Vashon and Maury Island Timeline

Pre-History –

 

50 million YBP – Puget Sound region under marine waters

 

24 million YBP – Cascade Mountains uplift

 

20 million YBP – Olympic terrane “docks” creating Olympic Mountains

 

10 million YBP – Puget Sound region at or above sea level

 

16,900 YBP – Vashon Glacier ends its advance

 

16,600 YBP – Vashon Glacier retreats from what is now Vashon-Maury Island

 

12,000 YBP – Glacier Peak Eruption, ash layer

 

11,500 YBP - lodgepole pine, spruce, and hemlock forests establish themselves

 

10,000 YBP – Pleistocene mega-fauna extinction

 

Native People

 

10-12,000 - YBP First Humans arrive

 

8,500-3,000 - YBP – Hypsithermal climate interval, climate warmer and drier

 

8,000 YBP - Douglas Fir and Western Red Cedar forests established

 

7,000 YBP – Marpole culture established in Sound

 

6,750 YBP - Mount Mazama (Crater Lake) Eruption, ash layer

 

4,800 YBP – Osceola Mud Flow, lahor from Mount Rainier reaches Commencement Bay

 

1,500 YPB – Burial cairns on Vashon

 

1,000 YBP – Salish culture establishes dominance throughout the Sound

 

600 YBP – Electron Mud Flow, lahor from Mount Rainier

 

500 YBP – S’Homamish population exceeds 650 in 5 major village sites

 

First Contact

 

1792 – Vancouver names Vashon Island

 

1824 – John Work and Hudson’s Bay expedition camps at Portage.

 

1825 – David Douglas botanical survey of Puget Sound

 

1833 – Nisqually House established by Hudson’s Bay Company –

S’Homamish visit fort and request missionary

 

American Settlement

 

1841 – Wilkes names Maury Island, Colvos Passage, Quartermaster Harbor, and
Points Beals, Heyer, Piner, Neill, Dalco, Sandford, Southworth after Quartermasters

 

1842 – Lucy Gerand born – informant for T.T. Waterman, Deposition in 1927 in Duwamish et.al. Vs. The United States of America.

 

1846 – Boundary Settlement between Britain and the United States

 

1849 – Oregon Territory established

 

1852 – First Logging on Island – The Leonesa loaded spars

            King County formed by Oregon Provisional Legislature

 

1853 – Washington Territory established

 

1855 – First Relocation - December, Eastern Puget Sound Indian Tribes gathered at central points one of which was Vashon’s Island (others included North Bay, Nisqually, Steilacoom, Gig Harbor, Seattle, Port Orchard, Penn’s Cove, and Oak Harbor)

 

1855-56 – S’Homamish Interned at Fox Island

 

1857 – Cadastral Surveys of Vashon-Maury Island by William H. Carlton and T. H. Berry

            King County present boundaries formed except for southern

 

1862 – Homestead Act approved

 

1863 – Pope and Talbot file 80-acre claim

 

Vashon-Maury Island Settlement – 1865-1893

 

1865 – Mathew Bridges files claim on Vashon – dies on Vashon in 1926

 

1868 – by the end of year 2,849.3 acres claimed and 745.91 acres homesteaded

 

1869 – First Homestead claim filed

 

1874 – Tacoma “Weekly Pacific Tribune” – industries at Quartermaster Harbor included

fishing, farming, logging, brick making, and shingle making.

43’ Steamer Lively begins daily runs from Tacoma

 

1875 – Alec McLeod landed 1,000 sheep at Tramp Harbor.  His operation failed

 1876 – Euro-American child born to Reeves family on Vashon.  They later move off-island.

 

1877 – Sherman party establish settlement on North Quartermaster Harbor

 

1878 – “Old Black Joe” - Salmon Sherman’s ferry to Tacoma

 

1879 – Ella Miner born.  First Euro-American child of settlers who remain on the island.

 

1880 – S.D. Sherman begins intermittent runs to Tacoma with “Old Black Joe” a lifeboat

converted to a schooner.

            Jacob Ellis pre-empted 168 acres at what is now Ellisport

Voting precinct established - John Bamfield the 1^st inspector - polling place at his home near Center

 

1881 – First schoolhouse built at Center.

 

1882 - Enoch Mathis and his son George homesteaded 160 acres south of Center and for ten years did extensive logging.

            West Side School District organized and an 18x28 ft building built for the school

Chautauqua and Vermontville (Glen Acres) build schools

Steamer Zepher making regular trips Tacoma to Seattle

 

1883 – Northern Pacific Railroad completed, Tacoma is the terminus.

