MOUNTLAKE TERRACE — Fifty years ago, Patrick McMahan knew the importance of getting municipal services to the residents of what would become Mountlake Terrace.
He pleaded with the Edmonds City Council to annex the unincorporated land, which already was home to about 5,000 people.
“The mayor said to me, ‘Son, you live five miles out in the country, and we’re not going farther (east) than Ninth Avenue,’” McMahan said.
On Nov. 29, 1954, the city of Mountlake Terrace was born.
That was the beginning of what many longtime residents feel is a story for the history books.
So they’re making one.
The Mountlake Terrace Historical Committee, a group of about 11 longtime residents dedicated to preserving the annals of the town, is calling on other longtime residents to put together memories and photographs for a book that will be produced next year.
“This is indeed a once-in-a-lifetime (opportunity) for our residents,” said Doris Cannon, one of the organizers and a former City Council member. “This is an opportunity for them to leave some roots for their children and grandchildren about how and why they moved here, and what happened that they can remember.”
It all started when Al La Pierre and Jack Peterson (now honored with La Pierre Drive and Peterson Drive) bought the land and built 640-square-foot cement-block homes that sold for $4,995 each, as Stan Krahn remembers it.
“For an extra $10 a month, you could get appliances thrown in,” Krahn said.
He should know.
“There were a lot of World War II veterans moving in, but there was also a need for low-income housing,” said Krahn, who was not a war veteran. “I needed something I could afford. We were all in the same position.”
Krahn is part of the group putting together the book.
“We have no money to really fill something out,” he said. “We’re just staggering around and trying to get what we can get.”
McMahan, who would later become a city councilman for 12 years, bought his home in February 1952 and worked for the Seattle Fire Department. He recognized that Mountlake Terrace had the second-highest concentration of people in Snohomish County, but had no fire or police services of its own — or even sidewalks or sewer lines.
After forming a group to look at the situation and failing to grab the attention of the city of Edmonds, the formation of Mountlake Terrace was put on the ballot and passed by a margin of 15 votes, McMahan said.
Since then, the city has quadrupled in population, from 5,000 to 20,000, and doubled in area, from two square miles to four.
“It’s changed slightly in 50 years,” McMahan said, noting that the preservation of history is important. “If you go over to City Hall, there are a lot of people there who don’t know about the history of the city.”
Victor Balta is a reporter for the Herald in Everett.
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