THEN AND NOW: Waiting for the Ferry at the Kirkland Dock, 1910

NO ONE IS around today who could remember a scene like this, which to the best estimate of Kirkland historian Loita Hawkinson was taken about 1910.

Before the first floating bridge was built across Lake Washington in 1939, ferries crossed the lake daily, linking Kirkland and other Eastside communities to Seattle.

The Kirkland dock shown here was near where Kirkland Avenue now ends at the marina. However, this photo was most likely taken before the Ballard Locks were cut in 1917, which lowered the lake by 9 feet.

That changed the landscape along shore considerably, and means these men – and little boy – were standing to the east of the present shoreline, probably somewhere closer to where The Slip restaurant is today.

The cars and passengers are waiting to board a ferry, likely the Washington of Kirkland, which ran from 1908 to about 1913. This was a time when both autos and horses shared the roads – and the ferry – so that is probably horse manure on the left side of the dock.

Also note the “Duvall Stage” sign on the vehicle at the end of the line. Can you imagine how long it would have taken back then to get from Duvall to Seattle? The long-gone wooden Kirkland Mercantile building is on the left.