Unfortunately, the K9 track produced neegtive results.

When I asked about the current state of Ravenna Park and if there were any additional concerns for park users and residents of the area, Johnston said this event wouldn’t stop her from using the park. She advised that users keep up their usual level of alertness though the park. Via the email:

As always, be aware of your surroundings, carry a cell phone to call 911 should you see anything suspicious.  Trust your gut feelings, if someone gives you a bad feeling, avoid them, leave and report them if appropriate.

UPDATE (12:58 PM): Kirotv.com has video of their report from their mornings newscast, as well as a slideshow of photos taken while police and fire crews were in the area.

Filed Under: 911, Crime, Ravenna, Ravenna Park, Updates Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

This is not what I mean by, “Let’s hang out at Ravenna Park.” (UPDATES)

September 6, 2011 by 2 Comments

Last night, a little after 7PM, I visited the Seattle Fire Department’s Real-Time 911 site, as I am want to do (local neighborhood news editor, here). And the following incident caught my eye:

Screen capture of the "Rescue Rope" call from the Seattle Fire Real-Time 911 page (click to expand)

Fourteen units headed to 55th and Ravenna Ave NE for a “Rescue Rope” call? What is that?

Google Maps shows the address as Ravenna Park.

I hop onto Twitter to ask if anyone is in the park and knows what’s going on, and a few moments later, the following message and picture arrive via email (from Ravenna resident Thom):

On our way dinner at Piatti we walked by this young man dangling from the [20th] Ave bridge. His t-shirt became entangled in his gear and he got stuck about 1/2 way down. He didn’t have a knife to cut himself free (and neither did we.) My son James snapped this pic with his Windows Phone 7.

Picture courtesy Thom George (and son James)

Well, that explained both the “rescue” and the “rope,” didn’t it?

I heard back this morning from Seattle Fire Department Public Information Officer, Kyle Moore, about how the rest of the call went:

Hey, we got called off of this before we arrived. The call came in at 6:54 as a person stuck under the 20th Avenue bridge at Ravenna Park. The call came in as a person under the bridge suspended on a rope with their shirt caught on rope. The caller said the person was trapped 20 feet from the ground. Seattle Police responded for traffic. The person got himself down before our units arrive.

So the rappeller is down, safe and sound, and hopefully rethinking his hobby (or the practice location, at least).

As for the legality of this activity, I think we can all agree that rappelling off a bridge anywhere in Seattle is a big no-no. I have contacted both the Seattle Parks and Recreation Department (update below) as well as the Seattle Police Department in regards to penalties for this type of activity, and will update this post if/when I receive more information.

UPDATES (Wednesday, September 7): Longtime Ravenna resident Bill wrote in to say:

That bridge has been a popular rappelling site for the 40+ years I’ve lived in Ravenna. On one occasion, about the mid 1970s, I watched from below the bridge, four or so guys taking turns dropping down, sometimes head first instead of feet first, showing off for the audience I guess. And probably their nerves were soothed from pot smoking, another favorite under-the-bridge activity back then. Hey, the risk takers are alive and well.

Seattle Parks and Recreation Communications Manager, Dewey Potter, had the following to say about this type of activity in (over?) city parks (via email):

Parks and Recreation, like other recreation agencies in Washington state, is protected by a “recreation immunity” statute that protects from liability public agencies that provide recreational space for the public and don’t charge a fee: http://apps.leg.wa.gov/rcw/default.aspx?cite=4.24.200. While Parks and Recreation tries to accommodate and find spaces for new forms of recreation (recent examples are off-leash areas, skateparks, bike polo, dodgeball, and slacklining), we haven’t talked about rappelling thus far.

Some light at the bottom of the cliff, recreational rappelers? As for me, I’m not even going to think about trying this for myself unless I see Parks and Seattle Center Committee chair, Councilmember Sally Bagshaw, do it first.

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Race through Ravenna Park on June 28

June 13, 2011 by Leave a Comment

On Tuesday, June 28, Northwest Trail Runs is holding races in Ravenna Park (5520 Ravenna Ave NE), starting at 6:45 PM.

Distances offered for this event are 4K, 8K and 12K — that’s about 2.5, 5, and 7.5 miles, respectively.

Registration for all three distances closes on Saturday, June 25, at midnight.

From the Northwest Trail Runs website:

Northwest Trail Runs was started to build a richer schedule of trail running events for trail running enthusiasts and to promote trail running as a fun and healthy way to enjoy the outdoors and explore a variety of beautiful public lands.

Regular weeknight Ravenna Park users may want to participate, or just be ready for the increased traffic.

