BLAKE ISLAND
TRIMBLE MANSE
Around the turn of the twentieth century,
William Pitt Trimble (1863-1943), an attorney and real estate
financier, purchased Blake Island and renamed it Trimble Island. He
built a “mansion” there in 1917 and spent the next 7 years creating
one of the most beautiful private estates in the country. Trimble
planned ultimately to give the island to Seattle as a municipal
park, “a green fragment of nature surviving in a world of progress
and subdivisions.” In 1924, the Trimbles moved from the island to
Seattle, maintaining Trimble Island as their private summer
retreat.
On December 7, 1929, tragedy struck the Trimble
family. Mrs. Cassie Trimble was drowned in a freak accident when
the family automobile plunged off the King Street Pier into Elliott
Bay. William Trimble, and sons Ford and William Jr., survived the
mishap but the family never went back to Trimble Island to live.
The estate was abandoned and, over the years, was systematically
vandalized and plundered. Finally, someone set fire to the house
and it burned to the ground. The foundation is all that
remains.
More information on the Trimbles and the
history of Blake Island can be found here.
This cache was placed by a group of cachers on
May 13th 2005. It also just happened to be Friday the 13th, - hence
the black cat motif. The cache is just past what is left of the
Trimble mansion. An easy find to start your journey on this
beautiful island and perhaps ease your possible struggles
ahead.
No need to
bushwhack. Mind the ferns, the cache is not in or under a fern.
Please tread lightly no need to trample them.
Muggle factor
will be high at times so be aware of your
surroundings.
Thanks to globalgirl and Cathy
(Of Phil and Cathy) for their efforts in helping me build this
cache page. It was ALL Cathy's idea for this hide.