King County build first island roads – Burton to Center, and Ellisport to Lisabeula.

Article in the Tacoma News - most of the settlement of island at head of QM Harbor and north up the center of the island for 4 1/2 miles - 

Salmon Sherman retired "Old Black Joe" and purchased the Swan a 32-foot steam launch - began regular twice a week service to Tacoma - The Tacoma News reported Sherman intended to "bring milk and other farm products to the city."

 

1884 – school in North District - west of Vashon Town

            Quartermaster School District organized -school built on Morgan Hill

First store built at Vashon Landing.

Rev. R.B. Dilworth settled at Point Beals, better known by its local name of Dilworth Point.  Dilworth paid a squatter named Shaffer $100 relinquish his squatter rights, and then filed a homestead claim.  This may have been fairly typical of how settlers dealt with squatters on the island.

Methodist Church organized - first church built the next year

The sternwheeler "Bob Irving" started weekly service between Quartermaster Harbor and Tacoma - Thomas Brown owned Brown's Wharf and Navigation Co. - built warehouse and wharf in Tacoma next to Hatch's sawmill - "Bob Irving was 85 ft long 22 ft beam and 3 ft draft - flat-bottomed, shovel-nosed so could easily run up on the beach - made run from Tacoma to Quartermaster, also stopped at Gig Harbor, Lakebay, and communities south of Pt. Defiance

 

1885 – 69 Farmers on Vashon-Maury

            Point Robinson fog signal installed.

            Chinese community at Manzanita disappears

5 brickyards around harbor employing 200 men – Bleeker Yard at Burton the largest - "Molly Bleeker" a large steam barge that ferries bricks to Tacoma and was used as living quarters by the Bleekers at various times

Puget Sound Chautauqua Assembly held first meeting at Dilworth Point - large speaker's platform, wooden benches and a few cabins were built - but only time used

 

1886 - first recorded wedding among pioneers - J. A. LeBallister and Nettie Cassler - LeBallister was a foreman for the Phinney Logging Company

            Anti-Chinese riots in Seattle and Tacoma – Chinese settlement on Vashon disappears

 

1887 – Pt. Robinson light on 25-foot pole added to fog signal

 

1888 – A Cemetery District was established in 1888 creating a new sense of permanence about the settlement of Vashon-Maury Island

            Independent Order of Grand Templars - bought lot and build a large hall

            North School District - school 1^st term

            Fairfowld Brick Yard employed 100 men -most bricks used in Tacoma for buildings and streets

2 brickyards at Vashon landing - and one north of Aquarium -

Lucian Cook ran brickyard on Quartermaster - bought steamer Estella and ran it between Tacoma and QM Harbor to ferry bricks and workmen - in 1889 Cook had six barges built to haul bricks and bought the steamer Seaside as a towboat

W.L. Livesly built and operated a shinglemill at the entrance to Nettle Creek (Tilton's name for it) locally called Shinglemill Creek from then on -

Puget Sound Chautauqua Assembly chose Chautauqua as permanent home - 115 acres donated by islander (McClintock Ellis, Fuller, and Judd) - Assembly had trustees from Lopes Island, Seattle, Tacoma, Olympia, and Walla Walla - eventually the site was 600 acres, two miles of shoreline, a dock, a hotel, dozens of cottages, and a 1200 seat pavilion.  (Payton)

"Parks with rustic paths and viewpoints added charm to the beautifully landscaped permanent dwellings.  Chautauqua was billed as a flower garden spot 'where families may escape the noxious vapors and the immoral influences of a crowded city and combine health, instruction and pleasure.'" (Payton)

May 24, 1888 - Puget Sound Chautauqua Assembly platted Chautauqua Beach - first town platted on the island -with roads named for the writers Bryant, Emerson, Lowell, Hawthorne, and Irving; tress Alder, Fir, Cedar, and Laurel; and inspirational names like Olympus and Prospect -

Post Office established in summer 1888 -

built large wharf - pavilion seating about 1200 -

"The residents, with justifiable pride, improved their homes and planted shrubbery and flower until Chautauqua was known far and wide as the flower garden of the State."

Rev. Dilworth had the steamer Halys (from the Greek "fisher of men") built on Vashon, just north of where Vashon Landing would be, (First Boat Built on Vashon?) and used it as a "sea-going circuit rider" to visit remote settlements around the Sound and conduct religious services.  Sold the boat in 1890 and it was used as a towboat for a number of years.