Filed Under: Everything counts in large amounts Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

History Friday, Part 11: Literature, Culture, Comic Books

April 29, 2011 by 1 Comment

This is part of the essay “Ravenna Park (Seattle)“, appearing here thanks to HistoryLink.org and author Peter Blecha, under a Creative Commons license.

[If you’re new to the series, you can start with Part 1 here.]

Literature, Culture, Comic Books

Yet, even without its most majestic trees the park was a welcoming green amenity in northeast Seattle. Indeed, Ravenna Park has been the site of notable community events and has often been referenced in pop culture and literary realms. One neighbor, Seattle’s famed author, Betty MacDonald, wrote about her years of living near the park (at 6317 15th Avenue NE) in Anybody Can Do Anything (1950).

Then in 1967 and 1968 Ravenna and Cowen parks were the sites of the town’s first hippie-era Human Be-In, a Love-In, and as the Vietnam War ground on, an Independence from the Draft Day concert/picnic. Ravenna Park also served as the setting for Nick DiMartino’s 1998 murder mystery, Seattle Ghost Story, and in the popular Black Hole comic book series (1995-2005) by Charles Burns.

Next week: Cowen and Ravenna Parks Today

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Sources:

W. W. Beck, Ravenna Park – ‘Im Walde,’ (1903), Peter Blecha collection, Seattle; W. W. Beck, Ravenna Park – ‘Im Walde,’ 16-page postcard booklet, undated, in Peter Blecha collection; W. W. Beck, Ravenna Park (ca. 1909), Peter Blecha collection; “Ravenna Park Guide,” brochure, 1909, Peter Blecha collection; “Ravenna Or Big Tree Park: It is Famous = “Nature’s Exposition,” postcard, 1909, Peter Blecha collection; Harvey Manning, Winter Walks and Hikes (Seattle: Mountaineers Books, 2002), 42; Betty McDonald, Anybody Can Do Anything (Philadelphia / New York: J. B. Lippincott Co, 1950), 129-130; Paula Becker, “Time Traveling The Roosevelt District With Betty Macdonald,” Seattlepress.com website accessed July 13, 2010 (http://seattlepress.com/article-9455.html); “One of Ravenna’s Giant Trees Christened ‘Paderewski,’” Interlaken, February 8, 1908, p. 1; Sophie Frye Bass, When Seattle Was A Village (Seattle: Lowman & Hanford Co., 1947), 106-108:  David Buerge, “Indian Lake Washington,” Seattle Weekly, August 1-7, 1984; Seattle Polk City Directory (1901-1934); Directory of the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution (Washington D.C.: Memorial Continental Hall, 1911), 1340; “Mrs. L. C. Beck Funeral To Be Held Today: Woman Widely Known In Musical and Club Circles Is Mourned By Seattle Friends,” Seattle Post-Intelligencer, July 9, 1928, p. 13; Kate C. Duncan 1001 Curious Things: Tales from Ye Olde Curiosity Shop (Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2000), 73-78; Andrea Casadio, email to Peter Blecha, January 30, 2008; “No Finer Site: The University of Washington’s Early Years On Union Bay,” Web exhibition, University of Washington Libraries website accessed August 19, 2010 (http://lib.washington.edu/exhibits/site/); HistoryLink.org Online Encyclopedia of Washington State History, “Seattle’s Ravenna Park Bridge is constructed in 1913″ (by Priscilla Long), and “WPA builds Cowen Park Bridge in Seattle’s Ravenna neighborhood in 1936″ (by Priscilla Long), and “John Olmsted arrives in Seattle to design city parks on April 30, 1903″ (by David Williams and Walt Crowley), and “David Thomas Denny (1832-1903)” (by David Wilma), http://www.historylink.org/ (accessed August 1, 2010); Esther Campbell, Bagpipes in the Woodwind Section (Seattle: Seattle Symphony Women’s Association, 1978), 9; William Arnold, “The Great Mystery of Ravenna Park,” Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Northwest Today section, December 17, 1972, pp. 8-9; Steve Cronin, “Ravenna Park’s Famous Trees Vanished Furtively,” UW Daily, May 25, 1977, p. 3;  James Bush, “Remembering William W. Beck: The Father of Ravenna Park,” The Seattle Sun, August 2003, The Seattle Sun website accessed August 25, 2010 (http://parkprojects.com/2003news/0308aug/hisbeck.html); Mary R. Watson, travel diary (handwritten), 1910, portion accessed on eBay, December 2006, copy in possession of Peter Blecha; Russ Hanbey, “1916 Seattle was a Hotbed of Sin When 2 Officers Were Killed,” The Seattle Times, February 6, 2010 (http://seattletimes.nwsource.com); and Peter Blecha archives.

