A. Cunningham

Chicken Farms on the Eastside

By Barb Williams, Eastside Heritage Center volunteer

Pioneer families often raised chickens. The birds were inexpensive to feed, produced eggs for baked goods, meat for the table and a source of feather-down for pillows and quilts. Many of the Eastside pioneers raised chickens for their individual needs.

Dwight Skinner was one of several Eastside residents who raised chickens commercially. In 1912, Dwight and Nell Skinner bought a 40-acre tract of land on the Highland-Larsen Lake Road. The land had belonged to the Churchills and included a home, barn, feed room and two-story chicken house. Dwight suffered from heart problems and was often unable to work. He had 2,000 to 5,000 chickens whose eggs, he figured, would help to supply the income he needed.

L 86.024.004 - Mr. Harmon feeding chickens at Morelli chicken ranch, 1918

The Morelli brothers; Alfonso, Martin, Silvio and Tito immigrated from Italy and bought land along 148th Avenue in Redmond. They ran a thriving chicken ranch from 1915 to 1973. It was the biggest of its kind on the Eastside at the time. They had 15,000 chickens who had the run of long elevated chicken houses. The business became such a success that they operated through a middle-man and never had to advertise. In the 1940s, they pioneered in the use of electricity by installing timed electrical lights in the henhouses. The timers turned on the lights at 4 a.m. extending daylight hours, egg-laying time and egg production. In the 1970s, some of the Morelli land across 148th was developed into private homes. Silvio passed away in 1979 and Microsoft bought the land in the 1990s with the stipulation that Silvio’s wife, Albarosa, could remain in the family home as long as she wanted. She passed away in 1999 and Microsoft proposed turning her home into a library.  

For nearly 40 years around 1922, 116th Avenue NE between Main Street and NE 8th in Bellevue was known as Lebanese Valley because most of the residents were from Lebanon. George Waham was a resident. He bought five acres and started a farm on which he raised chickens, a cow, rabbits, fruits and vegetables. During the Depression he and his wife fed other people including their large family.

OR/L 79.79.342 - Chicken in front of farm building, Willowmoor.

In 1927 two black men, A. Cunningham and C. James, came from Seattle to become the proprietors of the Wake Robin Lodge located in Enatai. Their business was the first on the Eastside to be operated by black people. The Lodge became famous for the fresh food raised on-site, especially its chicken dinners. Fruit trees and a large garden supplied produce. Long chicken coops stretched along the south side of the property with a small dairy nearby. Mr. Jones tended the chicken ranch which consisted of a  number of chicken houses. He raised white leghorns. He lived with his wife onsite in a home under the water tank. The water, used for the chickens and lodge, was pumped uphill from a well on Lake Washington Boulevard. Due to the Depression, the Lodge closed in 1934. 

Presently chickens can be found at Kelsey Creek Farm Park owned and managed by the City of Bellevue. Breeds of chickens are selected for their personalities, egg color, feather color and characteristics appropriate for public viewing. Wyandotte, Barred Rock, Ameraucana and Bantam are some of the breeds selected. The purpose of the farm is to educate people about animal husbandry. Chickens often feature in events and classes taught by farm staff. Some chickens are good egg-layers, others better for meat and some are dual-purpose. Historically they have connected with humans for a long time.

Sources:

Eastside Heritage Center archives

Carla Trsek, Kelsey Creek Farm Park staff

Culinary History of a Pacific Northwest Town by Suzanne Knauss.  2007

Eastside Stories: The Wake Robin Lodge

Eastside Stories is our way of sharing Eastside history through the many events, people places and interesting bits of information that we collect at the Eastside Heritage Center. We hope you enjoy these stories and share them with friends and famil…

Eastside Stories is our way of sharing Eastside history through the many events, people places and interesting bits of information that we collect at the Eastside Heritage Center. We hope you enjoy these stories and share them with friends and family.

Article by: Barbara Williams

Its Sunday today, so where shall we go?

To the Wake Robin Lodge, don’t you know.

