Archives West Finding Aid

The Juanita Improvement Club was founded in 1921 as both an improvement and social club. Juanita was then a primarily rural enclave on the northeastern shore of Lake Washington which began to be transformed into a suburban community in the 1950s. The major concerns of the Club included fund raising and road maintenance. The Juanita Improvement Club went defunct sometime after 1936. It was revived in spirit under the guise of the Juanita Citizens Group which was incorporated in 1953. The Group was initially founded to combat the redistricting of Water District No. 72. The Group continued this focus in the ensuing years by initiating petition drives, a lawsuit and a recall election, as well as sponsoring candidates for water commissioner. An opposition group, the Juanita Water Committee (also known as "We Want Water in Our Time Committee") formed at the same time in support of the redistricting. Both groups occasionally met at the Juanita Improvement Club building.

The founding members of the Juanita Citizens Group were: Paul A. Bell, Edward A. Nelson, Stewart P. Mehlman, Lawrence A.W. Swabey, and W. Corwin Chase. Two major figures of the Juanita Water Committee were Harold Hopkins and Wayne Shaw.