We are continuing with Max R.
Jensen / Bellevue week here at VS.org with our trip across Lake Washington. Devopment has picked up in this photo as Bellevue Square shopp
ing center expands. Who can pintpoint the year? Click for the high res.
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| Bellevue, Wash ington, located on the east side of Lake Wash ington is now the fourth largest city in the State. This complete, suburban shopping center, seen here, is easily accessible by the residents of Bellevue and the neighboring communities. Color photo by Max R. Jensen. |
Judging by the cars, no earlier than 1969. The green & black car in the lower-right looks like a Mustang Mach I. I’m going to guess 1971.
I would love anyone to name the stores they remember
Is Petram’s Five and Dime the store with the red lettering on the left? I recall Bevan’s Jeweler was over on that strip (I got my ears pierced there in 1975)
The buildings on the right corner are occupied by Pacific National Bank, House of Fabrics, Uncle Harolds and PANACA (I got that from another photo I saw)
Is that the old Seafirst building in Seattle visible over the hill on the west side of the lake? (The one called “the box the Space Needle came in”)? That was built in 1969, which fits with what Geoff said.
I remember the Bellevue Arts and Crafts fair when it was held under those colorful canopies just this side of Frederick and Nelson (The canopy area was much bigger to me , though). I also thought the tree in front of Clark’s Crabapple was much bigger!
Jana, the original tree (the big madrona) got sick in the 1960s. It was replaced by the Cedrus atlanticum, the (true) cedar you see above. I’m trying to figure out what year that was. I’ll post when I do.
The madrona apparently breathed its last in 1961, a year before I arrived on the scene.
By the way, that cedar lived until just a few years ago, although that spot for the last quarter century was just a crowded corner in a service alley of the continually expanding mall. Finally, admitting that no one really cared anymore, the Square took it out in 2007. Part of it was used to create the wooden fireplace mantel in the building that now sits on the site. The mantel was part of a design by (I believe) the granddaughter of the First Nations artist who carved the totem design that stood out in front of the square during its first decades. So… a shaving of poetry there, a smackerel of justice.
As a Bellevue native I feel entitled to opine at some length that I would have done things differently. The original madrona had been there probably before Bellevue was even named, at least before the site was cultivated at all (madronas are notoriously indisposed to being transplanted, and I doubt the original farmer would have bothered). A central, living organism like an old tree is something that can be used to gather and bind people together (culturally, I mean, not…like…with ropes). Me, I’da cleared a big green lawn around that tree and kept planting big trees there, one after another, until the end of time, and I would have had a monthly story time for children under that tree, where all the children within five miles would gather. Might have given the village of my birth a chance at a soul. That’s just my USD$0.02.
Thanks Matt – I found at http://www.bellevuesquare.com/history.php that the tree was replaced in 1961 that was before my time so I really didn’t remember the madronna – I guess I’ve seen photos of it.
“The Tree
The first connection is the history and importance of the madrona tree and its subsequent replacement, the Atlantic Cedar. The madrona tree was a natural part of the land when Bellevue Square Shopping Center was first built as an outdoor openair center in 1946. As it grew, it came to signify the heart of the community as it graced the front of The Crabapple Restaurant. This was where you went to catch the social buzz and meet friends. The first Arts Fair took place under the branches of the madrona in 1947. Many longtime Eastsiders still hold fond memories of the tree lightings, and children’s parades with the madrona tree in the center of it all. Then in the late 50s the tree grew sickly and in 1961 the tree had to be taken down. hundreds of residents came by to say “goodbye“ and were given pieces of the madrona as a memento of those great times.”
Hmmm…. The big store in the middle foreground appears to be Newberry’s (part of a chain of five-and-dime stores for which ads were relatively common in 1960s Bellevue Americans) but a map of Bellevue Square from an ad supplement in the October 12th 1972 BA that I have in my files inidcates that particular store was gone and had been subdivided by then. That indicates that this would have to have been prior to 1972. Based on the info I have, I’m going to say 1970 ot so.
Ah, now THAT’S the Bellevue I know and love. Too bad it’s gone, but that’s life.
Thanks for the memories. I’d love to have one last chance to ride my orange and black Huffy through there, and maybe stop for a Frango shake at the Rhododendron Room
Well it’s definitely after 1969 as you can see the old Seafirst building in the distance which was built in ’69. It’s gotta be early ’70′s, hard to pinpoint the year.
That’s definitely Petram’s with the big red lettering, Jana! Across the northeast corner of Fredrick & Nelson is Thompson’s Drugs, and on top of Thompson’s is a helicopter landing pad. Looks like the copter is there too…I can see the sign to the Bel-Vue Theatre just next to the tree at the Crabapple..I can also see the A&P, which is about two stores to the right of Petram’s. Just past the southwest corner of Fredrick’s I can just make out the ferris wheel of Kiddie Land…Matt, did you see our old alma mater, BJHS? The pièce de resistance for me in this wonderful post card is seeing again the old Bellevue Square neon clock, which is directly across Newberry´s on Bellevue Way. Looks like a red VW van is right in front of it. And then there´s the main bus stop to the right of the entrance with that really cool “Carter’s Carving”, which still sits at Bellevue Square today on NE 8th. I’m thinking this post card is from the late 60′s – 68 or 69…oh, and there’s the Pavilion right in front of Fredrick’s with the blue, red and yellow canopies. I met JP Patches there a couple times!
Louis,
I can’t get through! All my comments are getting caught in the filter. I’ve been over here movin’ my mouth but no sound’s comin’ out! I’ve commented multiple times in the last few posts but I can only get through sporadically. I feel like a ham radio operator here…
I am betting early 1970 – before trees have leafed out. That’s definitely the Seafirst Tower in the back ground (1969.) The newest car I see appears to be the 68 or 69 green Camaro bottom right, (or Mach I? Looks more Camaro ish to me.) I wonder what building he took the pic from.
Based on the perspective, it’s possible it could have been taken from the roof of what is now known as the Paccar building (which opened in 1970, and is the tallest building in Bellevue for at least a decade.) That looks like it’s just about the correct location for it too.
Hey, thanks for the great image! Anyone remember the wishing well that was in front of the Crabapple? And does anyone know anything about the people that ran those businesses, such as Petram’s or the Panaca Gallery?
The Nordstrom would have been on the right of Frederick and Nelsons, but the Penney’s building on the other side looks different than I remember. They might have closed that store by then.
This is a winter shot. Those tent pavilions definitely weren’t the art show, but I remember they had other events, like a kids’ Hallowe’en costume contest.
Wish I’d taken more pictures back then. Would have needed a camera though. ;^)
When I was little, we would sing Christmas Carols around the Madronna tree (we all thought it was a Crabapple tree – but then we were little and didn’t know what one looked like). I don’t remember if it was a school function or Campfire or Girl Scouts. I just remember that it was a big deal at Christmas time. I only ate at the Crabapple Tree once….Junior prom in 1963. I had crab but was so nervous that it felt like lead in my stomach and I was miserable all night.
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