The Redmond Recorder

REDMOND HISTORICAL SOCIETY NEWSLETTER

September 2016 VOL. 18 NO. 8

Every town has a history. Discover ours.

Saturday Speaker Series

Saturday, September 10, 10:30 a.m. to 12:00 noon

Old Redmond Schoolhouse Community Center,
16600 NE 80th Street Redmond, WA

Redmonds Poultry Past:

From Local Farms to Global Tables

Photo: Harry and Alice Lechner Family Collection

The Redmond Historical Societys Saturday Speaker Series begins

its new season on September 10. The first program, Redmonds Poultry
Past: From Local Farms to Global Tables, is funded in part by a 4Culture
2015 Heritage Project Grant. See story on p. 4.
Also inside: its Election Season for the Society! See Presidents
column on p. 3. And, historian Tom Hitzroth writes about Redmonds longforgotten Janet Street (p. 6).
Every town has a history. Discover ours. September 2016

2016

Society News

EXECUTIVE BOARD

Joe Townsend President

Mary I. Hanson Senior Vice President
Ed Dint OBrien Vice President Finance
Crystal Rojas Mora Vice President
Collections
Deborah Harvard Secretary

The last Historic Walking Tour

of the year is Sunday, September 11.
See p. 10.

BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Judith Simpson
Steve Johnson
Sharon Brocker
Indira Krishnaswami

Photo:Cheryl Magnuson

COLLECTIONS MANAGER Jlean

McDonald

ADMINISTRATIVE MANAGER
Vacant

ATTORNEY Charles Diesen

Our finances are public record and may

be viewed at the office.

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THE REDMOND RECORDER

is published nine times annually.
Laura Lee Bennett Editor
Jeanne Gustafson Layout
redmondhistoricalsociety.org

Redmonds first cobbler: The

Society recently received donations
from the Skjarstad family. Ole
Skjarstad was the first cobbler in
Redmond. He moved to Redmond
in the spring of 1904 from Mosca,
Colorado. When he arrived, he
purchased a lot on Leary Way from
co-owners John and Annie Sprague
of Snohomish and Mary Story of
Redmond. A small house was already
standing when Ole purchased the
property, and he lived in it while
building his streetfront shop, which he
then adjoined to his residence. The
shoe shop was only 16 X 20.

Erratum

In the August 2016 newsletter,

the credit for the Derby Days Parade
photo on p. 7 was incorrectly attributed
to Gene Magnuson. The photo was
taken by Mary Hanson.

425.885.2919
redmondhistoricalsociety.org
EMAIL
info@redmondhistoricalsociety.org
HOURS Monday, Wednesday and Friday: 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and by appointment
PHONE

WEBSITE

Members, member families, friends, if you have

questions about buying or selling a home, contact
Bliss Ong at Coldwell Banker Bain: 425.881.3200.
Redmond Historical Society has entered into a
community partnership with Bliss Ong.

September 2016 Every town has a history. Discover ours.

Its Election Season

for the Society, Too

Presidents
Notebook

We all read this newsletter to fulfill our interest in Redmonds unique

history. The Society Mission includes that phrase. Picture yourself among
the effective people who carry out that mission and implement our
strategic plan.
Historical societies are about the past, but all need todays leaders
to carry out their missions. Society Officers are the President, Senior
Vice President, Secretary, Vice President Finance/Treasurer, and the
Vice President Collections Management. The Nominating Committee is
actively interviewing candidates for the first four offices now. Lets talk.
Call me, call Chris Himes, Nominating Committee Chair. This is not
simply a polite request. The matter is pressing.
The highly visible parts of the Societys servicesthe Saturday
Speaker Series, website, newsletter, and collectionshave been and
continue to be planned and produced largely by volunteersleaders
and committee members. Our committees are supported by two staff
members, and we have goals to enhance that staff support to manage
volunteer tasks. If you thrive on results and achievement, our volunteer
jobs are very rewarding. Picture yourself as a Society Officer.
Volunteer and staff turnover creates vacancies that need to be filled
for the organization to thrive. There is no cadre of people waiting in the
wings to fill leadership positions. We all enjoy our work; we also need to
take our leave after ten, six, or even two years. New blood energizes the
Society and keeps the Society viable.
Redmond Historical Society officers and the other 70 volunteers
have galvanized the Society into an effective historical resource for the
community. Getting this done requires people with time and talent. You
contributed at this level for a career. Lend that talent to the Society; reap
the rewardspride from volunteering and contributing to the Society.
Picture yourself among these effective people. Call me, call Chris
Himes.
~Joe Townsend
Redmond Historical Society President

