PRESERVING THE STORIES OF ISSAQUAH
A Memory Book Project of the
Issaquah Historical Society
Walter Wood Seil
(Walt Seil)
9/15/20
56 years at this address, maybe 6-8 years did not live here out of 80 years.
I felt I belonged here, family was here, bought a business here and loved all the people
1st – 2nd Issaquah
3rd – 8th Snoqualmie Falls
9th – 12th Issaquah
Raised 2 daughters, Sandra & May.
I entered high school in 1931. Fred Frohs a great teacher.
I played football for 4 years, I had 4 stripes on my sweater and 3 stars for being a captain, and all conference twice. The best years of my life were in high school. Morgon was one of my favouite teachers. I played basket ball in my first year, baseball 1 year, I shot my hand so I couldn’t play anymore ball so I drove school bus so Morgon could teach. I also acted in school plays, I fought in the smokes too.
My favorite teachers were Fred Froks agriculture teacher and George Morgon was a PE teacher and History teacher.
No we weren’t.
I was in a play – Huckleberry Finn. I was the father of Huckleberry. I was a sales lady also in a play selling purple punk pills. Harold Chevalier was the manager.
My parents kept me busy on the farm milking and haying etc.
When I was growing up I remember a restaurant cross from City Hall, owned by Judge – a big meal for $.45.
We had lockers & shopped at the Grange next to the creamery also went to Red & White store owned by Leonard Miles. Best ice cream parlor, Dryles owned it. The Trailway stages stopped and picked up passengers. Money Savers was first chain store to be here, on Sunset next to Log Tavern. These were here from 1920 to 1950 & longer.
My dad cut my hair till I left home – 21 years old. After the war I went to Dave Lewis his shop was next door to Heplers Ford garage. Dave was very interested in hunting and fishing. One day I stopped in for a hair cut, was in the chair, he was busy cutting my and 2 fellows come in – they also were interested in fishing & hunting. They started telling fish stories and he was so interested in them he came and started to take the apron off. I said you haven’t cut all my hair. He was so interested in the stories. Still more stories I can tell.
I have been shopping at Lewis for 55 years. My grandpa & dad shopped there for years also. Tom used to drive the school bus for Issaquah. When I was in the first grade I would fall asleep before I got home, he would carry me into our house and put me on the davenport. We lived in Hobart then. We bought nails, tools, plumbing equipment, paint, kitchen utensils and what have you. Wonderful family.
We went to Tony & Johnny’s – they delivered your groceries, gave you credit and had good meat. It was operated by Joe as manager of meat dept. Tony Walen and Johnny Hirchs were good people to deal with. George Reiny was a very good clerk.
We shopped there, rented a frozen food storage. We shopped there from when they opened till they closed.
I went to Dryles Ice cream parlor on Front St.
Shamrock, a quick lunch café on Front St. The operators were Elenor Crosby and Gert Chevalier. It was on the cornor of Front St. and Sunset St. on the west side.
At that time Triple X was on Sunset and 3rd Ave, cross from Fink Garage.
We went to Boehms often. Enjoyed them all, they have good buys on the broken chocolates.
I never went to the saloons or local bars.
My father and I belonged to it for over 60 years. We buy our gas there bird feed, yard supplies and fertilizer. Good people to do business with.
We shopped.
For many years it was Hill St. we never had any house numbers either till we were given 330 SE Bush and we had mail delivered then. Councilman Roy Peterson was the one who got our new address east of Front St. and south of Sunset was named after old timers of Issaquah.
In 1926 to 1930, they were the Issaquah Rodeo days that remember. I had 2 uncles who rode in the rodeo, Schuler and Elwel Bennett, my grandma’s brothers. I was about 8 years old, they got me to ride in Shetland pony races. We also rode the calves coming out of the shoots During those rodeo days the state was dry so people made their own liquor if they wanted some, so there was many fights going on, so our jail was full nearly all the time.
Our big parades were on Labor Day. I was paid a nickel taking the horses from the railroad train to the rodeo grounds. I was 5 & 6 years old then they had big carnivals with the rodeos.
I would catch my limit some days. The limit was 21 fish, I was 12 years when I started. I would start at the bridge on Sunset highway, start fishing towards the lake till I got my limit. It was trout I would catch in the Issaquah Creek. We would catch some perch, cut throat and steelhead in the lake too.
We would go roller-skating, swimming rent a rowboat, they had entertainment there. Roy Widen wrestled there once in a while. My cousin had a wedding on roller skates there. Class reunions were there also.
We would walk down to Han Jenson farm, jump off the piling and go swimming.
I worked for Baldridge Logging on Hobert, St Paul Tacomc and Marankas. I was a donkey engineer, high rigger and operated all kinds of machines. I tapped many trees rigging. The logging camps brought people into town to spend money on the taverns and stores. The town grew as more & more logging camps open up. The Rodeo days were wild, with all the moonshine and home brews. Jails were full, hoses were used to cool them down. They had to put iron doors up because the cork shoes made holes in the wood. Trains were used to transport logs from Snoqualmie to Seattle through Issaquah. Some logs were 1 log per car, 6 to 8 average logs per log. My daughters used to wave at the trains as they went through town.
This picture was taken 2 blocks from where I lived on Mine Hill Tiger Mtn.
I’ve been around all of them but never worked at any of the mills.
I wasn’t round here then – I was on Tiger Mtn.
My brother Rex and I, we hired out by the farmers. We started out by Hobart and went to yards in Issaquah working in the hay fields from 1936 to 1939.
When we were going to school we boys would go down on week ends and play with the Pickering boys, jumping in the hay loft.
No, I never did, my grandfather and my brother Jack did.
My aunt lived in Seattle, with 6 children, so we would go in once in a while by car and visited with them. We had to go on Rainier Ave. to get to Seattle.
We had to go on 900 to Renton, to Rainier Ave. in Seattle.
It shortened the drive to Seattle so they could go shopping in there, with the bus it helped everyone. Very few people in Seattle knew where Issaquah was before the bridge was built.
My first car was given to me when I was 16 years old by my grandfather Wood. It was a Model T Ford in the 20s.
I joined the Elks in 1976. I am a Charter member.
I never attended any of their meetings. I went with my dad for a few times to the turkey shoots. I t was started in 1921 – Paul Koss is charter member and lives across the street from us, he is 93 years old.
I was a coach for pee-wee boys football team in the middle 1950s. We used the hall to meet in for our lockers. It was also used for many dances during our high school days – 1936 on.
I went to a few dances there.
I never worked in the mines, but my great grandfathers son, Bill Price, was killed in the German mine on Squak Mt. Howard Seil was killed in the Harris Mine. My dad worked in the Tiger Mt. Mine, my brother worked in the Bianko Mine, my grandfather worked in the Grand Ridge Mine.
There was always a lone line on Saturday nights. The cost was $.10. We saw Roy Rogers and Dale Evans, Frankenstein and Hop-Along Kassady.
The report came that someone was dumping water from the NP Bridge to the cars below. The police went up there, one each of bridges and caught the boys, took them to the police station, parents were called to pick them up.
One of the most interesting things we have is the Fish Hatchery, it has been here over 50 years.