Washington Trivia & Tidbits - Page 4

—The lumber mills of Ballard supplied much of the material used to rebuild Seattle after the disastrous Great Fire of 1889, and by 1904 were producing 3 million shingles per day, more than any other city in the nation. Incorporated in 1890, Ballard was annexed by Seattle in 1907 after experiencing difficulties with its water supply.

—The Olympic Sculpture Park opened in downtown Seattle last January, transforming a 9-acre industrial site into a waterfront park with views overlooking Puget Sound and the Olympic Mountains. Containing more than 20 major pieces of art, including a grand fountain and a 200-foot covered glass walkway, the $85 million public park was financed primarily through private donations.

—Boeing unveiled the interior of its new 747-8 Intercontinental airplane earlier this year at its facility in Renton (pop. 50,052). With a sweeping entry that includes a curved staircase to the 747’s upper deck, plus mood lighting, the design focuses on comfort, space and light. The plane is scheduled for service in 2010.

—When development plans in the mid-1970s threatened the birds of Protection Island—the only place within Washington’s inland waters where tufted puffins are found, and a major breeding area for cormorants and bald eagles—Eleanor Stopps began a campaign to protect the island and its feathered inhabitants. Known affectionately as the “Bird Lady” of Mats Mats Bay in Port Ludlow (pop. 1,968), Stopps saw her dream realized in 1982, when the island was named a national wildlife refuge.

—Woodland Park Zoo was established after the city of Seattle purchased businessman Guy Phinney’s Woodland Park Estate, which included a small menagerie, in 1899. Today, the zoo—which was based on a 1903 park plan by the Olmsted Brothers firm, which designed New York’s Central Park—is home to some 300 animal species, including many that are endangered or threatened with extinction.

Spokane’s Riverfront Park features an original Charles Looff carousel, created in 1909 with 54 carved horses, a giraffe, a tiger and two Chinese dragon chairs. The ride helped to inspire “Carousel on Parade,” in which 26 fiberglass carousel animals painted by local artists and displayed on downtown streets since last November will be auctioned this week, with proceeds going to Ronald McDonald House.

—Born in Snohomish (pop. 8,494) in 1902, center fielder Earl Averill in 1929 became one of the first American League players to hit a home run in his initial major league at-bat. Inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1975, Averill also was the only American League outfielder selected to play in the first six All-Star Games beginning in 1933.

—The promise of gold first drew people to the Crystal Mountain area in the late 1800s; today, white “gold” is the attraction, in the form of some 350 inches of annual snowfall. The Crystal Mountain ski area, with a view of Mount Rainier and not far from the community of Enumclaw (pop. 11,116), opened in 1962.

—Incorporated as a city in 1946, Gig Harbor (pop. 6,465) takes its name from the harbor in Puget Sound. Explorer Capt. Charles Wilkes named the harbor in 1841 after a small boat, known as a “gig,” from his expedition took shelter in the bay during a storm. Until then, the area was home primarily to Nisqually and other American Indian tribes.

—Soccer goalkeeper Kasey Keller earned a career highlight in 1998 as part of the U.S. National Soccer Team when he stopped five attempts by Brazilian soccer star Romario for a 1-0 U.S. victory. Keller hails from Lacey (pop. 31,226) and was named U.S. Male Soccer Athlete of the Year in 2005—for a record-setting third time.

—Chief Seattle (1786-1866), one of the Northwest’s most influential leaders and the man for whom the city of Seattle was named, is buried in the cemetery behind St. Peter’s Mission, in Suquamish (pop. 3,510) on the Port Madison Indian Reservation along Agate Passage. The city’s name, which also is the name of Chief Seattle’s tribe, means “place of clear water.”

—Shhhh! Acoustic ecologist Gordon Hempton has found one of the nation’s quietest places—in the Hoh Rain Forest of Olympic National Park, west of Seattle on the Olympic Peninsula. Marked by a small red stone and the designation “one square inch of silence,” the spot preserves a location where manmade sounds such as airplane engines generally cannot be heard.

—The Washington State Archives, based in Olympia (pop. 42,514), focuses on preserving the state’s heritage in documents. Some of its more unusual holdings include the hand-written state constitution from 1889 and records of the Canwell Committee, which in the mid-20th century investigated and blacklisted people in the state believed to be in league with Communists to overthrow the government.

When the 42-story Smith Tower opened in Seattle in 1914, it was one of the tallest buildings west of New York City. Named for its builder, Lyman Cornelius Smith of Smith Corona typewriter fame, the tower rests on 1,200 concrete pilings and features 2,314 bronze-framed windows. Most of the original brass-caged elevators continue to run in the building today, operated by uniformed staff. The original furnishings of the Chinese Room on the Smith Tower’s 35th floor were a gift to Lyman Smith from the Empress of China. The room features a hand-carved wood and porcelain ceiling, carved blackwood furniture and 17th-century art. Legend has it that single women who sit in the room’s “wishing chair” will be married within the year.

—One of the oldest artifacts at the Leavenworth Nutcracker Museum in Leavenworth (pop. 2,074) is an ancient Roman bronze nutcracker that dates to between 200 B.C. and 200 A.D. The museum features more than 5,000 nutcrackers and was founded in 1995 from the collection of Arlene and George Wagner. Arlene became interested in nutcrackers after teaching ballet, including instruction for dancers performing Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker.

—When a pig belonging to English settler Charles Griffin was found in 1859 rooting in American settler Lyman Cutlar’s garden on San Juan Island (territory that both the United States and Great Britain claimed ownership to), Cutlar shot it. The ensuing dispute launched the “Pig War,” which was settled in 1872 in favor of the United States. The pig was the only casualty.

—Known as “Clark’s Tree,” a 20-foot bronze sculpture of a windswept tree stands on an ocean-side sand dune on the Discovery Trail at Long Beach (pop. 1,283). Created by sculptor Stanley Wanlass, the artwork symbolizes the tree into which William Clark carved his name in 1805, signifying the northernmost point reached by the Lewis and Clark Expedition.

—L’Ecole No. 41 winery in Lowden in Walla Walla County (pop. 55,180) is named after the 1915 schoolhouse in which it operates. The schoolhouse was part of an area known as Frenchtown for the French-Canadians who settled there in the early 1800s. Opened in 1983, the winery’s name comes from the French word for “school” and the local district number.

—Founded in 1867 by Alonzo Low, the Swinomish trading post in the Skagit Valley was purchased in 1869 by settler John Conner. Conner moved the post across the Swinomish Channel, and renamed the community La Conner (pop. 761) by combining the first letters of his wife’s names—Louisa Ann—with their last name.

Reported to be the birthplace of Indian Chief Seattle in the late 1700s, Blake Island, located east of Manchester (pop. 4,958) off Washington’s Kitsap Peninsula, was known as Trimble Island after William Pitt Trimble purchased it in the early 1900s. Today, the island is a 475-acre state park accessible only by boat and includes five miles of saltwater beach.