The Roosevelt Heights Additions in Seattle

Posted on January 11, 2019 by Wedgwood in Seattle History

By the time that the new Northeast Branch Library, 6801 35th Ave NE, opened in 1954, the previous land owners had been gone for quite a few years and it was a different landowner who had sold the site to the library.  But even in the 1950s the blocks around the library still bore the stamp of the activities of Marvin & Isabella Jones of early in the 1900s.

Marvin F. Jones was born in 1838 in New York.  As a young man he began a westward journey which would finally bring him to Seattle in the 1890s.

In the 1860s Marvin Jones joined a wagon train out to Oregon where he worked as a teacher and attorney.  In the 1870s Jones moved to Walla Walla, Washington, where he practiced law and also became very successful in land developments.  Although he retained some of his investments in Walla Walla, Jones suddenly moved to Seattle in 1893.  Perhaps he had decided that the City of Seattle had brighter prospects for business.  The economic depression of the year 1893 had hit Seattle very, very hard and perhaps Jones thought that it was a good time to acquire properties at reduced prices.

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The Northeast Branch Library in Seattle

Posted on January 10, 2019 by Wedgwood in Seattle History

The Northeast Branch Library has a historical scrapbook telling the story of the library.

In the early 1900s the land area around the Northeast Branch Library at 6801 35th Ave NE was owned by Marvin & Isabella Jones, who wanted to share their wealth by giving portions of their land for use of charities and community organizations.

Although Mr. & Mrs. Jones were no longer living by the time that the library opened in 1954, if they had been living, they would have been glad to see the establishment of such a wonderful neighborhood resource as a library.

This blog post will tell about the creation of the Northeast Branch Library which opened in 1954.

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Remembering Shearwater: Cynthia’s Story

Posted on January 4, 2019 by Wedgwood in Seattle History

The Wedgwood neighborhood is only a mile-and-a-half from the (former) Naval Air Station at 7400 Sand Point Way NE in Seattle.  There was much available land in Wedgwood in the 1940s for housing, so during World War Two a lot of military families came to live in Wedgwood.

Shearwater barracks buildings were on several sites near NE 77th Street and from 40th to 43rd Avenues NE in Wedgwood.  Photo used by permission; do not copy.

In 1945 the Seattle Housing Authority sought a site to build housing for civilian or military workers of the naval base, and they acquired what is now the Decatur School block, and some surrounding blocks around NE 77th Street and 43rd Ave NE.  A complex of barracks buildings with a total of 315 living units was built.  In 1948 the Shearwater Housing in Wedgwood was turned over to the Navy for exclusive use of residence for personnel assigned to the naval base at Sand Point.

This historic event, the military housing era in Wedgwood, is remembered by a Wedgwood resident, Cynthia, who came to Seattle with her parents in 1956 when her father was assigned as a Chief Petty Officer at the Naval Air Station-Seattle.  Here Cynthia tells her story.

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A Plat of Modernist Architecture in Wedgwood

Posted on December 21, 2018 by Wedgwood in Seattle History

World War Two, which ended in 1945, changed the economic landscape of Seattle.  Wartime production and the presence of many nearby military bases caused the population of Seattle to greatly increase.   Some other American cities experienced an economic slump as wartime production ceased, but Seattle continued to prosper in the post-war period because of its industries, including production of airplanes.  After World War Two, Boeing Aircraft in Seattle continued to receive military contracts and Boeing also saw steady growth in commercial airline orders.

After 1945 Albert Balch expanded his house-building efforts over onto the east side of 35th Ave NE in Wedgwood.

The natural beauty of the Pacific Northwest, its military connections and its economic opportunities attracted many newcomers after World War Two, including veterans who were ready to start new lives as civilians.  In the post-war period of the 1940s and 1950s thousands of military veterans married, settled in Seattle and looked for housing suitable to young families.  Wedgwood’s builder, Albert Balch, was ready with new houses for them.

At the beginning of the 1950s Albert Balch, the builder whose original Wedgwood plat gave its name to the neighborhood, was still building some small, traditional-looking houses at accessible price points of about $10,000.  At the same time, Balch was moving forward, test-marketing houses in new architectural forms which might appeal to young families who wanted something more modern.  On 38th Ave NE between NE 82nd to 85th Streets we can see the two types of architectural styles, traditional and modern, which were built on the same block.

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December 2018 in Wedgwood: The Holidays

Posted on December 1, 2018 by Wedgwood in Seattle History

In December 2018 the Wedgwood neighborhood of northeast Seattle is bright with lights, holiday decorations, charitable giving and local shopping options.  Wedgwood’s walkable business district features great gift ideas and opportunities to share holiday cheer through charitable donations.

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A Plat of Traditional Architecture in Wedgwood

Posted on November 20, 2018 by Wedgwood in Seattle History

This house at 2740 NE 88th Street was built in 1939, one of the first houses in the new Fir Crest plat. The house is two-bedrooms, one bathroom.

After Germany invaded Poland on September 1, 1939, U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt ordered an increase in military preparedness in the USA.  This directly affected the Seattle area due to its nearby military bases and production of war-related materials like airplanes.  For these reasons, industries began to hire more workers and Seattle started to pull out of the long economic depression of the 1930s.   Real estate developers also began to see a demand for more housing as the population of Seattle began to increase.

