Ballard’s Silver Screens

The Roxy Theatre

Ballard residents have enjoyed nearly 100 years of going to the movies, without ever needing to leave the neighborhood.  Today the Majestic Bay, a triple-screen theater on Market Street, continues a long tradition of Ballard movie houses.

In the early 1900s, the Majestic Theater—later called the Roxy and eventually the Bay—entertained movie-goers for prices around 15 cents a show.  The Bagdad Theatre, and perhaps others in the neighborhood, showed films as well.

The photo above, from the University of Washington’s Special Collections, depicts the Roxy Theatre in 1920 in the location of today’s Majestic Bay.  The marquee reads “Walter Huston – Keep Em Rolling & Vodvil.”  Cars of the time are parked in front.

According to an article in The Seattle Times, the Roxy Theatre became the Bay in 1948.  Ballard’s bargain-loving old-timers (like this writer) recall that for years before its closing in 1997, the Bay showed second-run movies for just two dollars.

The Majestic Bay Theatre

When the Alhadeff family purchased the Bay Theater in the late 1990s, they planned to refurbish it but instead had to tear down the aging building and start fresh.  After a few years of movie drought in Ballard, the new Majestic Bay Theatre opened in 2000.  Since then Ballardites and visitors to the neighborhood have enjoyed comfortable seats, Dolby Digital sound, and first-run feature films.

The photo at right shows the Majestic Bay—with cars of today out front—on a recent rainy Ballard afternoon, the perfect time to catch a show on the big screen.

Washington Documents Come Alive on Wednesday, April 4

Dr. Lorraine McConaghy

Ballard Historical Society is pleased to announce a spring 2012 lecture speaker. We welcome Dr. Lorraine McConaghy of the Museum of History and Industry (MOHAI) on Wednesday, April 4, 2012 at 7:00 p.m. at the Ballard Landmark. Dr. McConaghy will take us on a journey through the fascinating original documents she researched for her new book, New Land, North of the Columbia, that tell the story of Washington territory back to 1853.

Dr. McConaghy traveled for more than a year throughout Washington State, visiting public and university libraries, historical society archives, and federal, state, county and municipal archives. 

Of her latest work, Humanities Washington writes, “Drawing from archival material ranging from maps, correspondence and public records to patent drawings, menus and paper dolls, this presentation is highly visual and deeply engaging.”

She has received many awards for her research and publications, and is an Inquiring Minds speaker for Humanities Washington. Read more about Dr. Lorraine McConaghy.

The Ballard Landmark has graciously offered to host the lecture in its fireside library at 5433 Leary Avenue NW, Seattle, WA, 98107.

14th Avenue NW Park Planning

The East Ballard Community Association hopes that you will attend one or both scheduled community meetings to plan for the 14th Avenue NW Park. Here’s the info, direct from the EBCA, and more info is available at their blog: http://eastballard.wordpress.com.

At Meeting #1, Seattle Parks Dept, the EBCA, and Mithun, the design consultant, will present the history of the project, site analysis and three design options. These park and street options will incorporate parking, traffic and safety, and water treatment strategies. The goal of this stage of the project is to create a schematic design and cost estimate to present at Meeting #2.

Meeting #1
TUESDAY JANUARY 24, 2012
7-9 p.m ST. ALPHONSHUS PARISH SCHOOL
5816 15th Ave NW, Seattle, WA 98107

Meeting #2
WEDNESDAY MARCH 7, 2012
7-9 p.m ST. ALPHONSHUS PARISH SCHOOL
5816 15th Ave NW, Seattle, WA 98107

If all goes as planned, City Council and Seattle Dept of Transportation will give EBCA approval by the end of March and the project could break ground by late Summer.

Salmon Bay Bascule Train Bridge – One Link in Ballard’s History

The history of any place—at least any inhabited place—is tied to transportation, and Ballard is no exception.  Ballard’s location bordering Puget Sound and Salmon Bay means that water, and traveling in it and over it, have played an integral role in Ballard’s growth and development. 