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History Friday, Part 10: Drying It Up and Cutting It Down

April 15, 2011 by 3 Comments

This is part of the essay “Ravenna Park (Seattle)“, appearing here thanks to HistoryLink.org and author Peter Blecha, under a Creative Commons license.

[If you’re new to the series, you can start with Part 1 here.]

Drying It Up and Cutting It Down

In 1913 — a mere two years after the City had taken custody of Ravenna Park and decimated its central creek — city mismanagement of it took another turn for the worse. That was the year that some members of the Seattle branch of the Federation of Women’s Clubs noticed that the beloved Roosevelt Tree was gone. In its place was a fresh three-foot-high stump. Alarmed, they notified Seattle Parks Superintendent J. W. Thompson, who glibly responded that it had been rotten and was removed as a “threat to public safety” (Arnold). A bit of investigating later revealed that Thompson himself had profited through the sale of “The Big Stick” as 63 cords of firewood.

Riled up, the women contacted the dean of the University of Washington’s College of Forestry, Hugo Winkenwerder, who explored the ravine and discovered that several large trees had been cut down — and that the remaining giants were perfectly healthy. The Parks Department responded with a promise to do no further logging. Yet the sawing continued and so, too, did the hue and cry from concerned citizens.

Thompson was eventually forced out due to “abuse of equipment, abuse of personnel, abuse of funds, intoxication and unauthorized sale of department property” (Arnold). But the cutting did not stop. In 1926 the City — ostensibly concerned about safety issues — signed a contract to have more trees cut. William Beck insisted in particular that Paderewski, Robert E. Lee, and McDowell should be vigilantly protected. Seattle Parks Department engineer L. Glenn Hall tried to allay fears claiming that only dead or dying trees would face saw-blades and axes. In addition he offered to try and not thin the park grounds out too much by leaving 20-feet tall stumps. Sadly, such promises were hollow and within a few years all the old-growth giants were gone.

Strangely as time passed and memories faded, the plight of those trees became clouded. When the topic arose people offered varying reasons why the trees had disappeared. Even Sophie Frye Bass, looking back, wrote in 1947 that “As Seattle grew, the park was surrounded by homes with chimneys that poured forth smoke which caused the big trees to deteriorate. Fir trees resent civilization. They had to be cut down” (Bass).

Next week: Literature, Culture, Comic Books

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Sources:

W. W. Beck, Ravenna Park – ‘Im Walde,’ (1903), Peter Blecha collection, Seattle; W. W. Beck, Ravenna Park – ‘Im Walde,’ 16-page postcard booklet, undated, in Peter Blecha collection; W. W. Beck, Ravenna Park (ca. 1909), Peter Blecha collection; “Ravenna Park Guide,” brochure, 1909, Peter Blecha collection; “Ravenna Or Big Tree Park: It is Famous = “Nature’s Exposition,” postcard, 1909, Peter Blecha collection; Harvey Manning, Winter Walks and Hikes (Seattle: Mountaineers Books, 2002), 42; Betty McDonald, Anybody Can Do Anything (Philadelphia / New York: J. B. Lippincott Co, 1950), 129-130; Paula Becker, “Time Traveling The Roosevelt District With Betty Macdonald,” Seattlepress.com website accessed July 13, 2010 (http://seattlepress.com/article-9455.html); “One of Ravenna’s Giant Trees Christened ‘Paderewski,’” Interlaken, February 8, 1908, p. 1; Sophie Frye Bass, When Seattle Was A Village (Seattle: Lowman & Hanford Co., 1947), 106-108:  David Buerge, “Indian Lake Washington,” Seattle Weekly, August 1-7, 1984; Seattle Polk City Directory (1901-1934); Directory of the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution (Washington D.C.: Memorial Continental Hall, 1911), 1340; “Mrs. L. C. Beck Funeral To Be Held Today: Woman Widely Known In Musical and Club Circles Is Mourned By Seattle Friends,” Seattle Post-Intelligencer, July 9, 1928, p. 13; Kate C. Duncan 1001 Curious Things: Tales from Ye Olde Curiosity Shop (Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2000), 73-78; Andrea Casadio, email to Peter Blecha, January 30, 2008; “No Finer Site: The University of Washington’s Early Years On Union Bay,” Web exhibition, University of Washington Libraries website accessed August 19, 2010 (http://lib.washington.edu/exhibits/site/); HistoryLink.org Online Encyclopedia of Washington State History, “Seattle’s Ravenna Park Bridge is constructed in 1913″ (by Priscilla Long), and “WPA builds Cowen Park Bridge in Seattle’s Ravenna neighborhood in 1936″ (by Priscilla Long), and “John Olmsted arrives in Seattle to design city parks on April 30, 1903″ (by David Williams and Walt Crowley), and “David Thomas Denny (1832-1903)” (by David Wilma), http://www.historylink.org/ (accessed August 1, 2010); Esther Campbell, Bagpipes in the Woodwind Section (Seattle: Seattle Symphony Women’s Association, 1978), 9; William Arnold, “The Great Mystery of Ravenna Park,” Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Northwest Today section, December 17, 1972, pp. 8-9; Steve Cronin, “Ravenna Park’s Famous Trees Vanished Furtively,” UW Daily, May 25, 1977, p. 3;  James Bush, “Remembering William W. Beck: The Father of Ravenna Park,” The Seattle Sun, August 2003, The Seattle Sun website accessed August 25, 2010 (http://parkprojects.com/2003news/0308aug/hisbeck.html); Mary R. Watson, travel diary (handwritten), 1910, portion accessed on eBay, December 2006, copy in possession of Peter Blecha; Russ Hanbey, “1916 Seattle was a Hotbed of Sin When 2 Officers Were Killed,” The Seattle Times, February 6, 2010 (http://seattletimes.nwsource.com); and Peter Blecha archives.

