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History of Clyde Hill
September 29, 1882, Patrick Downey, an Irish
immigrant, homesteaded a 160-acre tract of land on the southern slope of
Clyde Hill. He was the first known settler in present-day Clyde Hill. Downey's tract was bounded by NE 8th Street on the south, 92nd Avenue NE on the west, NE 16th Street on the north, and 100th Avenue NE on the east. It included the Bellevue residential area now known as
Vuecrest. Downey built a log cabin at 100th Avenue NE and NE 12th Street with the help of neighbors. Pat
Downey reportedly lived in this cabin for two years before he discovered Meydenbauer Bay. From his cabin he hiked to
Houghton (now south Kirkland), and rowed to Seattle when he wanted to go to the
city. He remodeled and rebuilt several times and eventually the entire
house was destroyed by fire in 1911.
In September 1888, Downey filed his final affidavit for a
homestead claim, (SE º of Section 30 in Township 25 N of Range 5 E), and
described the property as timbered agricultural land. Timber was described
as fir and cedar 2nd class. He said that in the process of clearing land,
he cut, removed, and sold 296,000 board feet from 20 acres to a Terence O'Brien
of Seattle.
By 1888, Downey had built an 18' X 27' log
house one story high with shake roof. The house included four rooms and was
valued at $300.00. In addition to the house, the Downey estate included a 16' X 22'
shake barn, a 10' X 12' shake stable, a 8' X 10' shake hen house and a 8' X
10' shake storehouse. These additional buildings were valued at a combined
$185. During this time Downey raised crops on about 11 acres
of land for five seasons, including potatoes, oats, wheat and vegetables.
In 1888, Patrick Downey in his homestead claim, cited Peter Buckley, John
McRae, John Davis of Bellevue, Washington Territory, and W. W. Easter of Seattle, Washington Territory as references for his
claim. McRae, 49 years old, lived on nearby property. Peter Buckley, 42
years old, lived about 1/2 mile away and also gave testimony supporting Downey's homestead claim. Also living
near Downey were W. E. Conway and Isaac Bechtel.
Downey eventually planted 15 acres of
his claim in strawberries. These strawberries brought a premium from
wholesalers on Western Avenue in Seattle. A number of farmers in Clyde
Hill raised strawberries, and the community was well known for that
product. Downey would pack a load of
strawberries in a wheelbarrow to the foot of Clyde Road (now 92nd Avenue NE) and board a little
wood-burning steamer to Leschi in Seattle. There he could take a cable
car over the Seattle hills from Leschi to Elliott Bay.
By 1890, about 20 families had settled in the Clyde Hill, Medina, and downtown Bellevue area. In June 1900, the Federal
Census of Bellevue Precinct, King County, Washington, encompassing about the same
area, enumerated a total of 254 persons.
In June 1894, Patrick and wife, Victoria M. Downey, subdivided the north
eighty acres of their original claim (from about NE 12th Street to NE 16th
Street), most of which lay in present-day Clyde Hill. His plat, of which
most of it is still known today, was entitled "Lake Washington Garden
Tracts." Most of the subdivision was platted as 5-acre lots. Streets
shown in the plat include Hunter Avenue (present 92nd Avenue NE), Bellevue
Avenue (Present 100th Avenue NE), and Downey Street (NE 14th Street).
In 1905, early landowners within the present limits of Clyde Hill included:
Jacob Furth,
George B. Shorey,
A. Stewart,
James Wren,
Mr. Mercer,
G. W. R. Pettibone,
D. T. Richards,
G. M. Talmage,
J. H. McDowell,
Soren Sorenson,
William Tukey,
H. M. Leonard,
J. M. Frink,
M. K. Cradelle,
Susan A. Wells,
George A. Emory, and
Patrick Downey.
Special thanks to Dan Bray for his historical information
BACK TO TOP
HOW
CLYDE HILL GOT ITS NAME
In 1947, the area residents formed a local community club. During this time
the postwar home building activity was accelerating. At the time people
found that it was difficult to describe the exact location of the Clyde
Hill area. It wasn't exactly Bellevue, although the Bellevue Post Office
delivered the mail. Columnist Ann Seeger often referred to this area as
Nanny-Goat Hill in her column in the Bellevue American (now Eastside
Journal).
At the first meeting of the new community club, the members grappled with
the problem of a name. Some of the community club members included Bill
Painters, John and Carrie Hill, Al Constans, Sam and Vivienne Boddy, Oscar
and Ann Seeger, Father Val-Spinosa of St. Thomas Church, Mickey and Irja
Telfer and Leon Snow.
Sam Boddy, whose family had homesteaded here, told the group how Clyde Hill
Road (now 92nd Ave. NE) first got its name. Clyde Road had been named long
before 1947. Regular commuters on the Yarrow Point to Seattle ferry, most
of who were of Irish decent, had been giving unofficial names to the
various roads along their route. Most of those names were Irish. One of the
"regulars" happened to be from Scotland and wanted his
opportunity to develop a name. The others invited him to name a road. This
area pioneer had migrated from an area in Scotland called the "Firth
of Clyde." Since the trip to the boat landing reminded him of his Scotland
home, he suggested the name Clyde Road for the road that was later numbered
by the County as 92nd Avenue NE.
Since "Clyde Road" was the main thoroughfare in 1947, and because
the area was obviously a hill, Ken Day proposed the name "Clyde
Hill" for the area. Six years later on March 31, 1953, the area
incorporated as the Town of Clyde Hill.
Special thanks to Ken Day for his historical information
BACK TO TOP
POLITICAL HISTORY
In response to the community's desire to control land use development such
as lot size and commercial zoning, Clyde Hill was officially incorporated
as a Town on March 31, 1953. On November 10, 1998, the Council voted to
organize Clyde Hill as a non-charter Code City.
In 1953 area residents voted to become an incorporated Town by a vote of
145 to 117. Ken Day defeated Don Clark for the first Clyde Hill Mayors
position, 91 to 58. The first elected Councilmembers were:
F. Lee Campbell,
Robert W. Glueck,
P.A. Jacobsen,
Leslie M. Rudy and
A.C.
Thompson Sr.
All Council members were elected on write-in votes.
John Woodin became the Town's first Treasurer.
Ken Day appointed Priscilla Alden Townsend as Police Judge and Roger Bryan
as Marshall.
The following mayor, council, and appointment
chart is a listing of each Clyde Hill member of the Council and Mayor
from 1953 to the present.
The 1975 Mayoral election in Clyde Hill brought with it suspense and the
national media. The two candidates, the incumbent Liberino "Lib"
Tufarolo and Miles Nelson finished the election in a even tie. The contest
was ultimately decided by a coin toss, with Nelson unseating the incumbent
as national and local media looked on.
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