 

1889 – Washington becomes a state

            Regular ferry service – “Iola” makes six round trips per week, 3 for each side.

Kingsbury logging operation and dock at Kingsbury Beach, became Mentzer, then Pankratz, then Williams and Miller, bought school land tract - sons Frank and Fred did extensive logging on Maury, County built dock - Kingsbury Landing - abandoned and taken out in 1931
 

Steamer Iola run by Captain John Vanderhoef and used as a residence by he and his wife, was making 6 round trips per week between Tacoma, Seattle and Vashon - MWF ran Tacoma to Seattle up and down East passage, TTS made the same trip via West Passage (Colvos) - stopped at all the docks and would pick up passenger or freight anywhere it was rowed out in a dingy

            Seattle fire – encourages brick works on Vashon

 

1890 – First strawberries commercially grown on Vashon

H.G. Sickles Post, No. 57 Grand Army of the Republic organized 1/14/90 sixteen Civil War veterans as charter members

W.H. Clarke and Jason Wylie opened store at Burton - new Quartermaster Post Office was in the store with Wylie as postmaster

            1^st store at what would be Vashon Town - F.W. Gorsuch

            Pt. Robinson 25-foot platform built for the light

Harrington Brothers Clinton and H-- started a greenhouse business Clinton soon left but H built it into a very successful business - joined with the Beall's in 1902

Alfred J. Stuckey came to Dockton and built an extensive dry dock business there - born in Bristol England in 1852 - apprenticed as a shipbuilder there - came to Dockton from San Francisco as a journeyman ships carpenter - superintendent of yard until 1909 - they opened his own yard which he operated until 1928

Tacoma YC built at Manzanita – bankrupt in 1894 (93 depression)

            Bibbins (came to Vashon 1884) began the first regular daily service to Quartermaster Harbor
                  with the steamer "Sophia" - 42 ft long - two daily trips - stops at Yacht Club Boat House       
                  (Manzanita), Dry Dock (Dockton), Burrow's Landing? Bleeker's Brickyard (Burton
                  Governor’s Row), Hatch's Saw Mill (Assembly Point Burton Peninsula) "The brickyards
                  and mill made considerable business for the little steamer..."
            Bibbins served the Harbor for 18 years - with the "Sophia" 1890-1899 and then the "Norwood"

Corp of Engineers institute permit process for docks

 

1891 – Oliver Van Olinda arrives on Vashon – landed at Langill's Landing on

Colvos Passage from the steamer Iola and walked up to Center

M.F. Hatch forms Puget Sound Drydock Co.  built drydock in Tacoma towed it to Dockton - Nov the floating drydock was towed to Dockton although not completely finished - 102ft wide by 325 feet long - first used March 1892 and by June over 80 employees - first vessel repaired was the steamer Flyer then the Wetmore and City of Everett sister ship whaleback steamers built on Lake Superior - in October the British warship Hyacinth repaired - The steamer Laurel took workman back and forth to Tacoma -

February a 40 by 60 foot hotel built (interesting about the same size as the old S'ho-ma-mish longhouses) in Dockton

J. Therkelsen opened blacksmith shop just west of Center

First telephone on island – ½ mile long line

 

1892 – Vashon Horticultural Society organized - the first in the State

            Vashon Cornet band organized - fourteen members

52 Brick Makers on Vashon-Maury

            Drydock starts operation at Dockton.

            First publication “The Island Home” issued monthly by VanOlindas

            Vashon College opens in Burton – Trustees M.F. Hatch, C.A. Barton, Thomas

                  McNair, L.R. Carpenter

            Nels Petersen opened first exclusive meat market at Burton in 1892 -

Miles Hatch began clearing land on Maury for what would become Melita Farm - his dairy operation - Hatch built store at Burton, opened general merchandise store and the post office was moved from Quartermaster to Burton - still the main store in Burton Harbor Mercantile - Post office moved to Burton from Sherman house at QM

Dr. W.T. Lovering built house and office just south of Vashon - first physician

Company organized within the Chautauqua Association  - raised $10,000 to build a new dock and hotel - dock finished in August 1892

Lisabeula Post Office 1892 - story about naming - John Brink applied for post office and became the first post master - in his application he named the new post office Hopville, which was not accepted by the Post Office Department, so Brink told the Department any name would do -  "the official who investigated the application ... glanced up from the paper, caught sight of two girls working in the office, one of whose name was Eliza, the other Beulah, and wrote in the name 'Lisabeula.'"

