No history books have been written about White Center where I am from. I walk the roads, and look for the borders of old farms, and trace the remains of once tree-lined wagon routes. One walk that I took, led me past the old Carosino Farm. Many Folks know about the farm. It is the last one remaining in the Duwamish Valley. It has been closed for some time. It is 200 yards from Duwamish Hill Park, in Tukwilla. The hill, as local Indian legend has it, is where the world was created.
The hill is behind the trucks. The concrete structure is the new link light rail. The photo is shot from the farm. The car you see, is on the road from Allentown, an town annexed into Tukwilla, Washington.
The property was handed down to the son. It used to be a twenty-nine acre farm. The Italian community would meet here for celebrations. Here is a good article on it:
http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/archive/?date=20020811&slug=farmhouse11m
The farm lays at the south end of East Marginal Way. It is about three miles from Boeing's Plant Two, which built the B-17. America sold England B-17's long before we were officially at War. The day after Pearl Harbor, Boeing still was the only producer of a large, four engine bomber. The War Department took extra-ordinary steps to protect the plant location. Take a look at the camoflauge:
Fake town built over Plant Two. South Park Bridge beyond.I wrote an article on RedState.com about this subject:
http://www.redstate.com/hickorystick/2010/06/12/one-lone-bomber-and-the-western-world-is-finished/
Here is a shot of a burlap sack over the window. It is still there 70 years later. Was it a blackout curtain?
I see these things, and my imagination starts running. East Marginal Way was locked down for the duration of the War. No flights left King County Airport, except B-17's, and later, B-29's. South Park, on the other side of the bridge, had military stationed there. Citizens remaining there, were allowed to leave once a week to cross the bridge to Seattle, to buy what they needed. A machine gun was mounted on the northwest side of the bridge, in South Park. Batteries were littered all over the Duwamish Peninsula, and at the bottom of it's drainages. The Carosino Farm was pretty close to the action, if there was going to be any.
Also left over were these benches. I had the impression of a gospel barn gathering. Perhaps the Carosino's and their laborer's were visited by a Priest. I don't know. Or then again, there might have been a sing-along on a different night.
The Italian community was, and is, a huge part of the history of the area. Sadly, during the War, most their farms were taken, to build war housing. The City of Tukwilla has the property now. It would be nice to move the old farm house a little farther back on the property, and convert it to a museum. It doesn't look like much from the outside, but don't be deceived. Underneath the fake brick covering, is old growth fir or hemlock clapboard siding. That generation was tired of painting, and easily agreed to covering up the exterior. The Farmhouse is a classic. There is another one very similar in South Park, by the Concord International School, that is in great shape. Not the best angle:
One more thing. Mr. Boeing wasn't the only one taking an interest in airplanes, in the valley.
Ciao!
