David, thank you so much for your ghost creeks and ghost lakes posts! As one who has always loved seeing what congregates around small bodies of water (both floral and fauna) and also one who has been saddened by how humans treat them so badly, I am heartened to think of their ghostly existence! Oh yes, they exist south of Seattle, too! Being raised near Burien, I know of one good sized creek and it's slow spots that once were healthy bogs. One area that has now been paved over for SeaTac overflow parking. (sigh) Still it is true that it's ghost appear with almost any heavy rain no matter how much money is thrown into 'drainage systems'. Another water ghost you might like to explore are our underground springs! Along the Highline ridge to the east of Burien we had a few of these springs that would spirt up in the woods and downhills. Thank you for giving us your knowledge of our area! Looking forward to your 2025 posts as welcome focus while we get through the enforced ignorance of the coming years.
Fascinating! And of course bogs, swamps and ponds don't just "go away" because we fill or pave them. Knowing and respecting the landscape would make building and developing much more sustainable, wouldn't it? Perhaps we'll get there someday....
Good story. It was interesting to notice the Malmo Bog. On your map, it appears to be located at or near University Village, which was once a swampy area, filled in before the shopping center was built in the mid-1950s. One of the shops there was the Malmo garden store, under the same ownership as Ernst Hardware and Pay 'n' Save Drugs. I always assumed it was named for one of Seattle's ancestral lands, in Sweden. (Or Norway, where there's a town with a similar name.)
Now that I look into it, I see that the store was established by the Norwegian immigrant Charles Malmo, who started his business downtown in 1893. (I'm relying on HistoryLink here - hope it's accurate.)
In 1937, Malmo's son Clark bought 30 acres at the present site of University Village. In 1962 he sold his business to Ernst. The Malmo store there, adjacent to Ernst and Pay 'n; Save, was mostly or entirely indoors. Presumably the rest of his acreage became shops and a parking lot.
This doesn't answer the question of how the bog got named, but circumstantial evidence points to the person with that name.
Roger, thanks for your observations. I remember going to Ernst/Malmo in the Village when I was a kid. My guess is that the name was applied informally and originated with what you noted, that the land was owned by Charles Malmo. David
Wonderful read, including, in particular the mention of the Richmond Beach gravel deposit. As a resident of RB, I had always reckoned that to be the remains of quarry operation, rather than a deltaic deposit. Good to finally know its true origin!
David, thank you so much for your ghost creeks and ghost lakes posts! As one who has always loved seeing what congregates around small bodies of water (both floral and fauna) and also one who has been saddened by how humans treat them so badly, I am heartened to think of their ghostly existence! Oh yes, they exist south of Seattle, too! Being raised near Burien, I know of one good sized creek and it's slow spots that once were healthy bogs. One area that has now been paved over for SeaTac overflow parking. (sigh) Still it is true that it's ghost appear with almost any heavy rain no matter how much money is thrown into 'drainage systems'. Another water ghost you might like to explore are our underground springs! Along the Highline ridge to the east of Burien we had a few of these springs that would spirt up in the woods and downhills. Thank you for giving us your knowledge of our area! Looking forward to your 2025 posts as welcome focus while we get through the enforced ignorance of the coming years.
Sandy, Thanks for your note. Yes, the ghost springs are by far our most common watery ghost! They are everywhere!
David
Fascinating! And of course bogs, swamps and ponds don't just "go away" because we fill or pave them. Knowing and respecting the landscape would make building and developing much more sustainable, wouldn't it? Perhaps we'll get there someday....
We can only hope and keep on alerting people to the importance of respect and knowledge.
Which is what you are doing. And I appreciate it.
Good story. It was interesting to notice the Malmo Bog. On your map, it appears to be located at or near University Village, which was once a swampy area, filled in before the shopping center was built in the mid-1950s. One of the shops there was the Malmo garden store, under the same ownership as Ernst Hardware and Pay 'n' Save Drugs. I always assumed it was named for one of Seattle's ancestral lands, in Sweden. (Or Norway, where there's a town with a similar name.)
Now that I look into it, I see that the store was established by the Norwegian immigrant Charles Malmo, who started his business downtown in 1893. (I'm relying on HistoryLink here - hope it's accurate.)
In 1937, Malmo's son Clark bought 30 acres at the present site of University Village. In 1962 he sold his business to Ernst. The Malmo store there, adjacent to Ernst and Pay 'n; Save, was mostly or entirely indoors. Presumably the rest of his acreage became shops and a parking lot.
This doesn't answer the question of how the bog got named, but circumstantial evidence points to the person with that name.
Roger, thanks for your observations. I remember going to Ernst/Malmo in the Village when I was a kid. My guess is that the name was applied informally and originated with what you noted, that the land was owned by Charles Malmo. David
Wonderful read, including, in particular the mention of the Richmond Beach gravel deposit. As a resident of RB, I had always reckoned that to be the remains of quarry operation, rather than a deltaic deposit. Good to finally know its true origin!