 

1893 – Great Northern Railroad to Seattle

            Major forest fire burns from Center to Ellisport

Financial collapse, island population drops - June financial panic began on the east coast - after a decade of rapid growth depression severely hit the Puget Sound - affected business on island as well - 14 Tacoma Banks failed - unknown numbers of unemployed because no one kept statistics - prices dropped, particularly for agricultural goods

Fire - in August 1893 a fire began in the logged off area near the present high school where the first saw mill was located.  The fire rages for two days and nights, "nearly a hundred" volunteers "fought desperately against apparently hopeless odds, with shovels and hoes and rakes, to save the new Baptist Church and the Presbyterian Church at Center, and the Fuller store across the street.  With the flames within two hundred yards of Center, the wind shifted to the north on the evening of the second day, allowing fire fighters finally gain control of the fire.

 

Founding Vashon-Maury Island – 1893 to 1920

 

1895 – First weekly newspaper “Vashon Island Press.”

 

1896 – Interurban Electric railroad opens from Seattle to Renton – expanded to Tacoma
            during next decade – makes Vashon agriculture less competitive

 

1897 – Yukon Gold Rush revives economy

 

1898 – Regular eastside ferry service by MacDowell Steamship Company

 

1899 – Carnation milk plant opens in Kent – encourages dairy development

 

1900 – King County constructs wharf at Portage.

 

1901 –  Present southern boundary of King County finalized, election annexed Browns

and Dash Points to Pierce County

15,000 crates of berries shipped off island.

 

1902 – Harrington-Beall greenhouse built

 

1904 – First telephone service on island.

            “Great Steamboat War” between Frank Bibbins and Chauncey Wimen.

 

1907 – first automobile on island.

            Pike Place Public Market opens – Island farmers sell produce

 

1908 – 75,000 crates of berries shipped off-island

Vashon Electric Railroad Company formed to build electric railroad from north to south end of the island

Vashon Island Telegraph Co. organized

 

1910 – Northwest Canning Company opened cannery at Vashon Landing.

Operated until 1918.

            Vashon College Main Building burns – college closes

            Seattle-Everett Interurban developed – makes Vashon produce more expensive

            Washington State gives women the right to vote

 

1912 – Vashon petitions State Legislature to secede from King County and become a

 separate county.

Vashon College main building burns, college closes.

 

1910-1915 – Puget Mill Company logs 10 sections (10 square miles) of Vashon-Maury Islands 33 square miles.

 

1914 – World War I increases demand for Vashon products

 

1916 – First auto ferry to island.  M.V. Vashon begins Des Monies to Portage run

            200 telephone – 2 companies Pacific Telephone and Telegraph at Vashon

                        West Coast Company at Burton –

            Washington Coast Utilities purchase both phone companies and Vashon

                        Power and Light – becomes island monopoly

            Steam electrical generating plat at Ellisport
            State of Washington bans sale of alcoholic beverages – still formed on Vashon

 

1917 – King County ferry route from Harper, Vashon Heights, and Seattle (Marion Street Dock)

              Vashon-Maury Island Association formed – 20 growers sign agreement with N.W. Canning Co.

              WW I – paper places American Flag below editorials, adds slogan “Liberty and Union, Now and Forever, One and Inseparable.”

              King County Commissioners tour Vashon

 

1918 – Mass meeting about ferries – recommend keeping Portage-Des Moines ferry and adding ferries at north and south ends – Portage ferry “the wrong” place,” “long drive to Seattle.

              Plan to purchase old Vashon School – 200 shares @ $25 each – create place for public meetings, turn grounds into park (beginnings of Vashon Park District)

              Pierce County builds dock at Pt. Defiance for ferry to Vashon – King County Commissioners promise dock and road to south end within one year.

              100 men employed at Dockton shipyards = proposal for “water level” road to Dockton.

              Camulos Club reactivated at Odd Fellows Hall (link with VAA of 1970s)

              Home Guard organized to support war effort

             

1919 - Shipyard workers strike.

            North end ferry opens – Harper, Vashon, Seattle (Marion St.)
            Seattle General Strike

 

Vashon-Maury Island Decline, Depression, and War – 1920 to 1945

 

1920 – Highway from Center to Vashon Heights completed.

            Tahlequah Point Defiance ferry service begins.

            Burton Fire – three buildings burned.