Filed Under: Everything counts in large amounts Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

History Friday, Part 6: The Queen of Parks

March 11, 2011 by Leave a Comment

This is part of the essay “Ravenna Park (Seattle)“, appearing here thanks to HistoryLink.org and author Peter Blecha, under a Creative Commons license.

[If you’re new to the series, you can start with Part 1 here.]

The Queen of Parks

Big changes were coming to Seattle. On January 15, 1907, the city annexed the tiny (.62 sq. miles) town of Ravenna along with five other towns, nearly doubling the size of the city. That same year the Polk City Directory listed the Becks as living in a different home, one just across from the streetcar line’s Ravenna Station (probably in the 1905 house at 5643 20th Avenue NE). Louise Beck also began teaching music in a downtown studio (229 Arcade Building).
The following year William Beck was selling real estate from his own downtown office (307 Collins Building) and eventually operating the Duwamish Investment Company and Beck Builders Inc. But judging from the sheer number of different promotional postcards, pamphlets, and posters produced around this time, he was still devoting considerable time to promoting his park. One such poster showed Beck and the Roosevelt Tree and hyped:

“Roosevelt-Ravenna Park’s ‘Big Stick’
The mountains around Seattle can not be seen always,
but Beautiful Ravenna — Queen of Parks — can.
‘Seeing Seattle’ without out it is like seeing the Cascades without Rainier!
Haven’t seen Ravenna Park? It is indescribable.
Admission 25C
Don’t Miss it.”

Next week: Visiting the A-Y-P Exposition and Ravenna Park

______________________

Sources:
W. W. Beck, Ravenna Park – ‘Im Walde,’ (1903), Peter Blecha collection, Seattle; W. W. Beck, Ravenna Park – ‘Im Walde,’ 16-page postcard booklet, undated, in Peter Blecha collection; W. W. Beck, Ravenna Park (ca. 1909), Peter Blecha collection; “Ravenna Park Guide,” brochure, 1909, Peter Blecha collection; “Ravenna Or Big Tree Park: It is Famous = “Nature’s Exposition,” postcard, 1909, Peter Blecha collection; Harvey Manning, Winter Walks and Hikes (Seattle: Mountaineers Books, 2002), 42; Betty McDonald, Anybody Can Do Anything (Philadelphia / New York: J. B. Lippincott Co, 1950), 129-130; Paula Becker, “Time Traveling The Roosevelt District With Betty Macdonald,” Seattlepress.com website accessed July 13, 2010 (http://seattlepress.com/article-9455.html); “One of Ravenna’s Giant Trees Christened ‘Paderewski,’” Interlaken, February 8, 1908, p. 1; Sophie Frye Bass, When Seattle Was A Village (Seattle: Lowman & Hanford Co., 1947), 106-108:  David Buerge, “Indian Lake Washington,” Seattle Weekly, August 1-7, 1984; Seattle Polk City Directory (1901-1934); Directory of the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution (Washington D.C.: Memorial Continental Hall, 1911), 1340; “Mrs. L. C. Beck Funeral To Be Held Today: Woman Widely Known In Musical and Club Circles Is Mourned By Seattle Friends,” Seattle Post-Intelligencer, July 9, 1928, p. 13; Kate C. Duncan 1001 Curious Things: Tales from Ye Olde Curiosity Shop (Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2000), 73-78; Andrea Casadio, email to Peter Blecha, January 30, 2008; “No Finer Site: The University of Washington’s Early Years On Union Bay,” Web exhibition, University of Washington Libraries website accessed August 19, 2010 (http://lib.washington.edu/exhibits/site/); HistoryLink.org Online Encyclopedia of Washington State History, “Seattle’s Ravenna Park Bridge is constructed in 1913″ (by Priscilla Long), and “WPA builds Cowen Park Bridge in Seattle’s Ravenna neighborhood in 1936″ (by Priscilla Long), and “John Olmsted arrives in Seattle to design city parks on April 30, 1903″ (by David Williams and Walt Crowley), and “David Thomas Denny (1832-1903)” (by David Wilma), http://www.historylink.org/ (accessed August 1, 2010); Esther Campbell, Bagpipes in the Woodwind Section (Seattle: Seattle Symphony Women’s Association, 1978), 9; William Arnold, “The Great Mystery of Ravenna Park,” Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Northwest Today section, December 17, 1972, pp. 8-9; Steve Cronin, “Ravenna Park’s Famous Trees Vanished Furtively,” UW Daily, May 25, 1977, p. 3;  James Bush, “Remembering William W. Beck: The Father of Ravenna Park,” The Seattle Sun, August 2003, The Seattle Sun website accessed August 25, 2010 (http://parkprojects.com/2003news/0308aug/hisbeck.html); Mary R. Watson, travel diary (handwritten), 1910, portion accessed on eBay, December 2006, copy in possession of Peter Blecha; Russ Hanbey, “1916 Seattle was a Hotbed of Sin When 2 Officers Were Killed,” The Seattle Times, February 6, 2010 (http://seattletimes.nwsource.com); and Peter Blecha archives.

