New Bothell book goes old school

Depending on your point of view, it was an effort either 10 years or 100 years in the making.

“It” is a glossy, bound 164-page pictorial history of Bothell, appropriately enough titled “Bothell, Washington: Then & Now, 1909-2009.”

Bothell Landmark Preservation Board Chair Davina Williams Duerr described the tome as a present from the board to the city and its residents to mark Bothell’s 100th anniversary as a city, an occasion that arrives next year.

Opening the book, one finds the majority of the left-hand pages consist of older, mostly black-and-white photos of various spots and notable buildings as they appeared in the past.

The right-hand pages consist of modern, color shots of those same locations and landmarks as they appear today. A few paragraphs of carefully researched history accompany each photo. There also are various stand-alone shots of notable spots throughout the city.

Duerr said the job of collecting the photos and the accompanying histories began roughly 10 years ago, through the efforts of one former member of the landmark board.

Sue Kienast, president of the Bothell Historical Museum and a former member of the landmark board, picks up the story. She said that eventually someone looked at the growing piles of photos being collected and saw the germ of a book. Duerr said work on the project began in earnest when she joined the preservation board about three or four years ago. The idea quickly became to get the book in print in time for the upcoming Bothell centennial.

According to Kienast, many of the older photos are the result of work undertaken by King County in about 1935. For the benefit of the county assessor’s office, she said, officials attempted to take a photo of every piece of real estate, from major buildings to homes to garages and farms, throughout the county. Eventually, the landmark board began scanning the collected pictures and putting them on computer discs, partly to help in their preservation.

Somewhere along the way, the board also applied for and received grants to help with production of the book and brought in a professional designer to aid with the layout.

As the project really got underway, both Kienast and Duerr said landmark board members began researching each and every picture. Individual members would take a pile of shots and start looking into the history of each photo.

“We really reached out into the community,” Kienast said.

The board even put out notebooks at senior centers and other community gathering spots for people to write down their memories of various spots around Bothell. Kienast said that whenever possible, researchers called and double checked facts with any surviving family members connected to the various photos.

Despite the researcher’s best efforts, Kienast added mistakes or omissions almost undoubtedly crept into the book, and anyone noticing those mistakes is invited to point them out. Any future editions naturally will include corrections.

An architect by trade, Duerr said the most interesting part of the project for her was seeing the older versions of still-existing buildings and how they have been altered. In many cases, she said the original brick facades are now covered with wood facades or other materials.

“It would be nice to see what could be restored,” she said.

Regarding restoration of the older buildings, Kienast echoed many of Duerr’s comments. She said hopefully the book might encourage some building owners, particularly those along Main Street, to return their buildings to their original condition, though she realizes those efforts easily could prove costly.

In the meantime, Kienast said the book project has inspired the Historical Museum to begin searching through its own collection of photos with an eye toward putting them on disc and possibly online.

“It all really belongs to the public,” she added.

Including a DVD history of Bothell, “Bothell, Washington: Then & Now” is available for $20 at the Bothell Historical Museum, the Bothell Chamber of Commerce and Bothell City Hall. Profits will go toward restoration of the historic North Creek School, which recently was moved to a new, permanent home in Centennial Park.