100th and Main Street 1958

Lake Excursions Photo

Crabapple Restaurant in Bellevue Square 1948

Visitors can now enjoy historic & educational stories about Bellevue from local volunteers through the new 2020 lecture series, presented by
Bellevue’s Eastside Heritage Center, in partnership with the Bellevue Parks Department. All classes will be held at the Mercer Slough Environmental Education Center, which has wonderful nearby hiking options for after the stories. The subjects will be diverse, such as about man-made changes to our local environment, lifestyles of early workers and Japanese American immigrants, historical fashion, specific Bellevue neighborhoods and more.

We’ve rounded up the first four topics and dates below!

The Lowering of Lake Washington
January 12, 2020 at 2:00 pm
Guest speaker: Jane Morton

Local educator and Eastside Heritage Center staff member, Jane Morton details the effects of the lowering of Lake Washington in 1916 on the economic growth of the region. Join Eastside Heritage Center to learn what this change in geography meant for the towns surrounding Lake Washington.

How Settlers Acquired Land
February 9, 2020 at 2:00 pm
Guest speaker: Tom Hitzroth

Historian Tom Hitzroth looks at the Land Act of 1820 which came about as the result of a declaration of peace between Great Britain and France in 1815. Eastside Heritage Center will explore the development of these land laws—from the Land Ordinance of 1785 that set up the public land survey system to the Homestead Act of 1862.

Wilburton Neighborhood
March 8, 2020 at 2:00 pm
Guest speaker: Carla Trserk

For about a decade, Wilburton was a larger town than nearby Bellevue. It had a large sawmill, four hundred people, and a busy atmosphere. Join Eastside Heritage Center as Carla Trserk shares her unique research into this Bellevue neighborhood.

Enatai Neighborhood
April 5, 2020 at 2:00 pm
Guest speaker: Sharon Pang

Learn how the School Board rallied to respond to an unprecedented crisis of overpopulation. Travel back in time to see rare and never-before-seen photos of Enatai, both the neighborhood and the school. Presented by Enatai parent and resident Sharon Pang.

Whaling Boats Docked in Meydenbauer Bay

Courtesy of Eastside Heritage Center

Bel Air Chevrolet

*the above information is from a press release issued by the Eastside Heritage Center. For more information, please visit eastsideheritagecenter.org/ .