What about the “E” in Wedgwood?

Posted on July 23, 2012 by
Albert Balch, developer of Wedgwood

Albert Balch, developer of Wedgwood

The Wedgwood neighborhood in Seattle took its name from a real estate development which was started in 1941 by Albert Balch.  The naming happened gradually after Balch’s Wedgwood group of houses became well-known.

In an April 1956 interview for the Wedgwood Echo, the community club newspaper, Balch told the story of how the name “Wedgwood” came to be.  Balch and his business partner, Ralph Jones, had previously named and built houses in View Ridge, a neighborhood centered around NE 70th Street on the slope east of 35th Ave NE, looking toward Lake Washington.  Balch’s wife Edith hadn’t liked the name View Ridge, so Balch told her she could choose the name of the next project.

Copyright notice:  text and photos in this article are protected under a Creative Commons Copyright.  Do not copy without permission.

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House-Moving from Shearwater in Wedgwood

Posted on February 18, 2020 by

The Wedgewood Cottage Apartments are the former “little houses” which were moved to 7318-7320 35th Ave NE, viewed here from the east on 38th Ave NE.

In January 1972 a very unusual house-moving event took place in the Wedgwood neighborhood in northeast Seattle.  Twelve small houses (600 square feet each) were moved from 40th Ave NE near Decatur School, to 7320 35th Ave NE in the business district of Wedgwood.

Behind a Dairy Queen building near the Wedgwood Safeway grocery store, the little houses were stacked up on a hillside and became an apartment complex.  These little houses were the last vestiges of the long-running Shearwater controversy which had begun on the blocks around the present Decatur and Thornton Creek School buildings.

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House-Moving from Dahl Field in Wedgwood

Posted on February 4, 2020 by

The Welcome to Wedgwood sign on 35th Ave NE at the corner of NE 95th Street.

In the 1940s and 1950s the Wedgwood neighborhood in northeast Seattle began to take on its identity. The Wedgwood name gradually came into popular use when local businesses began using it, and it was solidified by the choosing of the name Wedgwood School in 1954.

The neighborhood community club, asked to define itself in 1956, chose the attendance boundaries of Wedgwood School as the official boundaries of the Wedgwood neighborhood, from NE 75th to 95th Streets, and from 25th to 45th Avenues NE.

The Wedgwood neighborhood grew rapidly during the post-World-War-Two housing boom in the 1940s and 1950s, because in those years northeast Seattle still had many vacant lots available for house construction.  In addition to new construction, in the 1940s and 1950s it was much more common than it is now, for houses to be moved from one lot to another. Most were moved only a couple of blocks or within a mile, to an available vacant lot.

Seattle Engineering Dept. photo of June 1951 shows the retaining wall in front of the VanderWel’s house at 7512 35th Ave NE. The McGillivray’s Store (Chase Bank building) had not yet been built. The parking sign in the foreground is for the other stores at the corner of NE 75th Street.  The VanderWel’s house was moved to 7308 38th Ave NE.  Seattle Municipal Archives photo #42951.

In the busy years of development of the neighborhood infrastructure, sometimes houses were moved because of regrading or widening the streets. On at least one occasion in Wedgwood, a house was found to be “in the road” and had to be demolished or moved.  Some houses, like that of the VanderWel’s at 7512 35th Ave NE, pictured at right, ended up far above or below the street level due to regrading.

In the 1950s the McGillivray family were building a store next to the VanderWel’s house (the present Chase Bank building at 7512 35th Ave NE.)  They purchased the house and had it moved, so that they could use the space for a parking lot for their store.

Another example of upheaval in the development of the Wedgwood neighborhood in the 1950s was that when the Seattle School District chose the location of Wedgwood School, houses which had already been built there had to be moved off of the site.  The school property had been part of Albert Balch’s Wedgwood #4, and he continued to build houses near the school after that portion of the plat was taken.

Similar house-moving occurred during the creation of Dahl Playfield at 7700 25th Ave NE.   The City of Seattle seized the property by eminent domain, and existing houses had to be moved off of the property.

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The Busy Growing Years of Our Lady of the Lake Parish in Seattle

Posted on January 12, 2020 by

Our Lady of the Lake Catholic Church has a storied history as one of the oldest congregations in the Wedgwood neighborhood of Seattle, second only to Wedgwood Presbyterian Church.

A Catholic parish called St. Ignatius began in the neighborhood in 1929.  When the Wedgwood neighborhood really started growing in the 1940s, the Catholic congregation moved to a new site at 8900 35th Ave NE and became Our Lady of the Lake.  The church began a building program to expand their space for church services and add a school for the children of the parish.  In 2019 Our Lady of the Lake celebrated 90 years as a parish and 70 years as a school.

