SHORELINE — Imagine a place where neighbors wave as they pass on the street.
Imagine a place where, if you run out of milk, you can walk to the store and be home in minutes, no problem.
Imagine a place where the store owner knows not only your name, but also that of your children and dog.
Sound like the perfect TV Land sitcom?
Welcome to Richmond Beach.
This community, which has remained tight-knit for more than a century, was first established as a commercial area for the railroad. It evolved into a bedroom community, and now, after 60 years, is returning to its commercial roots.
The small beachfront community was established when the Great Northern Railroad built tracks along the beach by Puget Sound. The majority of the community in the late 1800s and early 1900s was focused around the railroad. By 1914, Richmond Beach noticed a minor boom in population as Point Wells, the oil refinery, opened and employed local residents.
“There were quite a few residents along the hill,” said Norman Hansen, a Shoreline Historical Museum volunteer who lived in Richmond Beach for about 22 years before moving to Lake Forest Park.
In the 1930s and ’40s, Hansen said, not everyone had a car, so it was easier for residents to shop in the neighborhood.
“Mrs. Johnson had a grocery store,” he said. “That’s where we bought most of our groceries, unless we wanted big meat purchases, then we’d go up to Aurora.
“Because of the railroad, there were more shops at the bottom of the hill, because more people were coming through. There was a burger shop, a hardware store, other grocery stores…”
After roads were paved and car ownership increased, Richmond Beach turned from its commercial community to become more of a “bedroom community.”
“The small businesses, I am sure, just got priced out,” Hansen said, speculating about the decline of business in Richmond Beach. “When the economy picked up, people could go places.”
The only existing business by the tracks now is the Cabin Tavern.
Now, 60 years later, that sense of small business and community involvement has sparked again in Richmond Beach.
While some businesses have survived, others have come into the community within the past few years.
One of the oldest businesses is Richmond Beach Foods, known to locals as either the “little store” or the “corner store.”
“We’re not really sure, but my best guess is that the store has been open since the late ’30s, early ’40s,” said owner Bill Hardman.
Hardman has owned Richmond Beach Foods for more than three years and worked and managed there for roughly 15 years before buying the business.
“I moved to Richmond Beach, and was having a very long commute, and I lost my job,” he said. “So I became friends with (the previous owner) and started working for him, and became more or less the manager. When the opportunity came to buy, I had the first option, so I took the plunge.”
As Hardman answers questions from behind the counter cluttered with knickknacks and fresh baked goods (created by his wife, Beth), he jokes with the slow but steady stream of customers who stop for a gallon of milk, a loaf of bread or a latte.
Almost everyone stepping foot in the store on this drizzly Saturday is greeted by their first name by Hardman, including the groups of kids who put down their skateboards and bikes just long enough to buy candy and a drink.
Although he admits it’s a “daily struggle” to keep business strong, Hardman has found that “by trying to provide a warm, friendly atmosphere, and having low prices ($1 lattes) and fresh baked goods,” a steady stream of loyal customers continue to shop there.
Richmond Beach resident of 18 years and “little store” advocate, Mica Harris, recalls buying candy as a child from Hardman and his predecessor.
“Walking to the little store and buying candy is a great memory from growing up,” Harris said. “Bill, and Al when he was there, both of them, they knew my name, they knew my parents, they knew my whole story.”
Susie Wirth chose to open her business, Sweet Basil’s, three blocks from her house for this sense of community.
“I just had a real faith in the sense of community down here,” she said.
Although Wirth admits that she too has faced a struggle with business in the almost two years she has been open, the community involvement to help her succeed has amazed her.
“The neighborhood is hugely supportive,” she said. “We have people who come four to five times a week. We know almost all of our customers by name.
“I feel like the neighborhood owns the store and I’m the caretaker. The Richmond Beach community is like a small town, everywhere I go I’m waving.
“Living down here, there is such a sense of community and small town environment. That’s a big deal.”
The small town feel is why Farrel Adrian, another resident of 18 years, chose to raise her family in Richmond Beach.
“It has the history of a little town because it has existed since the turn of the century,” she said. “There is a lot of community involvement that is more embedded in Richmond Beach than elsewhere.
“Richmond Beach is different than other quote ‘bedroom communities’ because it really did start as a small town. Not many other suburbs have that history.”
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