Above Ground Tour

 May 16th Update the Log Cabin Cedar Tree was partially removed this morning in NW Seattle. Tree Action Seattle reported from the scene   mentioning the tree had 12 limbs and was being evaluated by an archaeologist as a possible culturally modified tree. With City of Seattle permit in hand, Seattle Police Department onsite the chainsaws were fired up and limbs were dropping. As of Friday evening some of the Log Cabin Tree remains standing. A tense standoff ensued between a saw crew and neighbors in Broadview Thursday morning May 8th over what neighbors are calling the Log Cabin Tree. The Ellsworth family lived in a log cabin on the property since 1934 and the property was recently sold. The Log Cabin Tree is a Western Red Cedar tree with a 68” trunk diameter and reportedly over a 100 years old. The group of neighbors hired an arborist who looked at the property lines and determined the tree may possibly be co-owned with the neighbors to the north. The new property owners have ...

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...

  Born 22 Apr 1898 Death 25 Jul 1989 (aged 91) Port Townsend, Jefferson County WA USA Greenwood Cemetery Author of the Still and I, From Trash to Treasures, Hadlock Hill During the Great Depression Mr. Kivley ran a moonshine still in Stanwood Washington to help make payments for his family's farm and was arrested. He was sentenced to one year in jail to be served in Jefferson County. While in jail he improved his English skills and volunteered for any duties. The local Sheriff had a summer place on Indian island that Melvin turned into a self-sufficient farm that ended up feeding the local prisoners. Upon his release from jail he and his wife Ann rented a farm near Hadlock, Washington and turned a dilapidated bunkhouse into a secondhand store he rented for $2 a year and began trading. Their first business venture was selling eggs. Every Sunday they would walk several miles carrying 2 milk pails filled with 12 dozen eggs to sell for 20 cents a dozen. In his book From Trash to Treasu...

A Southbound Siemens-built S70 car Artist concept of Shoreline South/145th Station to be completed 2025 and presently under construction. Courtesy of Sound Transit At the turn of the 20th Century Broadview residents worked on farms, fishing or in lumber mills and a roundtrip to downtown Seattle was a grueling 8 hour buggy ride. Automobiles were scarce, and trains were plentiful when Seattle commuters were tempted to try the Puget Sound Electric Railway: “Hourly service… Baggage Checked Free… Low Rates.. Fast Time.. No Cinders… No Smoke”. Then in 1910 a commuter could board an electric rail car at 5th and Pike and be whisked sixteen miles north to Forest Park [now Lynnwood] in 45 minutes for 40 cents! The Seattle - Everett Traction Company’s Interurban train cars slowly traversed Westlake and Phinney Ridge until North of 85th St where it reached speeds exceeding 60mph through old growth stands of Doug Fir and tiny communities such as Groveland, Bitter Lake, Ronald and Forest Park. The I...

Wealthy, Tompkins King, Dutch Mignone, Roxbury Russett apples harvested from Pipers Orchard in Carkeek Park   2020 will undoubtedly be the year that shatters fruit harvest records in Broadview if such records are actually kept.  City Fruit recently harvested apples at Pipers Orchard in Carkeek Park for the #GreatSeattleFruitHarvest and a local backyard tree produced over 576lbs of apples.  Fall in Broadview has meant apple harvests since the 1890s when the Piper family homesteaded here. The Pipers originating from Germany planted European Apples Bietgheimer, Gravenstein, Tompkins King, Dutch Mignone also American varieties Esopus  Spitzenburg and Wealthy. European apples have complex flavor profiles such as Beitgheimer which is slightly sour. Esopus Spitzenburg originated in New York and was Thomas Jefferson’s favorite apple. The commonality between these original apples at Pipers could be their use in baking as they had both a bakery and confectionery in downtown ...

  2019 Festival of Fruit Pipers Orchard Over 300 people attended the 13 th annual Piper's Orchard Festival of Fruit in Carkeek Park Seattle, Washington on October 5 th 2019. Attendees enjoyed Master gardeners, fruit tasting, cider pressing and orchard tours. For the first time in many years two apple trees were planted in the orchard. After volunteering at the Festival since 2008, I was excited to become a member of the tree planting committee until I found manual labor was involved as Paul Brookshire handed me a shovel indicating where to dig. Soil in the orchard is a hardpan glacial till similar to quick dry concrete. While digging a nearby anthill boiled ants while squirrels dropped horse chestnuts from a nearby tree! Ah these are the joys of volunteering. Our first tree, donated by Bob Baines, was an Ashmead Kernel in a 10 gallon pot. Soon a crowd formed to witness this auspicious occasion and discussions on planting apple trees and soil amendments ensued. Bob’s theory is...