by Monica Wooton

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The creation of the Magnolia Boulevard was literally the concrete version of the Beatle’s song: "The Long and Winding Road." And, Mrs. Grace M. Burt had an idea to calm down all the ruckus that the building of the road brought with it.

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In Magnolia: Making More Memories, Claudia Isquith outlines the years-long battles between city, developers, and residents in her

chapter "Magnolia Boulevard West." Around the turn of the twentieth century, George Cotterill was responsible for laying out a twenty-five mile bike path that, when reaching the Magnolia neighborhood, wandered the basic route of what would someday be known to Seattleites as "Magnolia Boulevard" and to Magnolians as simply "The Boulevard.” The son of Frederick Olmsted, John Charles Frederick Olmsted added gravitas, and included and incorporated that bike path in the recommendations for a citywide boulevard system. Magnolia was among those neighborhoods where land was slated to acquire for future realization of that boulevard plan. 

 

Residents balked. Property was condemned and then finagled over by developer James W. Clise, who had bought 62 acres of the south bluff for $1 (1). Finally, he donated a 150-foot-wide strip of land for the wooden trestle that became the concrete Howe Street Bridge—built over the steep ravine where Wolf Creek ran—as a continuation of the Boulevard. But it took years of back and forth to get the road paved and completed. Bargains were struck, promises made and broken. Residents won some and lost some. In 1950, the Magnolia Boulevard finally became reality. Residents along the route paid an assessment but were not happy to see their country road disappear. It was not lit, so views at night were not interrupted—residents got their way on that. Magnolia teens loved the Boulevard. You could race your car there or finish off an evening date making out at the lookout!

 

But, back to Mrs. Burt and her idea!

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Isquith points out in her article that "…between 1927 and 1945, the subject of permanent paving of the Boulevard came up again and again. (2)" During that time, Mrs. Burt, "a resident of that lofty and popular district," proposed "Pink Sidewalks to Soothe Neighbors Nerves! (3)" The Seattle Daily Times ran that front page headline on September 6, 1930. She suggested the color scheme also be used on "…busier downtown streets and sidewalks to soothe frayed nerves and aching eyes, now assailed constantly by the feverish throb of traffic and the glare of natural cement." She was partial to pink (The Times termed it "restful rose"), but green was considered, too. "Everywhere we have heard of restful colors except with reference to our concrete paving…What can be more annoying, more nerve-wracking on a hot, sunny day than to emerge from one of our beautifully decorated department stores with soft, tinted furnishings, into the glare of white concrete paved streets. (4)"

 

Despite Mrs. Burt’s suggestion, it took decades more to get Magnolia Boulevard paved at all. None of it in pink!

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