WAUBurrowsWarrenPHColl141.xmlGuide to the Burrows-Warren Photograph Collection circa 1884-1935 circa 1884-1935Burrows-Warren Photograph CollectionFunding for encoding this finding aid was partially provided through a grant awarded by the National Endowment for the Humanities.Special Collections, University of Washington Libraries© 2004 (Last modified: 11/27/2017)
Seattle, WA 98195
Finding aid written in English.Finding aid based on DACS (Describing Archives: A Content Standard).University of Washington Libraries, Special CollectionsPH0141Burrows-Warren photograph collectioncirca 1884-19351890-190027 photographic prints (1 box )Collection materials are in English.Photographs of the Burrows and Warren families, early settlers of Bellevue, Washington, and their homesteads.

In 1882, Albert Burrows (1837-1896) moved his family from Des Moines, Iowa, to Seattle, Washington, where he got a job in a sawmill. He met George Miller, who had homesteaded with his family at Beaux Arts (area of present-day Bellevue) in 1883 and was looking for other families to settle nearby in order to organize a school. As a Civil War veteran, Burrows was entitled to a homestead, and Miller led him to the 160 lakefront acre homestead at Killarney (area of present-day Bellevue), where Burrows built a cabin and later a more substantial house. Albert Burrows served in the 1894 state legislature and died of bronchitis in 1896.

His son, Albert Selden Burrows (b.1871), graduated from University of Washington and taught in area schools, including Bellevue, beginning in 1898. He became King County superintendent of schools in 1905. Burrows married the daughter of homesteader Jesse B. Warren and settled on 80 acres south of the Miller farm. His aunt (Albert Sr.'s sister), Calanthia Wyoming Burrows, had been Bellevue's first schoolteacher in 1884. Her seven pupils were the five Miller and two Burrows children. Calanthia married Charles Meyers and moved to Capitol Hill. She died in 1930.

Just to the east of the Burrows farm, Jesse B. Warren (1839-1913) purchased 25 acres at present-day 100th Avenue & NE 8th Street. Warren was born in Northern Ireland. He brought his family to Bellevue via the Dakotas in 1890 where he farmed and raised an orchard. His daughter married Albert Selden Burrows. The Warren property was to become Bellevue Square Shopping Center in 1946.

The first schoolhouse in Bellevue was a cabin at Killarney ( at 108th Avenue and SE 25th Street, Bellevue) built by Albert Burrows and George Miller. The location of the school moved several times to accommodate homesteading families. With statehood in 1889, tax levies were permitted to raise funds for the construction of the schoolhouse. The initial Bellevue school board consisted of Albert Burrows, Jesse Warren, and A.H. Sheehy, who passed a construction bond for $1,500. The two-room house with bell tower stood at Main Street and 100th Avenue SE. It was fed by the Clyde Hill, Beaux Arts, Medina, and Bellevue areas. The school operated there till 1930. The building was demolished in 1969.

Ferry service between Seattle and Bellevue began in 1885 with stops at Meydenbauer Bay. In the beginning, ferries stopped when hailed by passengers on shore. A regular schedule developed with the 1892 arrival of the 78-ft. steamer C.C.Calkins .

The collection consists of photographs of two early Bellevue families, the Burrows and the Warrens, and images of their orchards, farms, and homes. Images also show the first permanent schoolhouse of Bellevue, the Calkins Mercer Island Hotel, early Lake Washington ferries, and other early Bellevue settlers.

Collection is open to the public.

Request at UW

Donor: Michael Burrows, April 1987.

Processed by Sarah Nelson, 2004.

McDonald, Lucile. Bellevue: Its First 100 Years (Bellevue, Wash.: Bellevue Historical Society, 2000).