Our Lady of the Lake Catholic Church in the Wedgwood neighborhood in Seattle

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Vision 2020

Posted on January 1, 2020 by

To have 20/20 vision refers to a measure of sharpness of eyesight, being able to see clearly at 20 feet, what should normally be seen at that distance.  In this new year of 2020 we may apply the concept of “vision” to our spiritual eyes of what we can and can’t see, due to distance.  We can’t look out over the year 2020 and see all that it will hold, but we can put on our spiritual “glasses” to sharpen our vision.  The glasses we wear, is hope.

We look out over the coming year of 2020 with confident hope in God’s good purposes.

Just as glasses help to focus our vision, hope is defined not as vague, unfocused expectations, but as confidence based upon a sure source: God.  As a practicing Christian I know that hope comes from the assurance that God is working for good at all times, and He wants us to work with Him to reach our world.  When we see hatred, confusion, injustice and oppression we can ask God to give us His guidance and strength for the battle.  This is my vision for 2020.

“For you have been my hope, O Sovereign Lord, my confidence since my youth…  In You, O Lord, I have taken refuge… …as for me, I will always have hope.” (Excerpts from Psalm 71)

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How Birds Survive the Cold: Feathers + Food = Warmth

Posted on December 24, 2019 by

This article by Charles Eldermire in All About Birds tells of the strategies used by birds to cope with cold weather.

For the winter season we might well follow the example of the birds:  Get some friends to hang out with, and eat as much nourishing food as possible!  Both strategies are ways we can have fun during the season of cold weather.

1. Get Some Friends To Hang Out With

Especially if the weather is crummy. Ever notice that nearly all of the birds that hang around in the winter do so in flocks? Having other birds around makes it less likely that something will eat you; more eyes = less chance of a predator sneaking up. Plus, if something does sneak up, you only have to be faster than the guy foraging next to you! Friends are also good at letting you know where the primo food is.

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Festive Wedgwood in December 2019

Posted on December 2, 2019 by

A customer tries on a tree at Hunter Tree Farm.

The Wedgwood neighborhood in northeast Seattle abounds with delights of the holiday season in December 2019.  Wedgwood’s walkable business district has coffee shops offering holiday goodies, great gift ideas from local shops, and opportunities for charitable giving.

Check out the gift ideas at Wedgwood’s newest locally-owned shops near the corner of NE 85th Street:  AR Workshop offering crafts and classes: Blue Poppy Floral with gifts and flower arrangements; and Luu’s Cafe for snacks and lunches.

The holiday season in Wedgwood’s business district features Hunter Tree Farm where the smell of the fir trees will put you in a festive mood.  Enjoy the lights and decorations while chatting with the members of the Hunter family who return each year to their tree sales site at 7744 35th Ave NE.  Hours of operation are 9 AM to 9 PM daily.

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An Immigrant in Wedgwood: Gerda’s Story

Posted on November 29, 2019 by

Wedgwood neighborhood in northeast Seattle. Map courtesy of HistoryLink.

Perry & Gerda Frumkin were among the young married couples who found a new home in northeast Seattle in the post-World-War-Two years of 1945 to 1965.  Northeast Seattle was at that time a region where developer Albert Balch had acquired enormous tracts of vacant land available for building “starter homes.”

In the early 1940s, Albert Balch built a plat of 200 houses called the Wedgwood Addition, located on the west side of 35th Ave NE between NE 80th to 85th Streets.  The Wedgwood name for the neighborhood grew gradually in the nearby business district with the Wedgwood Tavern (today’s Wedgwood Ale House) being the first to use it.

By the time of establishment of an elementary school for the neighborhood in 1954, the name “Wedgwood School” was chosen and the neighborhood gained its Wedgwood identity.

Wedgwood School opened in 1953 with all-portable classrooms while the permanent building was under construction.

After World War Two ended in 1945, soldiers returned from war, got married, began having children and looked for homes suitable for families.  Housing development in northeast Seattle then became so rapid that schools could not keep up with the population explosion.  The large numbers of children born from 1946 to 1964, called the Baby Boom generation, were at first crowded into existing schools like Bryant and Ravenna.  New schools like View Ridge and Wedgwood began with portable classrooms until permanent buildings could be constructed.

This blog article will tell the immigrant story of Gerda, and will tell how Jewish couples like Perry & Gerda Frumkin were part of the move of the young married population out into northeast Seattle in the 1940s and 1950s.

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