The super fine folks at the the Southwest Seattle Historical Society dug up another vintage photo for us to enjoy…
The caption read: “Beach area below Jacobsen Dr on the left approximate location of Emma Schmitz and the houses on what was the orginal orchard area (of the Schmitz estate).”
I lined up the houses and vacant lots in the photo to put the circa between 1921-25. It appears that the old seawall was quite a bit higher and set back further than the current seawall constructed in 1927. The one remaining mystery of this historic photo is the house(s) to the far north/left. Are they the houses at the north end of the park or were homes at one time built on the wider strip of land of the park? I’m thinking the cameras were just that much better in the 20’s 🙂
The above photo was taken yesterday at low tide. The kids were splashing around where the old sewer/run-off structure is now. If you’re thinking the water must’ve been freezing and it must’ve been some sort of a double-dog-dare, think again! I measured the water temp in the shallows to be around 75 degrees…no fool’n!!
As far as the “original orchard” is concerned, a life long resident in the area told me that this is likely the last remaining fruit tree still standing from the original Schmitz family estate (now Mee-Kwa-Mooks park)…
Scupper, reporting for Beach Drive Blog
About Scupper
Well, there are still two of the original “fruit” trees from the estate, but they are ornamentals…the pink-blooming cherry tree that is near the park entrance, at the NW corner of the park meadow, and the white-blooming one in the yard at 4500 Beach Drive. I am told by family who lived there that these two trees came from Japan for the estate gardens, but I can’t confirm that. What is now the meadow of the park was, in the early 1970s, what remained of the overgrown orchard. It was home to pheasants, quail, and rabbits before it was cleared for the park.
Thanks for the cool info Herongrrrl!
Here’s a nice mention regarding this post from the Southwest Seattle Historical Society: http://www.loghousemuseum.info/blog/tribute-to-schmitz-family-yacht/