7801 HistoryLink.org articles now available.
Diablo Dam incline railway climbing Sourdough Mountain, 1930. Courtesy Seattle Municipal Archives, 2306.
Children waving to ferry, 1950. Courtesy Museum of History and Industry.
Loggers in the Northwest woods. Courtesy Washington State Digital Archives.
9/24/2020
Going Full Circle
On September 24, 1924, more than 40,000 people gathered at Seattle's Sand Point Airfield to welcome two U.S. Army aircraft that had just completed the first aerial circumnavigation of the globe. The two planes were the survivors of a fleet of four Douglas Air Cruisers that had departed Sand Point for their round-the-world trip more than five months earlier .
The flight boosted King County's efforts to have a naval air station based at Sand Point. The county had deeded the airstrip to the U.S. Navy in 1921, but faced an obstructionist Congress that wouldn't approve the deal. It wasn't until 1926 that the Sand Point Naval Air Station became one of the first five naval air stations in the nation.
For the next half-century, the air station was integral to the training of pilots and crewmembers and repairing naval aircraft, and also welcomed history-making fliers and aircraft on occasion. The station saw its busiest service during World War II and the Korean War, but by 1970, the Whidbey Island Naval Air Station had made the Sand Point installation superfluous. Sand Point was deactivated that year, and part of it was later turned into Warren G. Magnuson Park. The remaining surplus federal property was transferred to the city of Seattle 25 years ago this week, on September 28, 1995.
Farewell, Harold Moss
This week we mourn the loss of Harold Moss, Tacoma activist and civic leader, who died on September 21 at the age of 90. Moss was born in Texas, and moved to the Northwest in 1950 while serving in the National Guard. After he was stationed at Fort Lewis, he and his first wife attempted to buy a home in Tacoma, only to find that many sellers rejected their offers because they were black. These and other experiences with discrimination led him to join the local NAACP branch, which he became president of in 1957.
A decade later Moss helped found the Tacoma Urban League before launching his political career. In 1971 he became the first African American to serve on the Tacoma City Council, where he maintained his fight for civil rights before stepping down four years later to continue his work with the Urban League. He returned to the council again in 1987 by appointment and won reelection in 1991.
In 1993 his friend Jack Hyde was elected mayor and asked Moss to serve as his deputy. Seventeen days after being sworn in, Hyde died of a heart attack, and Moss became acting mayor. A week later, the council unanimously appointed Moss as the city's first black mayor. Term limits prevented him from running again in the next election (Tacoma's mayor is considered part of the city council), but in 1997 Moss was elected as the first black member of the Pierce County Council, where he served until 2004. Moss remained active even in retirement, and served as a mentor to Victoria Woodards, Tacoma's current mayor.
The Donation Land Claims Act took effect on September 27, 1850, luring many settlers to the Northwest. Exactly one year later, scouts from the Denny Party, who had just arrived at the mouth of the Duwamish River, met up with the Collins Party, which had already been there for a week. The next day, scouts David Denny and Lee Terry made claims out on Alki, while John Low returned to Portland to fetch the rest of their party.
Harvest season has traditionally been a time for farmers to show off their crops. The first Kittitas County Fair was held near Ellensburg from September 30 to October 2, 1885. On September 24, 1894, the first Washington State Agricultural Fair opened in Yakima. And on September 24, 1937, the Lincoln County Fair resumed in Davenport after a decades-long hiatus.
On September 30, 1909, President William Howard Taft arrived in Seattle for a visit to the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition. And on September 26, 1963, more than 30,000 people greeted President John F. Kennedy at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation near Richland, where he participated in groundbreaking ceremonies for the N Reactor. The next day, an equally large crowd came to hear him speak at Tacoma's Cheney Stadium.
On September 28, 1918, an explosion rocked Spokane's Hippodrome Theater when a spark set off the volatile gas used to fill some 200 balloons for a children's matinee. On September 25, 1963, seven people were killed in an explosion at a Moses Lake sugar-beet factory. And on September 24, 1984, a heap of four million discarded tires caught fire in Everett, and continued to burn and pollute for more than 6 months.
On September 24, 1926, thousands celebrated the grand opening of the 5th Avenue Theatre in Seattle. The lavish playhouse was the brainchild of architect Robert Reamer, known for his designs of the Old Faithful Inn in Yellowstone National Park, Spokane's Fox Theater, Bellingham's Mt. Baker Theatre, and Seattle's Edmond Meany Hotel and 1411 4th Avenue Building.
Five Washington cities that celebrate anniversaries this week are South Bend, which incorporated on September 27, 1890; Stanwood, which voted to incorporate on September 29, 1903; Okanogan, which voted to incorporate on September 30, 1907; Granger, which had its incorporation approved on September 28, 1909; and Mill Creek which incorporated on September 30, 1983.
Ten years ago this week, Lake Union Park -- home to MOHAI -- opened in Seattle on September 25, 2010.
"Surely, of all the wonders of the world, the horizon is the greatest."
--Freya Stark
