Street of the Week: Ravine Lane 

Location: Runs north/south off Winslow Way, just west of Highway 305

History: Winslow was once a city divided but not because of any rift between its citizens. The city literally had a line running through it thanks to a deep gulch that split the town in two. 

On the west side stood the church, the school, the grocery store and steamer dock. On the east, the butcher, baker and barber.  Needless to say, running errands in early Winslow took a good deal of strategic planning.

Near the shipyard stood the Winslow Hotel. In 1904, two sisters, Margaret Bradley and Katherine Clements, became the new proprietors. 

The pair remodeled the hotel and added a washroom where the shipyard workers could clean up from work before sitting down to a hot meal. Most ate there whether or not they also called the hotel home.

Then in 1924 the hotel burned to the ground. It was never rebuilt. But if it had been, the hotel would stand directly across the street from the present day police station located at the intersection of Winslow Way and Highway 305.

As Winslow continued to grow and prosper, the residents realized something had to be done about their city’s physical divide so a wooden bridge was built across the gulch, offering at least temporary relief to the problem. 

Today, the ravine is hardly noticable alongside the wide streets of Winslow. Located to the east of Ericksen Avenue under Winslow Way, it no longer hinders the people of Bainbridge from enjoying their city.

Source: “A History of Bainbridge Island.” Katy Warner, 1968, page 41-43.

This occasional Islander series explores the history of island street names, as compiled by Elinor Ringland and fellow Bainbridge Island Historical Society volunteers.  If you have an island road story to share, email Ringland at elinorjoe@msn.com.

Street of the Week: Gideon Lane

Location: Runs east/west off Grow Avenue, just north of Wyatt Way

History: The Gideons come from pioneering stock. Hailing from Germany, the first offshoots of the family to push west landed in Minnesota before packing up again and heading for the Pacific.

Charlie was the first to land on the West Coast but was soon followed by his younger brother Josiah. The family relocated to Seattle in 1902 and eventually made a home on Bainbridge Island where Josiah worked at the shipyard until his death in 1920. His wife Margaret continued to live on Bainbridge; she was instrumental in the first island library, school and newspaper.

Josiah and Margaret’s son Kenneth also called Bainbridge home and constructed the cabin that still stands on the edge of Gideon Park.

This occasional Islander series explores the history of island street names, as compiled by Elinor Ringland and fellow Bainbridge Island Historical Society volunteers.  If you have an island road story to share, email Ringland at elinorjoe@msn.com.

Street of the Week: Kono Lane

Location: Runs east/west off Tani Creek Road near Blakely Harbor

History: When a representative of the Japanese Consulate arrived in Port Blakely to oversee the local mill and its large base of Japanese workers, he was shocked at what he found.

Crammed together in bunkhouses, working 10-hour days with minimum pay and then gambling the night away, most of the employees were not, the consulate reported, “honest workers.”

It was up to mill boss Hanjiro Kono to set things straight. Kono stopped the rampant gambling and freeloading. By the time he was done, many workers had left to be replaced by Japanese farmers and their families. To encourage the new arrivals to put down roots, the mill set aside land for the families to live on rent-free in homes built from donated lumber.

By 1903, the area had hundreds of residents, as well as bathhouses, barbershops, churches, a restaurant and even a hotel owned by none other than mill boss Hanjiro Kono.

This occasional Islander series explores the history of island street names, as compiled by Elinor Ringland and fellow Bainbridge Island Historical Society volunteers.  If you have an island road story to share, email Ringland at elinorjoe@msn.com.

Street of the Week: Boulder Place

Location: Runs east/west off Rockaway Bluff Road

History: Excavators met a rocky start when constructing roads in this part of Bainbridge Island back in 1996.

As the native woodlands were upturned, rocks of all shapes and sizes slowed down construction, but it was one particular boulder that required reinforcements be called in.

A mammoth bulldozer arrived on the scene to move the troublesome rock. For 600 feet, the machine pushed and it shoved, it revved and it rolled until finally that burden of a boulder came to a stop at the entrance of the street.

Now the rock rests like nature’s own gatekeeper, inspiring the street’s name and offering a handy landmark for all to navigate by.

Sources: Bill and Karen Meyer.

This occasional Islander series explores the history of island street names, as compiled by Elinor Ringland and fellow Bainbridge Island Historical Society volunteers.  If you have an island road story to share, email Ringland at elinorjoe@msn.com.