End of the ferry era: 60 years ago today

On this very day in 1950, the ferry Leschi pulled out from the Madison Park dock at 9:15 in the morning for her final run to Kirkland, where, 20 minutes later, she tied up—never to return. So ended Madison Park’s long history as a Lake Washington port.

For most of the previous 80 years, Madison Park had been a critical link in the Lake Washington transportation system. But on that day, August 31, 1950, Madison Park, at least in transportation terms, simply became the end of the road.

The opening of the first Lake Washington floating bridge in 1940 had been the beginning of the end for ferry service on the Lake, but it took another decade for the era to finally draw to a close. Regularly scheduled ferry service between Madison Park and Kirkland had begun in 1900, but as we chronicled last summer (“Steamboat Days on Lake Washington”), Madison Park had long served as a vital transportation hub connecting communities on the eastside with Seattle. Once it became possible for cars to drive across the Lake, however, the economics of the Lake ferries became problematic.

The Leschi was the last of several ferries that had made the Madison Park-Kirkland run in the fifty-year history of the route, which was operated by the King County Ferry System. The Ferry Lincoln had served on the route for 25 years, up to the point where the floating bridge was inaugurated.

The Leschi served the route for its final ten years, which included a profitable period during the Second World War when gas rationing made ferry travel popular again and many workers used the ferries to get to work at the Lake Washington Shipyard near Kirkland. But when bridge tolls ended on the Mercer Island floating bridge in 1949, the ferry could no longer be operated at even a reasonable loss. Though the King County Commissioners voted to end the run in early 1950, the City of Kirkland briefly won a reprieve for the route which lasted into the summer. UW students living on the Eastside were said to be among the most disappointed when ferry service ended since they had been allowed to ride for only a nickel.

Although the Leschi later saw service on both the Vashon-Fauntleroy and Mukilteo-Clinton runs, sadly she eventually ended up as a rusting hulk on a beach outside of Whittier, Alaska.

Those interested in the history of the Leschi should check out evergreenfleet.com/leschi. Also of possible interest is a great essay on the Madison Park-Kirkland ferry run available at HistoryLink.org and a MPB posting about our neighborhood’s past life as port (“Madison Park: a Port No More”), which includes some historical pictures.

[Photos of the Leschi, top and bottom, from evergreenfleet.com. Middle photo, showing the Leschi at the Kirkland ferry dock, courtesy of the Kirkland Heritage Society.]

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Police Blotter 8/27

A rash of break-ins, drug deals go down

There have been three residential break-ins in Madison Park during the last week. There was a forced-entry burglary in the 1200 block of 41st Avenue E. on 8/21, which occurred just three days after a forced-entry burglary three blocks over, on the 1200 block of 38th Avenue E. In that incident, an appraiser arriving at a house discovered damage to the front door and evidence that the back door had been forced open. Police discovered that drawers and cupboards had been ransacked, and the homeowner later reported that items had been stolen. Even Broadmoor was not immune to this type of crime. A homeowner on the 1500 block of Parkside Drive E. reported that her garage had been broken into (although it had a combination keypad and none of the remote control devices were missing). In that incident an I-Pod was stolen from a car in the garage and $350 was stolen from a purse just located inside the house. No fingerprints were found in any of these incidents.

There have been three car break-ins reported since our last Police Blotter on 8/14. Car prowls occurred on the 2000 of 43rd Avenue E. on 8/16, and on the 2300 block of 43rd Avenue E. and the 1600 block of 41st Avenue E. on 8/20. All of these were early to mid-morning break-ins, with items stolen in each case.

There were also a couple of other incidents of theft reported in the area. One involved the use of force and occurred in the Arboretum on 8/21. The victim reported that someone came up behind him and put his arm around the victim’s throat, demanding his wallet. The suspect took the wallet and victim’s cell phone. A sad aspect of the police report is the notation that the victim tried to get someone near him to call 911, “but no one would help.”

Finally, there’s been drug activity in the neighborhood. In an incident on 8/18 police arrested a suspect on the 3200 block of E. Madison St. for the sale of heroin. The following week, I myself witnessed what clearly must have been a drug buy. While walking my dogs down an alley I came upon a suspicious truck parked so closely to a neighbor’s gate that the driver would have been unable to exit his vehicle. When he saw me coming, the driver started his engine and raced away, only to slowly circle the block. Later a second truck drove past the suspicious vehicle and stopped at a stop sign up the street. The suspicious vehicle pulled up next to the other truck at the intersection and a plastic bag containing a white powder was passed to the second driver. Both vehicles then raced away.

If it can happen here, it can happen anywhere.

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