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History Friday, Part 5: Big Tree Park and Cowan Park

March 4, 2011 by Leave a Comment

This is part of the essay “Ravenna Park (Seattle)“, appearing here thanks to HistoryLink.org and author Peter Blecha, under a Creative Commons license.

[If you’re new to the series, you can start with Part 1 here.]

Big Tree Park and Cowan Park

At the turn of the century the park was also, at times, marketed as Big Tree Park, a name that highlighted its towering treasures. In 1904 the most girthsome tree — 274 feet tall and 44 feet in circumference — was given the moniker “Roosevelt Tree” in honor of the popular and nature-loving president, Theodore “Teddy” Roosevelt (1858-1919). Roosevelt’s famous political quip about walking softly but carrying a “big stick” led to that tree also being called “The Big Stick.”

That same year the Becks offered, for the first of a few times, to sell their park to the City. The City rejected their asking price of $150,000.

Meanwhile, a British immigrant named Charles Cowen (1869-1926) arrived here in 1900 and purchased 40 acres adjacent to Ravenna Park, including the westernmost end of the Beck’s property, where the creek running from Green Lake wound its way down to the ravine.

Cowan stepped up with a generous offer. He divided up most of that land into residential lots and sold them via his Sylvester-Cowen Investment Company. But he deemed 12 of the lots that sank down toward the ravine as unusable for that purpose and in 1907 gifted that parcel to the city. This became Cowen Park. The border (along 15th Avenue NE at 60th Street) between the now conjoined Cowen and Ravenna parks was marked by a high and long double-decker wooden bridge that spanned the ravine and thrilled pedestrians.

