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Monthly Archives: March 2012
McGillivray’s: the Biggest Little Store in Wedgwood
In the 1940s Arthur & Dorothy McGillivray decided to move from Minnesota to Seattle along with their daughter, Bette, while Bette attended the University of Washington. With past experience in merchandising, the McGillivrays were ready to try their hand at … Continue reading
The Mary J. Chandler plat in Wedgwood
Mary J. Chandler’s Addition to Seattle is the name of a plat in Wedgwood. The plat was filed in 1890 for land from 25th to 45th Avenues NE, NE 80th to 85th Streets. To file a plat means to have … Continue reading
The Gateposts of Wedgwood
When Albert Balch, the developer of the Wedgwood neighborhood, put up stone gateposts at the entrance to his new housing area, he tapped into the gateposts’ symbolism of permanence and protection, qualities desired by young couples in search of homes.
Posted in Balch, businesses, gateposts, Neighborhood features
Tagged Neighborhood History, Seattle
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Apartments in Wedgwood: Oneida to Jasper
In the early 1900s in Seattle, apartments were built along trolley routes to close-in neighborhoods such as Capitol Hill. Wedgwood was a remote neighborhood which didn’t begin to form an identity until the 1940s and was never served by a … Continue reading
Parks in Wedgwood
Albert Balch, the developer of Wedgwood, intended to have some park space in the neighborhood but not all of his plans were realized, as he got busy with house-building. In 1941 Balch platted a forty-acre tract of land from 30th to 35th Avenues NE, … Continue reading
Posted in Balch, Neighborhood features, parks
Tagged corner of 86th & 35th, Neighborhood History, Seattle
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Wedgwood Rock: from Homestead to Houses
The Wedgwood Rock section of homes is from 25th to 30th Avenues NE, NE 70th to 75th Streets. This forty-acre tract was first platted (a plan for lots and streets laid out) in November 1945 by Albert Balch, a builder. Balch had … Continue reading
Posted in Balch, Plat names, Wedgwood Rock
Tagged Big Rock, homestead claims, Post-war housing developments
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Wedgwood Rock and Big Rock: the orphaned boulder-siblings
Wedgwood Rock has a sibling: Big Rock at 106 S. Main Street, Coupeville, Whidbey Island, about fifty miles north of Seattle. Testing of the mineral composition of both boulders has shown that they came from Mt. Erie, Fidalgo Island, near Anacortes … Continue reading
Posted in Balch, Plat names, Wedgwood Rock
Tagged Big Rock, glacial erratic, Neighborhood History, Seattle
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Wedgwood Rock: Fourth of July Picnic in 1881
Wedgwood Rock probably first came to the attention of white settlers in the 1870s. A land survey of north Seattle was done in 1855, but there was no notation of the existence of the Rock. The surveyors of 1855 described the terrain in … Continue reading
Posted in Civil War, School histories, Wedgwood Rock
Tagged 1880s in Seattle, Civil War, homesteaders, Neighborhood History, Seattle
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Continuing the Maple Creek Legacy
The story of the Maple Creek ravine in Wedgwood is that of dedicated conservationists who passed along the legacy from generation to generation. Beginning in the 1930s Dr. & Mrs. Philip Rogers held their fifteen acres as a nature preserve. In … Continue reading
Posted in Maple Creek ravine
Tagged nature conservancy, Neighborhood History, preservation of trees, Seattle
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Wedgwood in Seattle History 