            Vashon Development League formed – boosters

 

1921 – Memorial Monument (veterans)  Vashon Cemetery.

            Celebration at Tahlequah – U.S. Government relinquishes military reserve to 52 squatters settle
                   there

Opposition to moving ferry from Seattle to Fauntleroy

Vashon farmers win prizes – L.C. Beall 1^st and Frank Gilbert 3^rd in egg laying contest – George Sheffield 1^st in dahlia show

Standard Oil build supply station near Portage Ferry Dock

Submarine power cable to Island – steam plant eliminated

 

1922 – Strawberry maggot infestation.

            First Island Burns Nicht celebrated

            South end ferry starts service – “City of Tacoma” Tahlequah, Pt. Defiance, Gig Harbor

Virginia V launched –

“Birth of a Nation” plays at Island Theater.

            Portage-Des Moines Ferry discontinued by King County

            South end forest fire, burn for 3 months – Tahlequah to Camp Sealth, Colvos to Quartermaster

All black current bushes destroyed to stop white pine blister rot

Puget Sound Power and Light buys Washington Coast Utilities – controls

            Island phones and power

 

1923 – Beall Greenhouse switch from coal to oil.

            February Blizzard – week long – 3 foot drifts

            Vashon State Bank robbed - $6,687

Strawberry Festival planned - Melissa Jaynes 1^st Vashon Strawberry Queen (101 years old)

            Vashon-Maury Island Pioneer and Historical Association formed

            Steen Mill moves to Ellisport takes over old Fuller Mill

 

1924 – Luana Beach named – Lodge opened

            Strawberry Festival – 2,500 attend

            Elections – Coolidge (R) 523, Davis (D) 51, LaFollette (P) 318

            3 telephone operators, no service 10 PM to 8 AM
            Japanese Immigration stopped – State anti-Japanese laws passed

 

1925 – Ferry route begins runs to Fauntleroy and Seattle (Marion St. Dock)

            Lisabeula School destroyed by fire

Professor Meany from UW speaks on Discovery Day (May 29^th day Vancouver named Vashon Island)

Water District 19 formed

All night telephone service begins

Burton-Magnolia Road completed

 

1926 – Masons buy Burton building for lodge

            Hugh fir stump removed from Vashon Town – burn over 1 week

            Community Home - $1,000 raised to buy old Vashon School for community center

            Auto drives off Lisabeula pier – 2 drown 5 saved

            Governor Hartley speaks on island to packed auditorium

            A.T. Bacchus opens lumberyard

            Vashon Hour radiobroadcast on station KFOA

            New movie house opens – refurbished Vashon Theater

            Volunteer Fire Department formed at Vashon

            Matthew Bridges – first permanent resident dies at age 98

 

1927 – 6 telephone operators, 600 subscribers

 

1928 – Island votes for “Union High School” – to have one island high school
            Seattle-Tacoma Interurban closed – auto competition

 

1929 – Vashon Golf Course opened

            Vashon Hardware Co. opened

            Celebration of opening new Judd Creek Bridge

            First “museum” – Vashon Hardware displays “Relics of Pioneer Days”

            75 boats from Inter-Club Yacht Clubs rendezvous at Quartermaster Harbor

            Island votes to build “Union High School”

            Cement company develops 80-acre pit on Maury Island

            Wall Street Crash – beginning of Great Depression

 

1930 – Ferry Vashon launched – serves Harper-Vashon-Seattle

            Philipino workers in fight – cabins dynamited

            First “Union High School” graduation – 37 graduate – largest number ever

            Vashon Golf Course opens

            Vashon gets its first X-Ray machine

            Japanese-American citizens organize Vashon Island Progressive Citizens League

 

1931 – Japanese-American citizens donate 100 cherry trees to new high school

            Construction of new North end dock

            Goodwill Farm on island – run by Goodwill Industries

            Smith Airplane Co. building airplanes on island

            First night school on Vashon – 30 enrolled

 

1932 – Burton-Tahlequah Road built

           Vashon-Maury Island vote for Democratic Presidential candidate for first time – Hoover 534,
                 Roosevelt 704

King County cuts deputy sheriff from Vashon

 

