Of Special Interest...
Mt. Baker Neighborhood Club - One of America's oldest continuous neighborhood associations.
Seattle is a neighborhood based city. We have over a dozen different neighborhoods, each with their own attributes and characteristics.
This is my neighborhood! I served as President of our neighborhood organization in 1986. This lakefront neighborhood is reputed to have the oldest continuous neighborhood association in the United States.
Mt. Baker was originally conceived by a group of developers in the early 1900's. Eager to build an exclusive neighborhood of high quality single family homes, they enlisted the help of the famed Olmstead brothers to landscape the area, and transformed the forested area into a picturesque "suburb" of Seattle. This landscaped area became the Mt. Baker Park and provided a link between Lake Washington and the community.
In 1909 the Mt. Baker Improvement Club was formed to attend to such physical improvements as streets, sidewalks, lighting and school. The Clubhouse was built in 1914 and immediately became the focal center of the thriving community. It was used from the beginning for community club meetings, an annual Rose Show, socials, teas, dances, children's classes, holiday celebrations, candidate's nights and community parties.
Far from the upper class enclave envisioned by its founders, for example, we are now a healthy mix of cultures, generations and family configurations. Yet through the years, Mt. Baker has preserved basic community values - a small town atmosphere, a continuing focus on architectural quality, concern for family - that should ensure its survival for at least another eighty years.