Receptions, dancing and chicken for all.

Teas and music, you’ll have a ball!


The Wake Robin Lodge was the former Enatai home of Sam Krueger. It was built around the time of the First World War (1914-1918). In 1926, Mr Krueger leased the building and the land to two African-American men from Seattle: A. Cunningham and C. James. They planned to open it as a roadhouse or restaurant. It would be the first African-American enterprise on the Eastside. They named it the Wake Robin Lodge. Wake Robin is the name of our local bird, the Spotted Towhee. It is also the South Carolina name for the Trillium flower. Both the bird and the flower are indigenous and common to this area.

The new owners remodeled the building to resemble a semi-bavarian chalet with a large stone fireplace in the main room, porches, wide front steps at the entry, inside balconies around three sides, and beautiful hardwood floors throughout the building. The Lodge was totally self-sufficient. An orchard with fruit trees framed the long driveway along which Mr. Cunningham often drove his shiny Nash car with wooden spoke wheels. There were chicken sheds, a water tank, a dairy and large vegetable garden. Almost everything that went on the tables was produced on-site. Not only that, being at the top of the hill, the building sported a lovely view to the east ..... the perfect destination for a day in the country.

When the two men opened the Lodge for business on Saturday, February 19, 1927, people were curious to sample the new restaurant. Word went out about the delicious chicken dinners, fresh vegetables and fruit, music and dancing, as well as, teas, receptions and celebrations. Visitors came flocking by ferry boat and automobile from places like Seattle and the surrounding towns to enjoy a good time. The Lodge was located just south of the junction of the paved Lake Washington Highway (Bellevue Way SE) and the Mercer Island Enatai road (108th Avenue SE) with a turn onto the long driveway (presently, SE 23rd Street). Sunday full course chicken dinners were served from 2 pm to 9 pm for $1.50 per plate. To make reservations visitors could phone: Lakeside 126. The food was delicious and the waiters, excellent. Waiters were older African American men and sometimes students from Garfield High School in Seattle. The students usually took the Leschi to Medina ferry. They worked late at night washing dishes and making five dollars a night.

Bellevue High School celebrated its 1933/1934 Junior-Senior banquet at the Wake Robin Lodge. Many celebrations happened at the Lodge including the wedding reception of Miss LaReine Renfro to Mr. Roland Putnam Burnham on June 30, 1934.

This special country inn situated just up the hill from Cecilia and Frederick Winters’s home and floral business on Bellevue Way SE, was a very popular outing for many people. However, when the Great Depression hit the country between the years of 1929 to 1933, it affected businesses such as the Wake Robin Lodge. People no longer had the money to eat out and the business began to flounder. Soon it closed. The property was then held by The Home Savings and Loan Association and the Lodge sat empty for many years. During that time, Leila Cook Martin and her sister, who grew up next door to the Lodge, loved to explore the grounds and buildings. With permission from their parents, they took their roller skates and skated around the wonderful hardwood floors. The doors were never locked and a Mr. Jones was caretaker of the white leghorn chickens. By 1941 the building was torn down. State Senator, Al Thompson bought the property. The Thompson family built a large house close to where the Lodge had stood and the land was subdivided. Today there are multiple houses in the area. The driveway is labeled SE 23rd Street and there is a sign at a loop in the road that reads “Wake Robin Farm Crescent”. So the Wake Robin Lodge and it’s people live on and with more research it’s light will become brighter and more colorful.

Photo: Aerial view showing the Winters house (light colored building on Bellevue Way SE) and the Wake Robin Lodge building (dark roof, lower left)

Photo: Aerial view showing the Winters house (light colored building on Bellevue Way SE) and the Wake Robin Lodge building (dark roof, lower left)

Resources:

Eastside Heritage Center Vertical File of newspapers and other ephemera

Book: Culinary History of a Pacific Northwest Town by Suzanne Knauss, 2007

Writings by Leila Cook Martin and her brother, Bill

Photographs:  Eastside Heritage Center data base, Barb Williams