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Tag Archives: Seattle
Albert Balch, Part Five: Spreading Wedgwoods Everywhere
In November 1888 two young men, employees of the Post-Intelligencer newspaper in Seattle, quit their jobs and went into real estate. They didn’t have any formal training in such work but their knowledge of the city and their belief in its potential … Continue reading
Albert Balch, Part Four: A New Development in Wedgwood
In the year 1940 Albert Balch was 37 years old and he was at a turning point both personally and professionally. He had been married seven years and his family had expanded to four children. His father and mother had … Continue reading
Posted in Architecture, Balch
Tagged 1940s in Wedgwood, developer of Wedgwood, Neighborhood History, Seattle, WPLongform
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Albert Balch, Part Three: Learning Real Estate in View Ridge
As of January 1936 Albert Balch and Ralph Jones were on their way: they had started a new real estate development called View Ridge and had been able to get some buyers. Although Balch & Jones had experience in advertising … Continue reading
Posted in Balch, Houses, Plat names
Tagged Neighborhood History, Seattle, WPLongform
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Albert Balch, Part Two: Finding a Career in the 1930s
Albert Balch, developer of the View Ridge and Wedgwood neighborhoods of northeast Seattle, did not start out to work in real estate. As many college grads do, at first Balch struggled to find a suitable career. Albert Balch graduated from … Continue reading
Posted in Balch
Tagged autograph collection, Neighborhood History, Seattle, View Ridge in Seattle, wooden money, WPLongform
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Albert Balch, Part One: Early Life
This series of articles will outline the life of Albert Balch, the developer who, beginning in 1941, built the Wedgwood houses which gave their name to the neighborhood in northeast Seattle. Balch’s father Albert S. Balch Sr. was from a … Continue reading
Working for Mr. Balch
The developer of the Wedgwood neighborhood, Albert Balch, was born in Gem, Idaho, finished high school in Blaine, Washington, and graduated from the University of Washington in Seattle. In 1934 Balch was thirty years old, married and about to become … Continue reading
Dairy Queen in Wedgwood
The first Dairy Queen store opened in Illinois in 1940 with immediate success. The menu started out with ice cream and sundaes but soon expanded to malts, milkshakes, and banana splits. The company began to register its trademark products and … Continue reading
The Wedgwood Safeway
The intersection of 35th Ave NE and NE 75th Street had no buildings at any of the four corners until after 1946. The only building near to the corner of 75th & 35th was Ida’s Inn at 7500 35th Ave … Continue reading
Posted in businesses, grocery stores, Neighborhood features
Tagged land use and zoning, NE 75th Street, Neighborhood History, Seattle
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Street-grade: ups and downs in Wedgwood
Wedgwood’s main commercial corridor is along 35th Ave NE which was first declared an arterial in 1934. Some improvements were made at that time, including some widening and some road-grading to level out the surface and make it more passable … Continue reading
Posted in 7321 35th Ave NE, 7528 35th Ave NE, Big Green House, Houses, streets
Tagged 35th Ave NE, NE 75th Street, Neighborhood History, Seattle
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The House in the Road
The years 1945 to 1955, from the end of World War Two until the Wedgwood neighborhood came completely into the city limits of Seattle, were years of rapid change. The population of Seattle had swelled with war workers in the … Continue reading
Wedgwood in Seattle History 