1933 – Vashon fire, half of downtown Vashon burns

            Rod and Gun Club formed – later named Sportsman Club

            National “Bank Holiday” called by FDR – Local bank in excellent condition

            High school teachers have pay warrents reduced 20%

            Cemetery cleaned by 10 welfare workers – welfare work paid at 45 cents/hour

            Meetings to break away from King Co and form separate county from Seattle

            Mukai Garden featured in Christian Science Monitor article

            Vashon featured in radio speech

            Sportsman Club drive to destroy feral cats – protect birds and poultry

            Island merchants pledge to support National Recovery Administration policies

            Vashon votes “wet” – end prohibition 403 to 313

            Major forest fire – Paradise Valley to Lisabuela

            Island Democratic Club formed

 

1934 -  Japanese Society present program at high school

            Elmer Stone killed saving fellow worker from gravel pit collapse at Ellisport Hill

            High School levy passes to continue 9 month school

            Fishing boat Umatilla of Dockton wrecked off Neah Bay – 2 killed, Lauritz Halsan and
                  John Usorac– Captain Lucas Plancich in command

October wind storm – 85 mph winds – trees down, power out, ferries suspended

 

1935 -  Oyster Farm started at Tahlequah – 35,000 Japanese oysters

            Dock at Tahlequah wired for electricity

            Oliver Van Olinda writing history of Vashon

            S.S. Harry Luckenbach runs aground between Pt. Robinson and Fernheath

            Vashon receives $11,000 PWA finds – build service building, road barn, jail

            Ferry Strike – 15 days - temporary ferry service at north end by “Verona”

 

1936 -  Vashon-Maury Park formed at Dockton

            Last GAR veteran dies – C.A. Barton

            “Kalakala” takes islanders on excursion

            KVI opens transmitter at Ellisport

            Ferry service from Quartermaster to Tacoma – suspended, restarted

            FDR wins island – 751 to 510

            Ferry Service Improvement Association formed – supports state run ferries

 

1937 -  Olympic Berry Company formed – to develop Olympic berry developed by

                        Hallack Grieden of Center

            Vashon Japanese Association celebrates 30^th Anniversary

            Two children killed by car at Center – calls for traffic controls

            Ferry Strike – county runs emergency service with “Washington”

            Tahlequah holds dock party to thank Washington navigation Co. for not striking

            Department of Public Service holds hearing and submits report about ferry

                        service – Vashon ferry service should not be considered independent of

                        other Puget Sound ferry service

           

1938 - The George McCormick “Marathon-Around-The-Island”

            Protest against toll booth in center of Heights dock – later removed

            Caterpillar infestation on island

            State Department of Health warns against eating Puget Sound mussels

            Vashon votes against “Public Utility District Bill” 355 to 806 – bill would have

                        created King Co. Utility District – public power – fear of higher taxes

and higher utility costs

            American Legion Post formed

 

1939 -  Robbery Gang arrested on Vashon woman and five boys looted 15 homes and

dance hall

            Ferry Poll – islanders prefer Fauntleroy over Seattle because more frequent

 service (1.5 hour vs 2 hour service)

            Vashon wins Washington Prep Invitational Basketball Meet

            Virginia V seized by U.S. Marshals – Westside without service

            Frank Plum return to island from fighting with the Abraham Lincoln Brigade

                        For Loyalists against Fascists in Spain

            “Mukai Gardens at Height of Beauty”

            Pt. Robinson park being developed – road down hill, clay slopes pulled down

                        To fill in swamp

            WPA project – 38 men surveying island – establishing section lines

            Ferry Strike – 22 days -  King County puts “Washington” on emergency service

            Island Men seize ferry “Elwaha” – vigilante action to keep ferry service if needed

            Forest fires burn on island – 2 days at Heights, 2 days at Rosehilla, 1 month at

Pt. Robinson

            50 lb Tyee Salmon caught at Tahlequah

 

1940 – Federal Arbiter grants ferry pay increase – assures no strikes until Dec 1, 1941

            KIRO erects tower on Maury

            New Ellisport water system completed

           Tacoma Narrows Bridge collapses – Ferry service at Tahlequah curtailed and ferries put on Gig
                Harbor – Pt. Defiance run to replace bridge

English children sent to Vashon to escape Blitz

 

1941 -  Ferry operators and union sign 3 year agreement

            Ferry Hearings – disparities between N and S end fares

            KIRO opens transmitter – 15 employees to island

            Parking lot at N end built – road down to dock

            Vashon gears up for war – Women’s Auxiliary of Emergency Defense

Commission formed, Civilian Fire Defense Force formed, mock air raid drills held

            Island votes to form single school district – only Columbia against

            Pearl Harbor attacked – WW II begins – Editorial calls for balanced in dealing

 with Japanese citizens on the island

           

