Mukilteo Beacon - Your Hometown News Source

Popular author Mary Daheim died eight months ago. Teresa A. Anderson and I have been helping Mary’s family sort through photos and historic records that Mary had collected.... — Updated 11/25/2022

Recent trips to Alpental at Snoqualmie Pass and Black River Junction in Renton were learning experiences and reminders of history that is older than usually found in textbooks. I... — Updated 11/2/2022

A number of years ago, I was sitting on the sofa in the late Mary Daheim's living room. On the end table next to me was a book titled "A Hoghead's Random Railroad Reminiscences."... — Updated 8/24/2022

Have you visited Joyce, Florence, Beverly, Addy, Arletta, Amanda Park, or Lebam? Those are all towns in Washington named for wives, daughters, and lady friends. There are certainly... — Updated 8/10/2022

The chicken runs at midnight. This isn’t ancient history. Much more recent. It dates from 1992, but it seems appropriate this year when the Seattle Mariners may be making a... — Updated 7/27/2022

The history of railroads in Snohomish County is really rather boring. Great Northern Railway reached Edmonds in 1891. The most unusual aspect of this arrival was that Great Northern... — Updated 7/20/2022

I watched a YouTube video presented by "The History Guy," who likes to specialize in forgotten history. The particular episode was about Camp Ellis near Ipava, Illinois. During... — Updated 7/6/2022

It was nearly a three-hour drive from Edmonds to Issaquah to Port Orchard. Later in the day, I reversed the route to come home. Why would I do that? In Port Orchard there were... — Updated 6/29/2022

I mentioned a few weeks ago that celebrated local author Mary Daheim had died. She had been the voice for the ghost town of Alpine, Washington, a title I have inherited. I also... — Updated 6/8/2022

I was looking through my old files to find something that I could post on the "Remembering Alpine Washington" Facebook page. I found an old interview granted by Mary Daheim. I also... — Updated 6/1/2022

We all know the southwest Snohomish County of today. Edmonds, Lynnwood, Mukilteo, Mill Creek, Mountlake Terrace, and Brier are the municipalities. But what about 100 years ago? Wher... — Updated 5/11/2022

In a recent article I mentioned attending a program at the Mercer Slough Environmental Education Center in Bellevue. While there, I met a man who is knowledgeable about the history... — Updated 5/4/2022

A birdwatcher mentioned to me that there didn’t seem to be any grebes around. The grebe has always been a very common bird. On any given day he might see hundreds. A few days... — Updated 3/30/2022

The name of actress Swoosie Kurtz is familiar to many. Years ago, I assumed that Swoosie was a nickname of some sort. Wrong. Swoosie is really her name, and there is a Puget Sound... — Updated 3/23/2022

Did you ever play post office? I never did, and had no idea of the rules until doing some research on local post offices. A town was measured by its post office, as much as by its... — Updated 1/5/2022

Washington was admitted to the union Nov. 11, 1889, less than a year before Edmonds was incorporated. Every fourth grader in the state might be able to tell you that snippet of... — Updated 5/10/2020

Author Mary Daheim sent me an email that her cousin Steve Shelley, who is also an author, sent her a message reminding her that during the Spanish flu in 1918-1919 Alpine,... — Updated 4/23/2020

Driving near Paine Field recently, I saw a sign for the Technology Corridor. I didn’t realize any of those signs still existed. For the Technology Corridor is mostly forgotten,... — Updated 3/11/2020

The Stanley Cup still bears evidence of the Spanish flu, more than 100 years after the event. A couple of years ago I asked my friend Billy Gleeson to take a picture of the Stanley... — Updated 3/4/2020