Burrows, Albert Selden, 1871- --PhotographsBurrows, Calanthia Wyoming, d. 1930--PhotographsBurrows family--PhotographsWarren family--PhotographsBellevue (Wash.)--PhotographsFrontier and pioneer life--Washington (State)--Bellevue--PhotographsPioneers--Washington (State)--Bellevue--PhotographsFamily farms--Washington (State)--Bellevue--PhotographsFarmhouses--Washington (State)--Bellevue--PhotographsLivestock--Washington (State)--Bellevue--PhotographsLog cabins--Washington (State)--Bellevue--PhotographsVisual Materials Collections (University of Washington)Washington (State)PhotographsAgriculturePioneersHome and FamilyPhotographic prints

 

The following section contains a detailed listing of the materials in the collection.

Warren Family and Farm11Warren farm and other farm housesca. 1900

Handwritten on verso: "Hip roof house Warren Farm. NE 9 from the proximity of 100th [Bellevue]."

12Cow in pasture on Warren Farm1935 13Farm houses at 104th Avenue, south of NE 8th Street, future site of Bellevue Square1935 14Men and women working in field of Warren farm1903 15Men, horse, and plow on Warren farm, with Old Congregational Church in distance 16Horse and cart loaded with hay, with man standing on top of hay and man in front, Warren farmca. 190017Young man on horse in front of picket fence on 108th Avenue NE 18Man and boy in orchard of Warren farmca. 1905 19Two boys on horse in orchard of Warren farm 110Boy with calf1913

Handwritten on verso: "This 1913 picture was taken on the J.B. Warren farm towards the NE of the present [Bellevue] Square. The boy is Rody Burrows, grandson of Warren."

111Family portraitca. 1895

Handwritten on verso: "Lena, Margaret, William, Eleanor & Elizabeth Warren."

Burrows Family212Log cabin

Handwritten on verso: "Restored Burrows log cabin built originally above Burrows Landing (SE 15th St.) in 1883."

213Group of adults on porch of Burrows house in clearing1880s

Handwritten on verso: "Burrows house at Burrows Landing, destroyed by fire in 1890s. A family group in the 1880s. This house was located at the lake end of SE 15th. The lady wearing the hat was Bellevue first teacher in 1884."

214Old Main Street School with students on stepsca. 1905 215Close-up of students on steps of schoolhouse with teacher A.S. Burrows in top row 216Portrait of Calanthia Wyoming Burrows

Handwritten on verso: "Bellevue's first teacher in 1884; there were seven pupils. Her pay for three month term was forty dollars."

217Portrait of Albert Burrows1890

Handwritten on verso: "Homesteaded a mile of waterfront around S.E. 15th St. in 1883."

218Swimmers in Lake Washington at Burrows Landing1919

Back row: Albert, Margaret and Don Burrows, Chester Kelsey, Watson McDowell, Leonard Ashwell. Front row: Unknown, Mrs. Kelsey, Marian McDowell, Eleanor Burrows.

Scenes of Bellevue and surrounding area319Vista of Bellevue with farms and church, above Meydenbauer Bay1900 320Young woman and twin toddlers on rural lane with farm house1907

Handwritten on verso: "108 Ave NE & NE 15 - 1907. Those in the picture are Ruby Sharpe & her twin brothe[r]s Tom & Andy."

321Log cabin in snowy scene

Handwritten note on verso: "Log cabin at approx. N.E. corner of NE 8th & 100th Ave NE."

322C.C. Calkins Hotel with people standing on porches and balconies. Located on Mercer Island1890

Handwritten on verso: "C.C. Calkins Mercer Island Hotel in 1890. It was located about 1/2 mile so of the floating bridge, vacant after 1902 and destroyed by fire in 1908."

 323Group of children and adults1900

Handwritten on verso: "A church social held in Wildwood Park, 1900. Wildwood Park is now the location of Meydenbauer Yacht Club."

324Woman on horse1898

Handwritten on verso: "May Johnson delivering bulk mail from Houghton to Bellevue - 1898. NE 8th just east of 100th."

325Ferry Leschica. 1915 326Ferry C.C.Calkins1890

handwritten on verso: "The S.S. 'C.C.Calkins' in 1890. It was one of the earlier boats on the lake. It ran from Leschi to East Seattle (Mercer Island) in 5 minutes."

327Ferry S.S. Aquilo with riders on Lake Washington