Back in the early 1900s, when Lynnwood (and parts of Mountlake Terrace) was known as Alderwood Manor, electric trains brought passengers from Seattle and Everett. Starting this weekend you can get a tour of Interurban Car 55, one of six rail cars on the line.

The trolley open houses will be held at Heritage Park from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on four Saturdays this summer — June 4, July 2, Aug. 6 and Sept. 3. Tour guides will be on hand to provide historic details of the Interurban Railway. No reservations are necessary and there is no charge.

In 1996 the city of Lynnwood began restoring Car 55 and relocated it to Heritage Park, where it stands today as the park’s centerpiece.

Heritage Park’s community facilities will also be open to visitors during the open houses — the Snohomish County Visitor Information Center, Heritage Resource Center, Genealogy Research Library and Wickers Building Museum.

From HistoryLink.org:

On April 21, 1962, during the Seattle Century 21 World’s Fair opening ceremonies, an Air Force F102 airplane crashes into the Mountlake Terrace neighborhood.

As part of the opening day ceremonies, 10 Air Force F102s with the 64th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron at Paine Field near Everett did a flyby over the Century 21 fairgrounds.

Moments after the flyby, at 1,500 feet elevation, one of the planes’ engines flamed out. After two unsuccessful attempts to restart the engine, pilot Captain Joseph W. Wildt decided to ditch the F102 and headed it north towards Lake Washington. The pilot safely ejected but the plane missed the north end of the lake by three miles and crashed into a Mountlake Terrace neighborhood.

The crash killed Mr. and Mrs. Raymond Smith, destroyed two homes, and damaged five others. An investigation determined that Captain Wildt did not factor in the effect the loss of his weight would have on the plane’s trajectory.

Back at the Century 21 World’s Fairgrounds, no one realized there had been a tragedy, and the celebration continued.

Here is an eye witness account of the crash from the Seattle PI blog:

I lived in Mountlake and was in the front yard washing my ’58 Impala convertible and getting an occasional glimpse of the planes as they circled the north end of Seattle. Suddenly I saw two jets, one following very close to the other one, coming in from the southeast and over Lake Forest Park. The planes were flying so low that they were barely over the tree tops.
They disappeared out of sight and suddenly I heard a very loud explosion and a ball of orange colored flame billowed into the air and wood shot out of the top of it. The second jet looked like it flew right through the flames. At first I thought that it had crashed into the gas station at 56th SW and 244th. I jumped in my car and drove the few blocks and couldn’t believe the damage.

At least two houses were on fire and I helped drag a smoldering mattress from the bedroom of one of them. The plane actually clipped a swing set in one of the burning houses then continued across the street and hit a house and the only thing left of that house was the foundation and a car with burned off tires in the driveway.

An elderly man told me that most of the kids who usually played on the swing set had gone to the fair and that an elderly couple was in the house that had been where the foundation was. There was a smoldering jet engine in an evergreen tree about a block west of the missing house. I found a piece of the jet with numbers on it and took it home with me. Some time later some officials showed up and asked me for it. They said that they needed it for putting the plane back together as much as they could so they could try to figure out the case of the crash.

I never really heard anything about the crash anymore and so many people have moved or passed on and it was getting harder to verify the crash. Sometimes I would wonder if I really had witnessed the crash or was it a dream. I can still see it happen in my mind.

Here are a couple other observations while looking around at the new imagery:

• the Red Onion has the umbrellas out on their deck so it must be a nice day after 11am
• 230th St. construction appears to be when they had finished regrading but before they installed any curb/gutter
• Old Civic Campus has been demolished
• The restaurant parking lots are fairly empty so my best guess would be that the imagery was taken in the mid-afternoon.

Take a look for yourself below. Notice anything in particular?

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Ever since it’s inception, Bethesda has been an important part of the Mountlake Terrace community. They are involved in nearly every event that happens in Mountlake Terrace. In just under a month you will find Bethesda members giving out free hugs at Tour de Terrace and also during Tour de Terrace, the church is putting on the 6th annual Bethesda Arts & Crafts Festival with an emphasis on recycled art. The Mountlake Terrace Seniors Group center is located at the church grounds and they hold their senior lunches at Bethesda twice a week. Every Monday night the church has free community dinners where anyone is welcome.

Bethesda is located at 56th/234th and has services every Sunday at 10:15am and you can find more information at BethesdaLCMLT.com. See some photos of the church building below, past and present.

Bethesda Lutheran Church is building a new church in the Mountlake Terrace housing development. Workmen have laid several layers of concrete block as the first level of the building. Openings for windows can be seen behind the scaffolding on the left. A wooden sill has been laid on top of the concrete blocks in preparation to completing the building with lumber.

August 29, 1952

Photo from Alderwood Manor Heritage Association website

The event will run from 10 am to 12 pm at Heritage Cottage which is located at 19903 Poplar Way.
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Mountlake Terrace Elementary’s staff, students, families, friends, and neighbors are invited to celebrate the school’s 50 years on Friday, May 21 from 6-8 p.m. The celebration will feature speakers from the school’s past, including the first principal, Dale Hoggins. Please contact the office at 425-431-7894 or email bolingb@edmonds.wednet.edu with any questions or memories you would like to share.

Mountlake Terrace Elementary serves nearly 450 students.

Frank Hammer was the mayor of Mountlake Terrace from 1960 to 1964, when the town still had dirt roads. He also served on the city council for a decade.

Being a mayor near Seattle was a big deal, Dan Hammer said. They got to sit on the barge at hydroplane races.

Dr. Hammer was elected mayor because he was even-handed, said Phyllis Fiege, who lived in Mountlake Terrace during his term. Her husband, Gene Fiege, served on the city council.
Kristi O’Harran Herald writer

Read the entire story at the Herald.

I remember playing in the woods where the city hall is located back to 236th and into the canyon where I-5 is now. We used to catch crawdads in Johnny’s creek between Lake Ballinger and the elementary school.

When they built the city hall, they also had an ampitheater behind where the new police station is located (I guess everything is new – I moved away in 1971), and we saw plays and they projected movies on an outdoor screen. I remember several city parties where they closed the entire parking lot at DD Meats and the pharmacy had music. And the pirates coming to the Seafair parade held down 56th – great memories.

Have an old memory of Mountlake Terrace? Let us know at tips@MLTnews.com.