Next week: The Queen of Parks

______________________

Sources:
W. W. Beck, Ravenna Park – ‘Im Walde,’ (1903), Peter Blecha collection, Seattle; W. W. Beck, Ravenna Park – ‘Im Walde,’ 16-page postcard booklet, undated, in Peter Blecha collection; W. W. Beck, Ravenna Park (ca. 1909), Peter Blecha collection; “Ravenna Park Guide,” brochure, 1909, Peter Blecha collection; “Ravenna Or Big Tree Park: It is Famous = “Nature’s Exposition,” postcard, 1909, Peter Blecha collection; Harvey Manning, Winter Walks and Hikes (Seattle: Mountaineers Books, 2002), 42; Betty McDonald, Anybody Can Do Anything (Philadelphia / New York: J. B. Lippincott Co, 1950), 129-130; Paula Becker, “Time Traveling The Roosevelt District With Betty Macdonald,” Seattlepress.com website accessed July 13, 2010 (http://seattlepress.com/article-9455.html); “One of Ravenna’s Giant Trees Christened ‘Paderewski,’” Interlaken, February 8, 1908, p. 1; Sophie Frye Bass, When Seattle Was A Village (Seattle: Lowman & Hanford Co., 1947), 106-108:  David Buerge, “Indian Lake Washington,” Seattle Weekly, August 1-7, 1984; Seattle Polk City Directory (1901-1934); Directory of the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution (Washington D.C.: Memorial Continental Hall, 1911), 1340; “Mrs. L. C. Beck Funeral To Be Held Today: Woman Widely Known In Musical and Club Circles Is Mourned By Seattle Friends,” Seattle Post-Intelligencer, July 9, 1928, p. 13; Kate C. Duncan 1001 Curious Things: Tales from Ye Olde Curiosity Shop (Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2000), 73-78; Andrea Casadio, email to Peter Blecha, January 30, 2008; “No Finer Site: The University of Washington’s Early Years On Union Bay,” Web exhibition, University of Washington Libraries website accessed August 19, 2010 (http://lib.washington.edu/exhibits/site/); HistoryLink.org Online Encyclopedia of Washington State History, “Seattle’s Ravenna Park Bridge is constructed in 1913″ (by Priscilla Long), and “WPA builds Cowen Park Bridge in Seattle’s Ravenna neighborhood in 1936″ (by Priscilla Long), and “John Olmsted arrives in Seattle to design city parks on April 30, 1903″ (by David Williams and Walt Crowley), and “David Thomas Denny (1832-1903)” (by David Wilma), http://www.historylink.org/ (accessed August 1, 2010); Esther Campbell, Bagpipes in the Woodwind Section (Seattle: Seattle Symphony Women’s Association, 1978), 9; William Arnold, “The Great Mystery of Ravenna Park,” Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Northwest Today section, December 17, 1972, pp. 8-9; Steve Cronin, “Ravenna Park’s Famous Trees Vanished Furtively,” UW Daily, May 25, 1977, p. 3;  James Bush, “Remembering William W. Beck: The Father of Ravenna Park,” The Seattle Sun, August 2003, The Seattle Sun website accessed August 25, 2010 (http://parkprojects.com/2003news/0308aug/hisbeck.html); Mary R. Watson, travel diary (handwritten), 1910, portion accessed on eBay, December 2006, copy in possession of Peter Blecha; Russ Hanbey, “1916 Seattle was a Hotbed of Sin When 2 Officers Were Killed,” The Seattle Times, February 6, 2010 (http://seattletimes.nwsource.com); and Peter Blecha archives.

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History Friday, Part 4: Original Beauty and Natural Wonders

February 25, 2011 by Leave a Comment

This is part of the essay “Ravenna Park (Seattle)“, appearing here thanks to HistoryLink.org and author Peter Blecha, under a Creative Commons license.

[If you’re new to the series, you can start with Part 1 here.]

Original Beauty and Natural Wonders

In the wake of the great economic crash of 1893, the Becks’ Seattle Female College was shuttered, but they remained committed to their 60-acre park. Beck fenced it in between 15th Avenue NE eastward to 20th Avenue NE, and over the ensuing years he improved the property by carving out better trails. One was a path to the largest sulfur spring (sometimes known as the “Petroleum Spring,” located at the center of the park, below and just east of today’s 20th Avenue NE bridge), which he had wisely recast as the “Wood Nymphs’ Well.” He also built a teahouse, a 40- by 90-foot pavilion (“Ye Merrie Makers’ Inn”), picnic shelters, wading ponds, and an area called Rhododendron Way where rows of shrubs featuring the state flower were planted.

The park was touted as “a safe, clean, and beautiful place for women and children — a deputy sheriff in charge” (Beck, booklet, 1903). By 1902 it had become so popular that 10,000 visitors reportedly paid the 25-cent admission fee. Beck soon published a booklet that grandly sang the charms of his little piece of paradise: “Ravenna Park, with its standing or fallen giant trees; moss and fern covered canyons; dashing trout streams, preserves in quaint uniqueness every beauty of the wonderful Puget Sound forest, and is Seattle’s only forest unshorn by axe and fire of original beauty and noblest and grandest characteristics” (Beck, booklet, 1903).

For her part, Louise maintained a keen interest in music. Indeed, it would seem that during her earlier musical activities back east she made the acquaintance of more than a few major talents of the day, because when touring stars — including the famed Polish composer Ignacy Jan Paderewski, the Austrian violinist Fritz Kreisler, and British pianist Harold Bauer — came through town they invariably visited the park and were treated to the “hospitality of her Ravenna Park home” (Seattle Post-Intelligencer, 1928).

Although prominent Seattle historian Clarence Bagley (1843-1932) snarked in 1929 that the park was merely a “dark, dank, dismal hole in the ground” (Manning), many other visitors were awestruck by the outsized flora and the fish-rich Ravenna Creek that flowed through the park (and the adjacent Cowen Park). Some considered it one of Seattle’s prime attractions, on a par with others of America’s treasures: “Like natural wonders such as Niagara Falls, Yosemite, and the Grand Canyon, Ravenna Park offered a pilgrimage to the sublime, the contemplative, the spiritual, the terrifying” (Duncan).

