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GARDENER'S
READING ROOM
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Sky’s
Neighborhood… Through the Years
1853.
100 Years before the founding of Sky Nursery. Richmond Highlands
belongs to the Tuobeda’s people, who keep it clear by
controlled burns. This provides habitat for small game and
sunny areas to grow berries. Outside the cleared area, Douglas
Firs up to 3 feet in diameter mingle with Western Red Cedar
and Hemlock. A few trails lead through the dense growth, joining
permanent homes on Lake Washington to seasonal camps at Ronald
Bog and Richmond Beach.
1893.
The Great Northern Railroad has been built, and a few hardy
white
settlers live along its line in Richmond Beach. Small logging
companies are cutting piecemeal in the area. Judge Ronald,
in 1899, buys a 5-acre plot in “the thick woods”
of North King County to build “a quiet restful little
retreat in the woods”.
1903.
50 years before Sky Nursery. Construction starts on the Interurban.
Semi-rural families can now send Dad to a job in the city
while Mom and the kids run a mini-farm. Rush-hour commute
from Richmond Highlands to downtown Seattle? 36 minutes.
1913.
The
North Trunk Road (Aurora) is paved to 185th. Businesses spring
up to serve the growing Richmond Highlands community. “You
wouldn’t believe there are 7 families within sight of
the store!” enthused Marian Rogers.
1933.
The North Trunk Road, now Highway 99, is paved to Everett.
Despite the depression, businesses serve the local community.
The Bookeys run a coal yard and feed store near the northeast
corner of 185th and North Trunk Road, catering to the needs
of the local part-time farmers.
1943.
World War II causes a Seattle boom. A Boeing employee named
Jim Landry saves his money and makes postwar plans to run
his own
business. Seattle is starting to annex lands between 85th
Street and 145th Street. “Shoreline” is coined
in 1944 as a designation for the new school district between
the city limits and the county line .
1953.
Sky Nursery is born!
Jim Landry buys Highland Feed and Garden. With the postwar
boom, farmlets are being subdivided, and the population grows
rapidly. Schools (Ridgecrest, Butler Junior High, and more)
are built in quick succession as families pour into the unincorporated
neighborhoods.
1963.
Open land is diminishing; the neighborhoods are growing together.
I-5 is almost ready for its official opening next year. In
its tenth year of
business, Sky still sells feed, but nursery stock is beginning
to dominate as the farms give way to homes with manicured
yards. All members of the Landry family, from Grandpa through
the 3 teenage children, work hard to make a go of the business.
1995.
The City of Shoreline is incorporated. The “woodland
retreat” Judge Ronald purchased nearly a century ago
is now officially a city. Sky
Nursery, with our information kiosk and vastly expanded plant
selection, serves an increasingly sophisticated urban population.
No more hay and chickens—though our Garden Party that
year looks back to our rural roots.
2003.
Fifty years of Sky Nursery - a century of development of Sky’s
neighborhood.
By Terri Williamson
Skylights Spring/Summer 2003, Vol 17, No. 2
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