Your Stories and Pictures

 

Do you remember Tukwila before the Mall?
Before I-5?
Do you remember when the Library was City Hall?
Do you remember when the Library was a school?
Do you remember stories your parents told
about what Tukwila life was like long ago?

We want your stories.
We want your pictures.
And everyone else wants to hear and see them, too.

So talk to your family.
Dive into that shoebox full of snap shots.
Or take a picture of your oldest or most cherished Tukwila belonging.

Then send your memories. moments, and mementos to:

Tukwila Centennial
12424  42nd Avenue South
Tukwila, WA 98168
info@tukwila100.com

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Tukwila - A Laid Back Burb
by Daniel W. Baker (former resident)


Being raised in Tukwila from 1942 until 1960, I do from time to time look at the events taking place there. Once a very laid back burb, Tukwila has grown into a major player in the economic engine of the Northwest. As a child, I remember open apple orchards across the street from our home where we made Apple Cider one day and drank it the next, "no need to let it age". From the time I was 14 days of age we lived in three different homes and never moved off of 57th Ave So. As kids, my brother, sister and I all had horses that we either kept at home on our acreage or managed to talk someone else in the neighborhood that had pasture area to keep them on their property.

I remember hunting ducks every winter in the swampy areas of what is now South Center and we used to ice skate and drive my model A on the frozen ponds in the valley around what used to be Longacres Race Track. I spent summers diving in the Green River for all of the Steelhead gear that the fishermen had lost during the winter and when we could avoid detection, we would dive for golf balls on the Foster golf course and sell the balls back to the golfers for 10 to 25 cents.

When I was growing up, the population of Tukwila was around 800+/- and everyone knew most everyone in the area. Living on top of the hill, I can remember walking down to the old rock quarries edge and looking down on the flooded river valley below and from the Town park you could see the red tops of the horse barns at the race track and the river was at least a mile wide.

My father was always civic minded and thought at one point that the "town as it was called at that time, it had to be a certain population to be considered a City" needed a new direction, so he decided to run for the office of Mayor. That was in 1947 and I went door to door handing out flyers asking that people elect my dad as their Mayor. Not only did he win that election, he went on to serve the City of Tukwila as Mayor until 1962. I remember his trips with then Governor Rossellini to the Midwest during the late 50's asking that major companies relocate to this little city outside of Seattle. One of my father's greatest fears was that Seattle was going to Annex Tukwila and not only would the city identity be lost, the citizens would have to deal with the dictates of the City of Seattle. I have copies of economic outlines that my father presented to not only major companies in an attempt to lure them to the Green River Valley, he also presented these plans to the Association of Washington cities which he was President of for a period of time.

I remember coming home from the service in the fall of 1962 and seeing I-5 cutting through the valley between Bremmers Hill and the hill on the Tukwila side, I really couldn't believe that a major freeway was actually being built. During that period of time many of the buildings that today make up South Center and the Andover Industrial Park were starting to come to life, around 1968 we attended the dedication of the South Center Mall.

My father served as the Chairman of the Tukwila Industrial Council from 1962 until his death in 1979. I am proud of what my Father did for the community, yet at times it is sad for me to think of how things were during my childhood and how progress has changed. I can remember conversations in our kitchen amongst council members and my father trying to decide how they were going to make capital improvements with such a limited budget. One of my best memories was that of the first Police car in Tukwila. It belonged to Nick Heinz, it was an Olive Drab military style Buick with a siren on the fender and a red light on the front bumper. Nick was the Town Marshall.

I wish your Centennial committee the best during this upcoming year and hope that you are able to capture the true essence of what Tukwila was and where it stands today. One last thought, my father's salary for being Mayor was $50.00 per month and to my knowledge he never took one penny, choosing to turn it back into the cities general fund.