Edmonds Beacon - Your Hometown News Source

I am a member of the Edmonds Historic Preservation Commission. I guess that means I am a commissioner. I think most people think that the Edmonds Historic Preservation Commission... — Updated 3/23/2022

The name of actress Swoosie Kurtz is familiar to many. Years ago, I assumed that Swoosie was a nickname of some sort. Wrong. Swoosie is really her name, and there is a Puget Sound... — Updated 3/13/2022

Have you visited Joyce, Florence, Beverly, Addy, Arletta, Amanda Park, or Lebam? Those are all towns in Washington named for wives, daughters, and lady friends. There are certainly... — Updated 3/7/2022

My second daughter lives near Silver Lake in south Everett. Actually, she lives much closer to Ruggs Lake, but nobody has heard of Ruggs Lake, and most are at least little familiar... — Updated 2/18/2022

Creation myths are common for many cities. I suppose the most famous is the story of Romulus and Remus, fed by a wolf when they were infants. Romulus later killed Remus and created... — Updated 2/10/2022

I have driven past the Wilburton trestle in Bellevue more times than I can count. I have driven under it more than a few times; I only learned last year that originally there was no... — Updated 2/3/2022

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, And sorry I could not travel both And be one traveler, long I stood And looked down one as far as I could To where it bent in the undergrowth;... — Updated 1/20/2022

The greatest pleasure in digging up buried history is that you never know what you're going to get. Because you don't what, if anything, is buried. It's a bit like Forrest Gump's... — Updated 1/15/2022

I call Skykomish my home away from home. But due to COVID-19, I haven't gotten there as often in the last two years as I would have liked. Fortunately for me and others, there is a... — Updated 12/22/2021

Everyone knows about the Titanic. Almost no one has heard of the Sultana. The Titanic sinking claimed more than 1,500 souls. It was worldwide news. But fifty years earlier, the... — Updated 12/16/2021

Did you ever play post office? I never did, and had no idea of the rules until doing some research on local post offices. A town was measured by its post office, as much as by its... — Updated 12/9/2021

While viewing the early arrivals of white birdies near the tulip fields in Skagit County, I visited the sites of Florence and Skagit City. Florence and Skagit City were pioneer... — Updated 12/2/2021

A number of years ago there was much complaining about a bridge to nowhere in Alaska. My story today is a bit different. It is about roads that would have gone somewhere useful in... — Updated 11/23/2021

I play pub trivia Tuesday nights at Shawn O'Donnell's American Grill and Irish Pub. O'Donnell's location is usually described as in south Everett, or maybe Mariner. It wasn't... — Updated 11/18/2021

Did Edmonds kids live in fear of "silk trains"? That question came to mind while visiting Easton, Wash., to help the people there who hope to organize a new historical society. We... — Updated 11/14/2021

At the Black Diamond Museum in King County, a memorial commemorates men killed in coal mines. They went to work to make a living for themselves and their families, and one day... — Updated 11/4/2021

Why does it matter that Seagen is now the sixth most valuable company in Washington, and who cares other than shareholders? Would the jobs at Seagen still be as valuable if the... — Updated 10/28/2021

Recently, former Edmonds resident Cyndi Correnti invited me to speak to her book club in Suncadia. The subject was the ghost town of Alpine, Washington. Cyndi also invited author... — Updated 10/14/2021

Teresa A Anderson and I have been continuing to follow her father's travel journal from May 29, 1922. Herbert Anderson and Elias Gillette had driven from Queen Anne to Leavenworth... — Updated 10/14/2021

On May 29, 1922, Herbert Anderson drove with Elias Gillette from Seattle to Leavenworth. Herbert took photos and documented the trip in a travel journal along the way. His... — Updated 9/9/2021

Did you know 84th Avenue West to Five Corners and east to Edmonds-Woodway was originally part of what was called "Trunk Road"? Stick with me. We'll get to that. It was on a Monday... — Updated 8/26/2021

The name Diamond Knot is familiar to many residents of southwest Snohomish County. Many are acquainted with the brewpubs in Mukilteo and Mountlake Terrace, but few know the origin... — Updated 8/12/2021

We spent a day chasing history. The first location was the Cleveland High School Memorial Forest. After World War II, Cleveland High School students bought 20 acres on Issaquah-Fall... — Updated 8/5/2021

"Those who don't know history are condemned to repeat it" has become a popular phrase among apologists for the Lost Cause of the Confederacy. The actual quote from George Santayana... — Updated 7/22/2021

On July 4th I didn't do the usual ritual of going to Civic Park to watch the fireworks show, but I did get a chance to enjoy it in another way. And I wondered how the first July... — Updated 7/15/2021