1942 – Air Raid Observation Posts set up, Air Raid drills held

            Bus service to Tacoma begins

            KIRO closes facilties and grounds to visitors

            Community garden, Japanese volunteer labor

            Paul Billingsley appointed head of island Civil Defense

            War efforts - scrap iron drive, copper drive, price ceilings set, tires ratrioned, fuel rationed,
                  coffee rationed, blackout regulations enforced

            “G-Men Raid Island Aliens”

             Japanese-American Club of Vashon Island publishes “The Creed of the Japanese-American”

            King County Fire Protection  District formed

            Maurice Dunsford takes over Mukai and Son Packing Plant

            Second Relocation - Island Japanese interned – 126 leave island – 300 friends see them off –
                   Executive Order 9066

 

1943 -  18 inch snowfall blankets island

            New income tax law

            War efforts – shoes rationed, meat rationed, War Loan drives, paper drives

            Four island boys drown, fifth saved during gale in West Passage

            Editorial – “Leave the Japs Where They Are” – new editor in charge

            Island Observation Posts closed – Army Fighter Command takes over

            Office of Price Administration set price of wood at $13.50 per cord

           

1944 -  Vashon Theater changes hands – C.G. Kimmel  and Art Larson new owners

            King County Library, Vashon Island Branch opens March 6

            Drive to build new Library - $6,000 raised for building

            Road west of Tahlequah blockaded by property owners

            As war reaches peak numerous island men killed or missing in action

            Vashon Island News Record sold by Smock to Garber

            FDR wins island for third time

            Ferry Vashonia runs aground at Tahlequah in fog

 

A Vashon-Maury Island Community – 1945 to 1970

 

1945 - Vashon Island News-Record editorially supports Governor Wallgren’s opposition to allowing Japanese to return –

            Dual funeral for Lt. Thomas and 2nd Lt. Douglas Bacchus – both killed in service

            Quartermaster Harbor opened to night cruising by pleasure craft

            100 acre fire in Paradise Valley

            Tahlequah Fire Hall dedicated by Vashon Fireman’s Association

            Editorial call for zoning on Vashon

            Parking restrictions (2 hour) and 20 mph speed limit in Vashon Town passed by

                        County Commissioners

            Japan Surrenders – WW II over

100 Quartermaster residents protests ships moored in Harbor at Portage –
             8 Army Transport Service vessels

            Island Coast Guard Auxiliary formed

            600 phones on Island, 8 operators

            Larson Boat Shop opens at Cove – builds SkipperCraft

 

1946 -  Tacoma Times editorial calls for improved Pt. Defiance and Tahlequah docks

            3,500 cheery trees destroyed to prevent infestation

            Seattle PI article – proposes floating bridge with Vashon as “the unsinkable

                        mid-Sound anchor.” –  Chamber of Commerce supports proposal

            Life Magazine photographers visit island to photograph Betty MacDonald

            Earthquake rocks island – slide at Shawnee

            Vashon Theater burns – surrounding buildings saved

            Vashon Library new building dedicated

            Capt. F. M. Sherman proposes a marine park at Dockton

            Vashon Island Cooperative Hatchery destroyed by fire, 30,000 eggs lost

            Smallpox epidemic –

            Ferry and Bus service increased –

            Vashon Heights Community Club formed

            Harbor Mercantile at Burton opens Locker Plant

            KEVR opens transmitter and towers on Maury (later KING)

            Safecrackers rob Vashon Tavern - $2,500, 20 cases of beer, 6 cases wine,

                        100 cartons cigarettes

            Beall Greenhouse Open House – 1,500 attend

            Olympic Instruments opens – Chris Crecelius and Leonard Bonifaci

 

 1947 – New phone cable laid to island from Brace Point to Bealls Point

            January gale and freeze – temperatures drop to 17 degrees

            Vashon Businessmen’s Club – protest ferry rte increases

            Mass meeting to protest ferry fare increase

            Airport District approved – 215 to 71

Editorial – “A United Island” – supports state owned ferries and bridge to        peninsula at Southworth

February 6 mass meeting – 500 attend – raise $1,500 to fight Black Ball 30%

       fare increase

Feb 13 – caravan of islanders to Olympia to protest ferry fare increase and support

       S.B. 85 to create State Ferry System

Tahlequah “path case” – public path over private land closed

2 Hour parking enforced in Vashon Town

Ferry Strike – March 14-20 – temporary service by White Swan, Carlisle and Elsie C III