Every town has a history. Discover ours. September 2016

Society
News

Redmonds Poultry Past:

From Local Farms to
Global Tables

Way before Redmond approved

backyard chickens five years
ago, poultry had a long and large
presence in the areaat one time
it was said that there were more
chickens than people.
Yet little of that history had
been researched until now. Thanks
to a grant from 4Culture that was
secured by the Redmond Historical
Society, many of the stories have
been captured and a larger narrative
pulled together.

Timothy M. Wright,
Historian

Redmond fits a pattern of family chicken farming that stretched

from coast to coast starting in about 1910 and ending in the late
1960speople all over the country were raising chickens and selling
eggs, says historian Tim Wright. Wright will present the results of the
project at Redmond Historical Society Saturday Speaker Series program
on September 10th at 10:30 am at the Old Redmond Schoolhouse
Community Center.
This is also a story about immigrants from places like Sweden,
Russia, Austria, Italy and Germany who sought financial success through
raising chickens, explains Wright. Several of the people we talked to
recalled their parents saying that owning a chicken farm had been their
dream and some of them even gave up good jobssuch as working for
Boeingto have a chicken farm.
What makes Redmond and the adjoining areas unique, however, is
their importance as a research center for poultry production, adds Wright.
The poultry breeder Heisdorf and Nelson (H&N), with operations in
Kirkland, Woodinville, and, later, Redmond, applied genetic research to
improving egg production.
In fact, H&N built a new headquarters in 1966 on, what is today, part
of the Microsoft campus in Redmond. There poultry geneticists used
IBM punch cards to record data on 100,000 birds. Eventually, a hatchery
(Continued on p. 7)

September 2016 Every town has a history. Discover ours.

Membership

Society
News

At the Redmond Historical Society, we are working every day serving

the community through historical stewardship: collecting, preserving and
sharing Redmonds unique heritage.
If youre already a member, thank you for this support. And, if youre
not already aware, please note all the member benefits as described
below. If you arent yet a Society member, what are you waiting for? We
offer memberships at several donation levels, so youre sure to find a
comfortable level of donation. Each level comes with a package of member
benefits, and were always looking to add more. All membership levels
include these benefits:
Membership means you enjoy these current programs and activities,
Saturday Speaker Seriesadmission is free to members, and a
suggested $5 donation from non-members. The upcoming season has
some tremendous speakers and topics of interest! See our website for
the schedule.
Annual summer picnic at Perrigo Park every Junefood, music, and
more.
10% discount at the Redmond Historical Society Shop. Redmondrelated books and stationery, gifts for all occasionsfor sale in our
office. (See our website for office hours to plan your visit.)
Our websitea great resource for information about Redmonds history
and Society activities.
Monthly newsletter, The Redmond Recorder, with news of upcoming
events and stories of Redmonds past.
Invitation to visit our Redmond Historical Society office, which contains
a large number of photographs and other artifacts of historical interest.
Opportunity to participate in volunteer activities at Redmond events
such as Derby Days, Redmond Saturday Market, and Redmond Lights.
Membership donations go toward our goals of preserving and sharing
Redmonds heritage. Our Society runs multiple programs year-round -examples of this work include the gathering of verbal and video interviews
with people (now in their elder years) who were around in Redmonds early
days and were willing to describe their experiences and recollections from
that time. This set of interview media form an interesting and compelling
database for future research and study. Another example is the scanning of
early Redmond periodicals into digital form. Visit our website and find the
Collections tab to see some of this fascinating material. We also maintain
visual displays of historic interest around Redmond.
We hope youll agree that collection and preservation of this history is
worthwhile. Consider initiating or extending your membership. Redmond is
experiencing very fast growth, and staying in touch with our history is more
important than ever. We hope to see your name on the membership list,
and that youll join us at our events!
Every town has a history. Discover ours. September 2016