Next week: Big Tree Park and Cowen Park

______________________

Sources:
W. W. Beck, Ravenna Park — ‘Im Walde,’ (1903), Peter Blecha collection, Seattle; W. W. Beck, Ravenna Park — ‘Im Walde,’ 16-page postcard booklet, undated, in Peter Blecha collection; W. W. Beck, Ravenna Park (ca. 1909), Peter Blecha collection; “Ravenna Park Guide,” brochure, 1909, Peter Blecha collection; “Ravenna Or Big Tree Park: It is Famous = “Nature’s Exposition,” postcard, 1909, Peter Blecha collection; Harvey Manning, Winter Walks and Hikes (Seattle: Mountaineers Books, 2002), 42; Betty McDonald, Anybody Can Do Anything (Philadelphia / New York: J. B. Lippincott Co, 1950), 129-130; Paula Becker, “Time Traveling The Roosevelt District With Betty Macdonald,” Seattlepress.com website accessed July 13, 2010 (http://seattlepress.com/article-9455.html); “One of Ravenna’s Giant Trees Christened ‘Paderewski,'” Interlaken, February 8, 1908, p. 1; Sophie Frye Bass, When Seattle Was A Village (Seattle: Lowman & Hanford Co., 1947), 106-108:  David Buerge, “Indian Lake Washington,” Seattle Weekly, August 1-7, 1984; Seattle Polk City Directory (1901-1934); Directory of the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution (Washington D.C.: Memorial Continental Hall, 1911), 1340; “Mrs. L. C. Beck Funeral To Be Held Today: Woman Widely Known In Musical and Club Circles Is Mourned By Seattle Friends,” Seattle Post-Intelligencer, July 9, 1928, p. 13; Kate C. Duncan 1001 Curious Things: Tales from Ye Olde Curiosity Shop (Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2000), 73-78; Andrea Casadio, email to Peter Blecha, January 30, 2008; “No Finer Site: The University of Washington’s Early Years On Union Bay,” Web exhibition, University of Washington Libraries website accessed August 19, 2010 (http://lib.washington.edu/exhibits/site/); HistoryLink.org Online Encyclopedia of Washington State History, “Seattle’s Ravenna Park Bridge is constructed in 1913” (by Priscilla Long), and “WPA builds Cowen Park Bridge in Seattle’s Ravenna neighborhood in 1936” (by Priscilla Long), and “John Olmsted arrives in Seattle to design city parks on April 30, 1903” (by David Williams and Walt Crowley), and “David Thomas Denny (1832-1903)” (by David Wilma), http://www.historylink.org/ (accessed August 1, 2010); Esther Campbell, Bagpipes in the Woodwind Section (Seattle: Seattle Symphony Women’s Association, 1978), 9; William Arnold, “The Great Mystery of Ravenna Park,” Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Northwest Today section, December 17, 1972, pp. 8-9; Steve Cronin, “Ravenna Park’s Famous Trees Vanished Furtively,” UW Daily, May 25, 1977, p. 3;  James Bush, “Remembering William W. Beck: The Father of Ravenna Park,” The Seattle Sun, August 2003, The Seattle Sun website accessed August 25, 2010 (http://parkprojects.com/2003news/0308aug/hisbeck.html); Mary R. Watson, travel diary (handwritten), 1910, portion accessed on eBay, December 2006, copy in possession of Peter Blecha; Russ Hanbey, “1916 Seattle was a Hotbed of Sin When 2 Officers Were Killed,” The Seattle Times, February 6, 2010 (http://seattletimes.nwsource.com); and Peter Blecha archives.

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History Friday, Part 3: Rainier Power and Railway Company

February 18, 2011 by Leave a Comment

This is part of the essay “Ravenna Park (Seattle)“, appearing here thanks to HistoryLink.org and author Peter Blecha, under a Creative Commons license.

[If you missed Part 1, you can find it here.]

Rainier Power and Railway Company

The townsite of Ravenna became even more attractive to would-be home buyers a couple years later with the arrival of streetcar service via a route that would skirt the entire length of the park (along its southern border). Seattle pioneer David Denny (1832-1903) was behind the project. Denny had gotten into real estate. After platting the neighborhoods bordering the park — an area still so distant from downtown that the Denny family soon built and then maintained a country “summer home” (6315? NE 63rd Street) there — he helped found the Rainier Power and Railway Company in order to facilitate easy transportation to the nearby Brooklyn neighborhood (today’s University District).

