History Quest - Lake Margaret
History:
Mary Margaret Johns was born in Iowa in February of 1881. Her parent’s names were Anne Vlerebome and Owen Johns. She had three sisters; Jean, Gladys and Amy, and one brother, Harry. Margaret’s family moved to western Washington in the Tacoma area where her father had a dairy farm. Margaret attended and graduated college and her first teaching job was at a school house on the beach on the Juan De Fuca Strait near Pysht. She then came to Duvall and continued teaching at the Cherry Valley School.
In 1909, a group of young people were headed to Lake Hannan, which was a popular hiking and fishing spot. They hiked to Lake Hannan and subsequently, Lake Margaret via the Cherry Valley Logging railroads. Below is a picture of Margaret and her friends walking the tracks near Lake Margaret – then an unnamed lake.
The picture below is of Lake Margaret when they arrived in 1909. Miss Margaret Johns was also a photographer. “They arrived at the lake and Miss Margaret Johns, decided to step aboard on an old raft she found next to shore. She stepped one foot onto the raft when it suddenly departed. The result was that she fell into the water and ever since the lake has been known as Lake Margaret. December 11, 1980 for Cedarcrest High School, by Duvall Historian, Allen Miller.”
The picture below is of Miss Margaret wringing out her skirt after she fell in.
On May 14th, 1909, the Monroe Reporter wrote an article about the naming of Lake Margaret for Miss Margaret Johns. This article is in the gallery. Margaret Johns married Chesley Funk in 1910. Chesley and Margaret first lived south of Duvall, and then moved to the Boshaw farm. They had three children; Donald in September of 1912, Dwight in September of 1915, and Gerald in April of 1919. While Margaret was on the farm, she raised flowers which started as a hobby and turned into a profitable business. Their home on Virginia Street was purchased with the money from Lunaria and Japanese Lanterns. This was the start of the depression and yet the “Dollar Plants” were in high demand.
Margaret was a well-respected teacher in the valley. She served on the Cherry Valley School Board and Grange.
History of the cache:
This cache was originally placed by Akitahikers on 06-06-2011, She placed a lot of really great caches in the area, unfortunately most of them were archived in the spring of 2015. I am attempting to bring some of them back online for the community to once again enjoy. This cache is the original container and log, in it's original location, though I did change the name, it was originally titled Lake Margaret: Namesake History. The original cache page listing was GC2XQW2. She put together the above information about the lake, and the woman it is named after.
Additionally from SirKarp:
As a life long resident of Duvall I can attest that this story has been handed down from generations, though I have never seen it or heard it in the detail that it is written in here. Also I can recall my Dad talking about hiking into Lake Margaret in the 50's as the first gravel roads leading into the lake didn't come about until the early 60's when folks built summer cabins up there, and the hippy movement, but thats another topic......
The Cache:
The cache is a typical northwest hide and the hint will take you right to it. The best parking is located at N47 46.052 W121 54.157in the fishing area / boat launch which is open during fishing season and requires a discover pass. If it is closed when your up there or you don't have a discover pass, the next best choice is to park carefully on the street near the gate, but not blocking it. Once your in the parking area, you'll need to walk towards and then behind the restroom, the cache is located in the wooded area back there. Please do not park on the corner by the dead end street. Please know that if you found the original version of this cache you are welcome to go out and sign the log again, and then log your find on line as this is a new cache listing and new owner so technically it is considered to be a different cache.
Congratulations goes to Pie Rats for the FTF of the reincarnation of this cache!