History of the South Woods

By Terry Clayton

The South Woods, along with what are now Shorecrest High School, Kellogg Middle School, Hamlin Park, and Firlands, was originally part of the Hamlin homestead acquired in the second half of the 19^th century. The Hamlin family was the first non-native owners, really the first owners, as land ownership was foreign to Native Americans. The land had been logged by the Hamlin’s and was made into a farm. The Hamlin farm was the highest point in what is now the Shoreline School district. There was a salmon spawning stream running from the north end of the farm that was part of the Thornton Creek watershed. Currently Hamlin creek is diverted through a pipe.

The navy purchased the land in 1923 where a hospital complex was constructed as well as naval officer housing. Six houses and a non-married officer’s barracks were constructed on a 16-acre plot in the southeast corner. This portion, called the South Woods, is now is being considered as an environmental educational park. This sixteen-acre woodland is unique in that it is one of the largest mature second growth lowland forests in an urban area in Western Washington. After World War Two the navy no longer needed the hospital and the land was transferred to other public entities. Part of the hospital was used as a State t.b. hospital and sanitarium into the 1960s. The Shoreline school district also leased part of the land for their district offices until the 1980s. In the 1960s the navy also transferred much of the eastern portion of the property to the School District, constructing Shorecrest High School and Morgan Junior high school, now Kellogg Middle School. The only portion that the navy retained was the sixteen acres of officer housing. In the 1980s the navy removed the buildings and transferred this last remaining property to the State of Washington.

The property lay dormant until 1996 when signs appeared around the property giving notice that the property was going to be used to construct 500 housing units. I was teaching at Shorecrest at the time. The environmental club, Student Action For the Environment (SAFE), which I was the founder and advisor, mobilized to stop this from happening, While campusing the area we came in contract with the Briarcrest Neighborhood Association. Out of this association, morphed the South Woods Preservation Group (SWPG). Fortunately I contacted State Senator Darlene Fairley who was able to get this surplus property reclassified to be bided on by public organizations only, thus staving off the property from the chain-saws and bulldozers in the short-term.

In 1997 SAFE was able to persuade the School District to purchase the property in partnership with the Shoreline Water District. It was during this time that SAFE and the Water District under the visionary leadership of Cynthia Driscoll, Water District supt., developed a duel use plan for the property that would retain most of the trees. This plan included an underground, capped reservoir covering approx. ¾ acre. The reservoir would provide water for a pond connecting by a stream to Hamlin Creek. Invasive species would be removed; trails would be upgraded with informative placards to be used by students and the public alike.

The unfortunate untimely death of Driscoll and the changing priorities of the Water and School districts caused both entities to decide that it was best to sell the property. The SWPG has been lobbying the City of Shoreline to purchase the property for the property. The city has agreed to purchase 3 acres outright and float a bond for the remainder of the property. The final use of the property is still to be determined. One possibility is to get an easement from the School district connecting the South Woods to Hamlin Park by a path along the back of the playing fields of Shorecrest. There still remains the possibility of creating a pond by using the drainage from the Shorecrest playing fields and the roof of the school when the proposed bond is passed next year.