Above Ground Tour

  Broadview is a neighborhood North of Seattle and l ongtime residents share old stories of tunnels leading to secret underground rooms, midnight rendezvous at beaches north of town and houses on Greenwood burnt to the ground. These are the stories of bootlegging days in Broadview during prohibition.  On January 1 st 1916 a state law was passed that prohibited sales of alcohol in Washington.  On the very next day Rumrunner boats outfitted with oversized engines and large fuel tanks began making trips from Canada, flying through the dead of night heavily loaded with cases of whiskey. The distance between Canadian gulf islands and northern puget sound beaches is roughly 60 nautical miles and was covered in a little over an hour, in good weather, by the rumrunners.  “Lazy-S” [a 28’ Baby Gar] was used to illegally smuggle liquor down the Pacific Coast from Canada. Powered by a big 1414 Cubic Inch 300 HP V-12 Kermath Sea-Raider engine and 310 gallon fuel capacity which ...

Finding Playland 2009 documentary In 1930 a small amusement park stood at Bitter Lake near Seattle Washington when Carl E. Phare arrived to build the Dipper an 85’ tall 3400’ long wooden roller coaster towering over the lake and Playland was born. Soon more rides followed; Shoot the Chutes, dodge em cars, Merry-Go-Round, haunted house and free parking for 12,000 cars! Playland featured a midway with games, a restaurant and Funhouse. Admission was 10 cents and 10 cents per ride including the Canals of Venice and entrance to a large dance hall. Playland operated annually from Memorial Day to Labor Day and hosted thousands of fun seekers including a yearly All Seattle crossing guard day when  rides were free.        Finding Playland a 2009 documentary produced by Broadview resident Greg Brotherton features personal stories of Playland including Tobin Fraley whose parents and Grandfather worked at Playland, Tobin describes the park as a living entity that off...