Well, it took almost a full year, but I managed to become a certified Cascade Bicycle Club Ride Leader, and a few weeks ago, I led my first history ride in Seattle!
I led a group of riders interested in the history of Georgetown, the settlement that established King County, and the Duwamish (native) people and area.
Old Rainier Brewery – former Bay View Brewery (Elliott Bay used to be within view until numerous earthwork projects filled in the mudflats to create land that constitutes the Industrial District and SODO in Seattle) – bottom right pic is of a light rail maintenance facility which has the original neon “R” that used to sit atop the brewery
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(top-left, bottom-left) Seattle Brewing & Malting Company, which in 1915 was the largest brewery west of the Mississippi and the 6th largest in the world until Washington State passed Prohibition in 1916; (right) Old Georgetown City Hall, the first building in the then-city of Georgetown to have hot/cold running water, only used as official city hall for 9 months because the citizens voted to join the city of Seattle
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(top-left) Georgetown Steam Plant which contains 2 of the only still operable vertical steam turbines built by General Electric; (bottom-left) at the Boeing Museum of Flight (Boeing’s famous Red Barn in back, the building was moved from its original location by barge and truck to the museum); (right) South Park Bridge where I pointed across the river to Boeing Plant 2 which produced almost 7,000 B-17’s (the B stands for Boeing) during World War II and had a fake neighborhood built on top (made of burlap, canvas, and chicken wire with 4 foot houses and cars to fool aerial reconnaissance) to disguise it from potential air strikes
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(top-left) Hat ‘n’ Boots gas station in its original form and location which appears in the opening credits to National Lampoon’s Vacation and was Washington State’s most popular gas station when it was built; (bottom-left) taking shelter under the hat whose brim was damaged years ago by skateboarders; (right) his and her boots that were used for the men’s and women’s bathrooms
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(top-left, bottom-left, bottom-right) Duwamish Hill Preserve, a natural formation with cultural importance to the Duwamish people that was originally set by the developer to be leveled and turned into an industrial parking lot before people organized, bought the land, and turned it into one of Washington State’s first cultural preserves; (top-right) Duwamish Gardens with a wind chime resembling fish drying racks used by the Duwamish people, I also talked about the Duwamish River which was so polluted from industrialization (big part of Seattle’s history) that the last 5 miles were declared a Superfund site in 2001 and aren’t expected to be fully cleaned up until 2037
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I’m doing research for my next history ride which I plan to lead in mid-October just a couple of days before I return to the DC area for a visit.
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