Here’s a look at a particular Ballard transportation link:  the Salmon Bay Bascule Train Bridge.  This bridge was built in 1914 and remains in regular use today.  Visible from the Locks as well as other points in Ballard and Magnolia, the train bridge connects the two neighborhoods and opens regularly for the passage of boats underneath.  When closed it permits trains to cross over Salmon Bay on its two tracks. 

A bascule bridge balances its opening span with counterweights that allow the bridge to open and close quickly, using little energy in the process.  The Salmon Bay bridge is a single-leaf version, with just one opening span. 

Built by Great Northern Railway and also known as Bridge No. 4, the bridge now carries the tracks of the BNSF Railway.  Train enthusiasts can watch for BNSF freight trains, Amtrak passenger trains and Sounder commuter trains crossing the bridge.  In between passing trains, the bridge span rises for boat traffic to and from the Locks.

A 1914 photo (above) from the Ballard Historical Society’s photo archives shows the bridge the year it was completed.  In this view looking east from Magnolia, a train can be seen traveling north to south across the bridge.

A more recent photo (right) from the bridge’s Facebook page looks west from Magnolia.  Orange BNSF engines can be seen heading north across the bridge toward Ballard.

A Gingerbread House… Or Is It Gingerbell?

A bell with a sweet ring!

Leslie Elvebak of Ballard Landmark sent us this photo of the stately gingerbread house in their lobby. The public is welcome to admire the candy-cane columns, the Necco wafers, and the large gingerbread walls conceived and constructed by the staff at Ballard Landmark (5433 Leary Avenue NW). The BHS role in making the old Ballard city hall bell ring once again is mentioned on the signs displayed around the confection. In return, we are grateful for the Landmark’s important role as host of Ballard bell-related events in 2011. Have a sweet, happy holiday!
Read more about the Ballard Bell:
The Bell Rings
Check out the Web site of Ballard Landmark

Then and Now – Ballard Edition

It’s fun to look at early home pictures, and that’s what we’ll do in this blog post. Thank you, Nancy Chaney, for your research and writing! – Ballardhistory Blog

An early 1900s picture from the Ballard Historical Society’s photo archives provides a telling view of Ballard’s past. The house in the photo stands facing west on the former Denton Avenue, part of the Salmon Bay Park Addition plats. Built in 1900, according to county tax records, the house was one of the first on the block, at least among homes still standing today.

Decorative architectural details on the home’s front porch and at the roof’s gable ends convey the Victorian style popular at the turn of the century. Sadly for fans of these decorative features, Victorian architecture gave way to a series of more modern, less ornamental architectural styles, and many homeowners of the time stripped away so-called “gingerbread” details from their houses.

The two-story barn with large windmill seen behind this home point to Ballard’s agricultural roots. In fact, the tall treetops of Salmon Bay Park are visible behind the barn and according to Ballard Historical Society archives, the park was sometimes referred to as “Cow Park” in the early 20^th century. Many families kept a cow and presumably let them graze on park land.

The current photo of the same house shows that residents removed the original front porch at some point in the home’s history. In place of the barn now sits a two-car garage that, according to county tax records, was built in 1981. (The garage faces the side-street and its roof is barely visible in the photo: look to the left of the bright green bush in the neighbor’s yard.) Interested students of Ballard’s history could speculate: Was the barn torn down just prior to construction of the garage? Or did interim structures stand in the same spot? A relatively new metal roof and a recently-constructed fence also reveal how homes evolve over the years, to suit the needs and desires of their owners.

Search our archives on our separate Web site, BallardHistoricalSociety.org.

Ballard News Tribune Article

Writer Chris Foster of the Ballard News Tribune attended our free fall lecture and wrote “Century 21 Exposition Revisited.” Thank you, Chris. The article is available here.