Larson Marine – opens boat shop at Cove – Slippercraft Boats

Peach Festival August 16-17 – Peach Queen Martha Mues

New Island Theater opens May 29 – “Two Guys from Milwaukee” and “The Big Sleep” double feature

Vashon Sewer District approved 43-21

Record school enrollment Fall term – 853 students

Vashon Ferry District formed – 316 to 38 approved – King County Ferry

       District  #1, Vashon Island Ferry District

       Commissioners – George McCormick, Charles Law, George Wall

            Floating bridge plans developed by State Department of Transportation

            Halloween Parade and Theater Party

            School Levy passes 1057 to 72 – 94% approval

            December Gale – 53 mph winds at Tahlequah and Point Dalco

 

1948 – Vashon Island Ministerial Association formed – 7 churches

            Vashon Island Chamber of Commerce proposes bridge to Southworth to State

                  Highway Director Clarence Shain – 2 bridges proposed 1 at Hood Canal, 1 at

                  Vashon-Southworth

            Vashon Ferry District begins ferry service – Black Ball fleet tied up by Captain

                  Peabody – he asks state for 30% fare increase

                  March 1 Gallant Lady makes first passenger run Vashon to Fauntleroy

                  King County makes 45 car ferry Lincoln available for Fauntleroy run –

                  Passenger ferry Elsie C makes Tahlequah run

                  May 6 Motor Ferry Kitsap begins Tahlequah run

             New King County “sanitary fill” dump located

             Vashon Ferry District sues Seattle Times $1.25 million for libel

             Saturday May 15 Vashon Vigilantes repel Black Ball Ferry – “Black Ball Ferries

                   Refused Landing at Vashon Dock”   

             Ferry District purchases Motor Ferry City of Tacoma for $45,000 – 34 car ferry

                   Begins two ferry service at North End – Lincoln and City of Tacoma

            Peach Festival – Queen Elsa Mae Schmidt

            Ed Zarth killed in explosion at Island Garage

            Ki-Mo-Vi-Ro-Club formed – Radio Engineers and Wives Club –

                  KING, KOMO, KIRO, KVI

            Truman wins national election – Vashon votes for Dewey 1010 to 758

            Chamber of Commerce Meeting – 500 attend and approve Vashon Ferry District

                   Contract with State Toll Bridge Authority – Ferry District signs North End

                   Run to State of Washington –

            State Supreme Court invalidates State ferry arrangement with Black Ball Line

           

1949 – Norman Edson’s “Sun’s Last Glow” photograph of Mount Rainier featured in

article about Edison in Vashon Island News Record – Jan. 6.

Methodist Log Church built in 1885 dismantled and moved

March 23, storm sinks Tahlequah ferry slip

Attempt to form Island Hospital District– election May 19 – plan defeated by

            Vote of 142 for and 757 against – Island never gets hospital

School Board buys land near High School – will later become McMurry and

            Chautauqua sites

Vashon Bridge – Vashon to Southworth to cost $18 million – proposal endorsed

            By Vashon Ferry District and by Vashon Chamber of Commerce

State Highway Department buys ferry “City of Tacoma” for Vashon Ferry

 District

            Seattle earthquake

 

1950 – Falcon’s Nest Burns – island showcase lodge destroyed by fire

            Vashon Bridge – Washington Toll Bridge Authority proposed high span bridge

                        from Southworth to Vashon, floating bridge from Vashon to Fauntleroy –

                        “Let’s Build the Bridge” Campaign begins - $75,000 from State to begin

                        preliminary planning

            Jan 13 Blizzard – 14 inches of snow blankets Island

            Jan 24 Gale – 60 mph winds close ferry service

            Ferry Meeting – overwhelming support of Vashon Ferry District – 750 attend –

            Albert Canwell speaks to Kiwanis Club – Canwell led “McCarthy” type hearings

                        About communist influence at University of Washington

            Senate Bill No. 11 passes both houses of State Legislature -  gives State

 jurisdiction over Puget Sound Navigation Company service

            “Dream Bridge” theme of annual Flower Show on Island – model of new Vashon

 Bridge was center piece of show –

            Ferry Leschi added to Ferry District fleet – 3 boats: Lincoln, Crosline, Leschi

            Dial Telephone service begins Dec 15 – 175 lines, 1200 customers

            1950 Census – 4,320 island residents

            1000 phones on Island, 14 operators

 

1951 – State purchases Puget Sound Navigation ferries fo