History of Shoreline Washington

Historylink.org has an interesting article on the history of Shoreline (with old photos). Here is an exerpt followed by a link to the original article.

An early resident in the Shoreline community around the turn of the century was Judge James Ronald. Ronald purchased five acres of land for $100 from a friend who owed him money. Working on the weekends, he cleared his tract and planted cherry and apple trees. Improving the land came naturally to him, he claimed, having been raised in the Deep South.

Judge Ronald was a friend of Fred Sander, the man who built the Interurban. Ronald gave right-of-way through his property for Sander's rail line and offered to build a small station house if he could name it. Sander agreed, and after the station was built, Ronald gave him a sign reading "Evanor," named for Ronald’s daughters, Eva and Norma.

Shortly thereafter, Judge Ronald was riding the train. He got off at his station and was shocked to see that its name had been changed to Ronald. Not wanting to see his name in a public place, he confronted Sander. Sander informed Ronald that he'd promised to name the station "Evanor" but not to keep the name.

Said Sander, "This is my railway and I change names of stations when I please. I have changed it to Ronald and if you don’t like that name you can stay away and not see it!" The name further ingrained itself into the community a few years later when Ronald donated land for a school building. The name of the building? Ronald School, now home to the Shoreline Historical Museum.

Link to Shoreline history at Historylink.org

Photo: Cut out of Judge Ronald (left) at Shoreline Historical Museum

Is a historic Shoreline road hitting a dead end?

The end of the road

Heading north it connects with Aurora.

A piece of Shoreline history meets a dead end.

A couple weeks ago I posted some information about the history of Ronald Pl. N. - specifically the curvy piece of red brick road between Aurora Rents and Top Food. When I wrote that post I didn't realize that there's actually another piece of that road on the other side of 175th, running from the back of Walgreen's parking lot out to Highway 99. As you can see in the photos above, it's pretty much been rendered useless.

Someone commented on the original post with dire warnings about the future of the road, saying that it's at risk, but leaving no details. So I wrote an email to the City of Shoreline asking about it. Here's the deal (as far as I can tell): the curvy piece of Ronald Pl. N. that currently connects Highway 99 and 175th is indeed going to go away, while the piece that runs alongside the Interurban Trail (that's the piece that dead-ends at the Walgreens parking lot) may be incorporated into 'Interurban Park'.

Here's a quote from the email: "The backbone of the Interurban Park is Ronald Place. There will be a public process to aid plan development. How the red brick road is highlighted as part of the park will be determined through plan development." Click here to read the entire email.

What do you think? What would you like to see happen with Ronald Pl. N.? Do you think it's important to preserve it? Post your thoughts to the comment section below (you don't need to log in or have an account to leave a comment).

Link to: earlier post about Ronald Pl. N.

Ronald Pl. N., History under your feet (or tires)

Have you ever noticed the little curvy piece of road that connects Highway 99 with N. 175th St? It's more or less between Aurora Rents and TOP Food and Drug, just east of the intersection of Highway 99 and N 175th. Well, a brochure I got at the Shoreline Historical Museum has this to say about that:

"The last remaining exposed piece of the North Trunk Road curves in an arch across 175th, connecting with Aurora Ave. N. (Highway 99) on both ends. The original road was brick-paved in 1913. The road was straightened and widened in 1928, in preparation for the new national highway, and paved shortly thereafter. The remaining curve was left in place, a reminder that Judge Ronald dug that section of the road with his own hands."

Wow! Judge Ronald must have been exceedingly industrious. No wonder so many things around here are named after him (including this blog, since it's named after Ronald Bog, which is also named after Judge Ronald).

According to the Shoreline Historical Museum's website: "The Ronald School (which is where the museum is housed), established in 1906, was named after Judge James T. Ronald, a prominent area attorney, Mayor of Seattle in 1892 and 1893, and King County Superior Court Judge from 1909 to 1949. Many places in Shoreline came to be named after him, such as: Ronald Methodist Church, Ronald Voting Precinct, Ronald Place (the brick road), Ronald Sewer District, Ronald Bog, Ronald Station, Ronald Neighborhood, and Ronald Room at the Shoreline Center."

By the way, I think that brochure must have been printed before the Walgreen's was put in, because Ronald Pl. N. no longer seems to connect to Highway 99 on both ends. It seems to be just that one little bit that's left now.








Link to: more information about Ronald Pl. N.