A “plat” means any area of land for which there is a map of streets with lots marked for houses or other buildings.  One plat of houses in northeast Seattle which began to be built in 1939 was called Fir Crest, built by M.W. Mylroie.  The name “Wedgwood” had not yet been invented for this area of northeast Seattle because developer Albert Balch had not yet begun his group of houses which eventually gave their name to the neighborhood.

2702 NE 89th Street shows how the houses in the Fir Crest plat are set deeply in wooded lots.

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William Strickler in Early Seattle

Posted on November 8, 2018 by Wedgwood in Seattle History

When I (Valarie) was growing up and attending Wedgwood School in northeast Seattle, city and state history was part of the curriculum of fourth grade.  That was when I first heard the amazing stories of “the pioneers,” Seattle’s first white settlers including the members of the extended Denny family.

The Dennys made an incredible journey of courage as they left their homes in 1851 and launched out into the unknown.  They traveled across the USA in a wagon train to come to a place which had no name: what is now the city of Seattle.

One of my interests is in the Fremont neighborhood of Seattle.  In exploring Fremont’s vibrant history, I learned the name of the original homestead claimant, William A. Strickler.  He filed a land claim in 1854 for the area which is now the main business district of Fremont and the Fremont Bridge over the ship canal, which used to be only a small stream.  I learned that Strickler disappeared in 1861 and no one ever found out what happened to him.

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Posted in Fremont neighborhood in Seattle, Land records and surveys, Seattle History | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments

Neighborhood Beginnings of Fremont in Seattle: William Strickler’s Homestead Claim

Posted on October 15, 2018 by Wedgwood in Seattle History

The Fremont neighborhood in Seattle is located at the northwest corner of Lake Union. Map courtesy of HistoryLink.

The history of the Fremont neighborhood in Seattle is unique in that the future-Fremont land was tied up in legal problems so that no one lived there until 1888.  Then, with investors and promoters advertising the first one hundred lots to be sold for $1 each, in the summer of 1888 there was a land rush of businesses and residents to take advantage of the opportunity to settle in Fremont.

Fremont’s naming was unique in that it was named like a suburb, because it was still outside of the City of Seattle boundaries as of 1888.  It wasn’t long, however, until Fremont’s vigorous community leaders applied to join the City of Seattle, which they did in 1891.

Before Fremont received its jump-start as a vital new neighborhood in 1888, Fremont’s land-claim history went back to the settlers who were Seattle’s eager land-seekers in the 1850s.

This blog started out in 2012 to be about the history of the Wedgwood neighborhood in northeast Seattle.  Over the years as I (Valarie) have participated in other neighborhood history projects, I began posting those writings here.  Go to “Fremont” in the Categories tab on the right margin of this page to find all that I have written about the Fremont neighborhood in Seattle.

The content of this article is protected under a Creative Commons Copyright.  Do not copy text or photos without permission.

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Posted in Fremont neighborhood in Seattle, Land records and surveys, Plat names | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Wedgwood Neighborhood History Trivia Quiz

Posted on October 1, 2018 by Wedgwood in Seattle History

Test your knowledge of Wedgwood neighborhood history with this quiz.  Answers to the quiz follow Question #17.

Wedgwood Rock is located at 7200 28th Ave NE in Seattle.

1. In which neighborhood is Wedgwood Rock?

Wedgwood (duh!)

Meadowbrook

Ravenna

2. What does the “P” in P-Patch stand for?

Peat, for the peat bog at the current location of Dahl Playfield

Picardo, the name of the family that farmed the area

Pea, for the legume that grows there in abundance

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Posted in businesses, Land records and surveys, name of the neighborhood, Neighborhood features | Tagged , , | 4 Comments

The Rite-Aid Building in Wedgwood

Posted on September 16, 2018 by Wedgwood in Seattle History

UPDATE:  The Wedgwood Rite-Aid store 8512 35th Ave NE, closed on July 20, 2025.  Rite-Aid does not own this building, so in August 2025 the property owner is trying to lease the building to another business.

This blog article is a historical retrospective on the Wedgwood business district, specifically the intersection of NE 85th Street.

Wedgwood takes shape in the 1940s

In the 1940s Wedgwood was just beginning to take shape as a neighborhood with a commercial district. At the intersection of NE 85th Street on 35th Ave NE, there was only one building, Hansen’s Tavern, on the northwest corner, as of 1945.

The new Wedgwood Public House opened on November 2, 2024, in the former Wedgwood Ale House.

In 1945-1946 the tavern owner rebuilt the building to include storefronts, and he re-named his business the Wedgwood Tavern.  The first store to open in the new building adjacent to the tavern was McVicar Hardware, 8507 35th Ave NE.

As of 1945-1946 the tavern (as of 2024, it is called the Wedgwood Public House at 8515 35th Ave NE) was the first of the neighborhood businesses to name itself after the nearby Wedgwood housing development built by Albert Balch.  The naming “caught on” as other businesses began to use it.

In the 1940s developer Albert Balch gradually acquired ownership of the other three corners of the intersection at NE 85th Street, which he reserved for commercial buildings.  The intersection grew with a variety of stores in response to the population growth of Wedgwood.  Today the intersection of NE 85th Street on 35th Ave NE is the heart of Wedgwood’s business district.

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