Category Archives: Historic Sites

Notre-Dame Cathedral

IMG_0120Notre-Dame Cathedral is so grandly huge, that I found it impossible to photograph without better equipment and more time. But the church was majestic and wonderful and I was honored to be able to visit it. Besides the obvious connection to the famous book and the Disney movie, I thought the most interesting tidbit was the true Wolves of Paris story about a pack of man-eating wolves that killed 40 people in Paris in 1450. The people of Paris lured the wolves to the front of Notre-Dame and killed them there.

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Arc de Triomphe, Paris

ArcThe Arc de Triomphe, Paris at 162′ feet and 150′ wide is much larger than I expected. Constructed between 1806 and 1836 it is situated on the western end of the Champs-Elysees. Beneath the Arc is the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier from World War I. Various victory parades have traveled through and later around the structure including the Germans in 1940 and the French and their allies in 1944/45. More information can be found here.

As much I was impressed with the Arc itself, I was equally impressed with the six lane traffic circle that surrounds it. There are no traffic lines and it was a thrill. Glad I wasn’t driving!

The Palace of Versailles, Paris

IMG_1937The Palace of Versailles is the most gloriously beautiful building that I have visited. This World Heritage site was a royal residence for Louis XIV to Louis XVI. The complex began in 1631 and by 1682 was essentially complete including the famous gardens. In 1789, the residing royalty was removed from the Palace by revolutionaries and since that time it has been used for government and been available for visitors. In June 1919, the Treaty of Versailles, ending the First World War, was signed here.

Kelsey Creek Farm, Bellevue

13340504343_aa9c5da73e_bI’ve been wanting to visit Kelsey Creek Farms Park at 13204 SE 8th in Bellevue for a while, so on Saturday after dropping off dear daughter for her ride back to college I stopped by. There was a birthday party going on and plenty of children in the under five crowd. The 150 acre original site had been a forest and was developed as the Twin Valley Dairy Farm in the 1920s. Despite pressure from real estate developers, in the 1960s 80 acres of the property was sold to the City of Bellevue for use as a park. It receives over 200,000 visits a year. ThePark’s website is here.

The log cabin is the Frasier House, built in 1888 and moved to Kelsey Creek Farms Park in 1974.  It was built by two Norwegian woodsmen and lived in for a short time. Mostly it was used as storage. 

The Edgewood-Nyholm Windmill

12602741705_d5dbaf8396_b(1)The historic Edgewood-Nyhold Windmill, located at 2284 Meridian Avenue, Edgewood, was constructed in 1902. It was moved from its original location at Jovita Blvd and Meridian (SR-161) on August 24, 1980. At its original location of Nyhold Farms it provided water for his crops and his neighbors crops. Edgewood is one of Pierce County’s smaller cities with a population of under 10,000.

Asahel Curtis’ Seattle Home in 1916

12532231773_ed25a9071e_cThis house, which sold in the summer of 2013 for $935,000 was constructed in 1913 and per Tacoma Public Library it was occupied in 1916 by Asahel Curtis and his wife, Florence. The house is located in the 1100 block of 36th Avenue and has a view of Lake Washington, the city skyline of Bellevue and Mt Rainier. Asahel Curtis and his brother, Edward Curtis, were well known photographers. They had a parting of ways in about 1900 and never reconciled. Asahel married Florence in 1902 and in 1911 he established his own photography studio.

While I was wandering around in Seattle, I stumbled upon a charming little free library in a newspaper box. I also found a group of four friends taking a dip in a very chilly Lake Washington. Altogether a good day!

Three Meter House ( Schmidt House)

12398795915_f3d03a564c_cThe Schmidt House, also known as the Three Meter House, was built 1904 for Leopold and Johanna, the owners of the Olympia Brewing Company which operated in close proximity to property. The Olympia Brewing Company operated between 1896 and 1983, when it was acquired by a different company. The Schmidt House, at 330 Schmidt Place SW, Tumwater, is on the national and city of Tumwater historic register. It is operated by the Olympia-Tumwater Foundation.

 

 

Terrified in Tacoma Tour

10670982786_1de98b5a50_bWow, what a night. Cold with a strong breeze. But the stories we heard on the Terrified in Tacoma Tour were so fascinating and well presented that I (hardly) noticed the weather. We started at the Pantages Theater, strolled down to Fireman’s Park, crossed over to hear about Old City Hall (pictured), walked up the Spanish Steps and then through Antique Row back to the theater area. Along the way we heard about jealousy, murder, accidents, sightings, history and even UFOs! There was so much to take in that I would love to go again! Thanks to my good friend for this great idea! Terrified in Tacoma’s Facebook Page is here.

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Seattle Asian Art Museum

9624773113_137b2023da_bSo, as a last hurrah before school started I wanted to go to the conservatory in Volunteer Park in Seattle. Dear husband and I parked the car and first wandered over to the dahlia garden. From there we spotted Seattle’s Asian Art Museum. Oh! We’ve been meaning to go there. It is a lovely, art deco building constructed in 1933 was originally occupied by the Seattle Art Museum until 1991 when they moved into their new downtown location. The property is a designated Seattle landmark. The space is open and I really liked most of the exhibits. We never did go to conservatory! Maybe next time. The museum’s website is here.

Roslyn Historic Cemetary

9597328312_0b342e13ac_bI find the arrangement of the Roslyn Cemetery to be fascinating. It is actually 26 different cemeteries that reflected the town’s citizens in the late 1880s. The cemeteries include: Memorial Gardens, New City Cemetery, Lithuanian, Dr. Starcevich (Croatian), Veterans, Moose Lodge, Eagles, Selvio Pellico (Italian), Red Men Lodge, I.O.O.F. Lodge, Slovak, New Knights of Pythias, Old Knights of Pythias, Foresters, Mr. Olivet (African American) Old City Cemetery, Foresters, Druids (Italian), Cacciatori DAfrica (Italian), Serbian, Sokol Lodge (Croatian) and St. Thomas Masonic. Each of the 26 cemeteries has a slightly different look to it. Pictured above is the Veteran’s Cemetery. Some of those buried in these various cemeteries were coal miners who lost their lives through accidents in the mines. One of the photos below (with the swan) commemorates four young firefighters who lost their lives in 2001 fighting the Thirtymile Fire. More information about the cemetery and Roslyn can be found here.

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