That line was extended to Ravenna Park around 1892 and three years later was reorganized as the Third Street and Suburban Railway, which included a Ravenna Station (near today’s NE 58th Street and 20th Avenue NE). After departing its terminus downtown, the line passed through logged and largely uninhabited terrain until it turned back southward at Ravenna. One writer noted that “Most of the area through the northern part of this system’s route was inhabited only by squirrels and gophers” (Leslie Blanchard quoted in “No Finer Site”).

But it was the sight of critters and the unspoiled nature of the ravine that made it such an attraction. The granddaughter of Denny’s brother Arthur (1822-1899), Sophie Frye Bass (1866-1947), wrote that:

“My first recollection of Ravenna Park was a moonlight excursion in midsummer, when the moon failed to appear, a cool breeze came up, and a chill was in the air. Even so, the large coal-oil lamps shining through the trees lighting the path that ran through the park, and the bobbing and swaying Chinese lanterns made it seem like a land fit for fairies. It was quite a trip to Ravenna in those days, for we took the train at the funny little station at the foot of Columbia Street on the waterfront and rode nine and a half miles to the park … it became a favorite spot for picnickers and a show place for out-of-town visitors (Bass).

Next week: Original Beauty and Natural Wonders

______________________

Sources:
W. W. Beck, Ravenna Park — ‘Im Walde,’ (1903), Peter Blecha collection, Seattle; W. W. Beck, Ravenna Park — ‘Im Walde,’ 16-page postcard booklet, undated, in Peter Blecha collection; W. W. Beck, Ravenna Park (ca. 1909), Peter Blecha collection; “Ravenna Park Guide,” brochure, 1909, Peter Blecha collection; “Ravenna Or Big Tree Park: It is Famous = “Nature’s Exposition,” postcard, 1909, Peter Blecha collection; Harvey Manning, Winter Walks and Hikes (Seattle: Mountaineers Books, 2002), 42; Betty McDonald, Anybody Can Do Anything (Philadelphia / New York: J. B. Lippincott Co, 1950), 129-130; Paula Becker, “Time Traveling The Roosevelt District With Betty Macdonald,” Seattlepress.com website accessed July 13, 2010 (http://seattlepress.com/article-9455.html); “One of Ravenna’s Giant Trees Christened ‘Paderewski,'” Interlaken, February 8, 1908, p. 1; Sophie Frye Bass, When Seattle Was A Village (Seattle: Lowman & Hanford Co., 1947), 106-108:  David Buerge, “Indian Lake Washington,” Seattle Weekly, August 1-7, 1984; Seattle Polk City Directory (1901-1934); Directory of the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution (Washington D.C.: Memorial Continental Hall, 1911), 1340; “Mrs. L. C. Beck Funeral To Be Held Today: Woman Widely Known In Musical and Club Circles Is Mourned By Seattle Friends,” Seattle Post-Intelligencer, July 9, 1928, p. 13; Kate C. Duncan 1001 Curious Things: Tales from Ye Olde Curiosity Shop (Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2000), 73-78; Andrea Casadio, email to Peter Blecha, January 30, 2008; “No Finer Site: The University of Washington’s Early Years On Union Bay,” Web exhibition, University of Washington Libraries website accessed August 19, 2010 (http://lib.washington.edu/exhibits/site/); HistoryLink.org Online Encyclopedia of Washington State History, “Seattle’s Ravenna Park Bridge is constructed in 1913” (by Priscilla Long), and “WPA builds Cowen Park Bridge in Seattle’s Ravenna neighborhood in 1936” (by Priscilla Long), and “John Olmsted arrives in Seattle to design city parks on April 30, 1903” (by David Williams and Walt Crowley), and “David Thomas Denny (1832-1903)” (by David Wilma), http://www.historylink.org/ (accessed August 1, 2010); Esther Campbell, Bagpipes in the Woodwind Section (Seattle: Seattle Symphony Women’s Association, 1978), 9; William Arnold, “The Great Mystery of Ravenna Park,” Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Northwest Today section, December 17, 1972, pp. 8-9; Steve Cronin, “Ravenna Park’s Famous Trees Vanished Furtively,” UW Daily, May 25, 1977, p. 3;  James Bush, “Remembering William W. Beck: The Father of Ravenna Park,” The Seattle Sun, August 2003, The Seattle Sun website accessed August 25, 2010 (http://parkprojects.com/2003news/0308aug/hisbeck.html); Mary R. Watson, travel diary (handwritten), 1910, portion accessed on eBay, December 2006, copy in possession of Peter Blecha; Russ Hanbey, “1916 Seattle was a Hotbed of Sin When 2 Officers Were Killed,” The Seattle Times, February 6, 2010 (http://seattletimes.nwsource.com); and Peter Blecha archives.

Filed Under: Everything counts in large amounts Tagged With: , , ,
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