Local
History

A Long Forgotten
Redmond Street

By Tom Hitzroth

One of the more fascinating

aspects of delving into the long
ago past of Redmond, apart from
relocating lost sites as far back as
the settlement period, is finding the
unusual. I am fairly sure that very
few people have ever heard of Janet
Street. Where was it located, and
what became of it?
On February 1, 1890, William
E. Sikes purchased from Luke
McRedmond, for $360.00, seven
blocks of land, which appear to
be from an early pre-1891 unfiled
Redmond plat (more on this in a
future edition of The Redmond
Recorder). On February 17, 1897,
William Sikes filed a plat with King
County for Sikes 1st Addition to
Illustration: 2009 King County
Redmond. It was situated on the
iMap and Tom Hitzroth
western border of the 1891 Redmond
plat. On the west side of this new
plat Sikes laid out a 30-foot strip of land which he named Janet Street for
his wife Janet Adair Sikes (see illustration). The street had a northeast/
southwest orientation and ran from NE 80th Street on the northeast to
Cleveland Street on the southwest.
Sikes also owned land west of Sikes 1st Addition and on November
1, 1906, he filed another plat known as Sikes 2nd Addition to the Town
of Redmond. Sikes seems to have reconsidered his plan for a street
between the two plats. When he platted his second addition on the
borderline with his first addition, Janet Street was not included.
Janet Street had existed, at least on paper, for almost ten years, but
sadly, it was not destined to become a permanent part of the Redmond
landscape. We might take some consolation in the thought that William
Sikes named Janet Street as a tribute to his wife and lifelong partner who
labored beside him in building Redmond into the City it has become today.

September 2016 Every town has a history. Discover ours.

Redmonds Poultry Past:

From Local Farms to
Global Tables (Continued from p. 4)

Society
News

was added at the site. At the height of its scientific poultry breeding,
the company annually sold over 90 million chicks worldwide from its
hatcheries and those of its franchisees.
Crystal Rojas Mora, a professional historical researcher, used
archival research to identify more than 100 family farms in and around
Redmond and mapped as many as possible. Rojas Mora is also the
Vice President of Collections of the Redmond Historical Society, a
volunteer Board position. According to Rojas Mora, compiling a history
of ownership for select farms was a challenge. Sometimes indexes
spanning decades had to be searched.

This is a story about immigrants from places

like Sweden, Russia, Australia, Italy and Germany

Several of the people we talked to recalled their parents
saying that owning a chicken farm had been their
dream and some of them even gave up good jobs
such as working for Boeingto have a chicken farm.
The research focused, in part, on collecting first-hand accounts and
photos from people who grew-up on the farms or worked for H&N. After
Tims presentation, several of the project interviewees will be on hand
to answer questions from the audience, notes Redmond Historical
Society volunteer, Sherry Stilin, who managed the project. Gerry
Wigren of Farmer Wigrens, Pierre Bruneau of Skyline Poultry, Cathy
Landvatter Lundstedt of Golden Egg Ranch, Ruth Sires Adams of
Sires Hatchery, and Panfilo and Dante Morelli have all offered to join
Tim up front to field audience questions.
The Saturday Speaker Series is presented by the Redmond Historical
Society on the second Saturday of the month with three programs
each in the fall and spring. It is held at 10:30am at the Old Redmond
Schoolhouse Community Center, located at 16600 NE 80th Street. Topics
range from local, state and Pacific Northwest historical interest. There is a
suggested $5 donation for non-members.
The Redmond Historical Society is a 501 (c) (3) non-profit
organization that receives support from the City of Redmond, 4Culture,
Nintendo, the Bellevue Collection, Happy Valley Grange, Microsoft and
501 Commons as well as from other donors and members.
Every town has a history. Discover ours. September 2016

Society
News

Fashion in the 1940s

Display at Redmond
Library

Through the month

of August, the Redmond
Library hosted this
handsome display of
magazines, photos, jewelry,
hats, and other items.
Cheryl Magnuson shared
additional photographs
and commentary on the
Societys Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.
com/Redmond.Historical.
Society/
Photo: Cheryl Magnuson

Walking Guide Available

Thanks to the generous support of Microsoft Corporation, the
Redmond Historical Society has
updated and reprinted the Historic
Downtown Walking Guide. Copies are
now available in the Society office.
Suggested donation is $8.
Not a Redmond Historical Society
Member? Join Us Today!
Simply fill out the form on the last
page of this newsletter, or go to the
Membership page on our website:
www.redmondhistoricalsociety.org.

September 2016 Every town has a history. Discover ours.

