Ed note: My wife and I were a small part of this activist neighborhood group in Mathews Beach in 1970-71. The group was meeting in each others homes to discuss politics and world affairs. Frustrated that there was little we could do, someone suggested we look locally at the old little used train track and see if it couldn’t be a path of some kind. Thanks to our neighbors Jim Todd and Sandy Wood who had wonderful energy and organizational skills. They effectively lobbied Wes Uhlman and John Spellman and the community, to get the Burke-Gillman rolling.
THEN: On Sept. 12, 1971, Merrill Hille and her son Erik, nearly 4, carry hand-lettered signs along the tracks near Matthews Beach in Seattle, on their way to a “hike-in” rally Merrill Hille organized, at which Mayor Wes Uhlman and… (Courtesy of Merrill Hille)
TWO-YEAR-OLD ERIK STOOD at his front window near Matthews Beach, watched a Burlington Northern engine rumble along the tracks below and shouted, “Train! Train! Train!” It was a toddler’s unwitting farewell to an era.
In those days, families walked the tracks to the beach, crossing the trestle above Sand Point Way. That tradition was facing an end.
When Burlington Northern announced in April 1971 it would abandon the line, a dozen neighbors — including Erik’s mother Merrill Hille — organized: They created a template that became the nation’s first urban rail-to-trail conversion.
“We had no idea that the project would take six years,” organizer Sandy Wood says.
Opposition rose from varied lanes.
“A lot of people out there were concerned about criminal activity from a trail,” Wood says. The effect on property values also was a concern. Meanwhile, rail enthusiasts hoped to run a steam excursion train from University Village to Kenmore. (continued on Page 2)