Redmond
Reflections
Book

$10

Order
Now

(INCLUDES TAX)*

SHIPPING & HANDLING: Please add $5.00 shipping & handling surchage

for any order that you would like mailed.

ORDERING INFO*:
NAME____________________________________________________ PHONE NUMBER_____________________
# OF BOOKS ORDERED_______ AMOUNT ENCLOSED (CHECK PLEASE) _$_____________________________

SHIPPING INFO:
NAME _______________________________________________________________________________________
STREET ADDRESS ____________________________________________________________________________
CITY STATE ZIP _____________________________________________________________________________

NOTE:

REDMOND REFLECTIONS is also available at the RHS OFFICE at the Old

Redmond Schoolhouse Community Center. (Hours of operation on page 12.)

Great Gift Ideas for History Lovers

Need something special for someone
who appreciates our history? These
are available at our Society office:

GREETING CARDS, MAGNETS

& NOTE CARDS
featuring artwork by local artists:
PATTI SIMPSON WARD
DORISJEAN COLVIN
PAT DUGAN
OUR TOWN
History of Redmond by Nancy Way

VIEW OF HISTORY DVD

This painting of Marymoor Park, Flying Kites at the Clise

Mansion, is the work of fine artist Patti Simpson Ward.
Visit her website to see more images of Eastside settings
pattisimpsonward.com.

Every town has a history. Discover ours. September 2016

Society
News

Walking Tour Schedule

Justice White
House, then
and now. Photo:
Redmond
Historical
Society

Sunday, September 11, 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m.

There is a suggested donation of $10 for each person.
You can pre-register for the event by calling our office at 425.885.2919. You
can also drop by our office, or mail in a check to 16600 NE 80th St. Room 106,
Redmond, WA, 98052.
Tours include a significant amount of walking and standing, with limited
opportunity for resting. We recommend comfortable shoes and weather
appropriate clothing; the tour may be canceled in the event of rain so be sure
to call the Society office (425) 885-2919 by 10 a.m. the morning of the tour for
any cancellation notices. If you have any further questions about our tours,
please call our office. Tour begins across the street from the Justice White
House (Jensen/Fey Architects) at 7730 Leary Way, at the corner of NE 76th
and Leary Way.

Our Society Lifetime Members

Ray Adams
Eric Anderson
John Anderson
Barbara Neal Beeson
Brad Best
Pierre Bruneau
Marjorie Stensland
Costello
John Couch
Liz Carlson Coward
Tony Emmanuel
Frank Garbarino
Evelyn Grace Gilbert
Edward L. Hagen
Tom Hall
Lucille B. HansenBellings
Wayne Hansen
Jerry Hardy
Naomi Hardy
Chris Himes
Rosemarie Ives
Cory de Jong
Madeleine Roberts Hagen

10

Mary Hanson
Patricia Weiss Jovag
Barbara Weiss Joyce
Glenn Lampaert
Roy Lampaert
Allen Lang
Judy Aries Lang
Miguel Llanos
Jon Magnussen
Clare Amo Marr
Daryl Martin
Allison Reed Morris
John Phillips
Roxie Phillips
Dale Potter
Jo Ann Potter
Charles Reed
Frances Spray Reed
Bobbie Graep Rettig
Vivian Robinson
Laurie Rockenbeck

Vivian Robinson
Margy Rockenbeck
William Rockenbeck
Richard Shinstrom
Beryl Standley
John Stilin
Sherry Stilin
Fred Springsteel
Fred Stray
Doris Bauer Schaible
Larry O. Sundholm
Herb Swanson
Doris Townsend
Joe Townsend
Roger Trepanier
Arlyn Vallene
Patti Simpson Ward
Don Watts
Rose Weiss
Joanne Westlund
Margaret Evers Wiese
James Windle

September 2016 Every town has a history. Discover ours.

Membership
Join
RedmondHistorical Society
Every town has a history. Discover ours.
CONSIDER A GIFT MEMBERSHIP FOR A FAVORITE HISTORY BUFF.

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Redmond Historical Society

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ORSCC, Room 106
16600 NE 80th Street
Redmond, WA 98052

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Every town has a history. Discover ours. September 2016

11

Redmond Historical Society

16600 NE 80th Street, Room 106
Redmond, WA 98052

Major Sponsors

Happy Valley
Grange #322

September 2016 Every town has a history. Discover ours.