Eastside Stories: Bellevue 1940s-1960s

[@JTSunriseMusic]

Great information and history

[@oceans.and.deserts]

Wow, I hadn't seen my high school (BHS) since the '90s! I heard it was demolished a while ago, unfortunately. I recall the I-90 bridge sinking due to issues with the pontoons and have a faint memory of Bellevue Square before it became an enclosed mall that I spent much of my youth hanging out at. I actually had no idea that Bellevue had been farmland like Redmond (aside from the famous blueberry farm on Bell. Way), and primarily Japanese-operated, but the latter doesn't surprise me. If you are from the Seattle area like I am originally, you undoubtedly had Japanese friends or significant others whose parents or grandparents were interned in WWII, which was such a travesty. Thanks for all the footage and interesting facts about my hometown.

[@cougsjohnson1]

This is amazing! My parents moved to Bellevue in the 1960's. Growing up, they would point our where the original farm house was in the neighborhood, which used to be a giant farm.

[@nonelost1]

2:10… The Lacey V Morrow Bridge sinking in 1990 was not the fault of its original engineer Homer Hadley. On the day it sank on November 25, 1990, the bridge had been shut down for over a year, while undergoing renovation in preparation to become the permanent I-90 eastbound lanes. Meanwhile, traffic for both directions were traveling on the brand new bridge (now the permanent I-90 westbound lanes) right alongside it, which was opened a year earlier. The sinking was the combined fault of the Washington state department of transportation (DOT), the bridge contractor, environmental regulations, and unusually bad weather. Big holes were punched in the sides of the pontoons, which allowed storm washed lake water to get inside them, thus sinking the bridge. Environmental regulations required that no renovation related pollution on the bridge deck be swept over the side into Lake Washington. Hence, holes were punched on the sides of the pontoons by the construction crew to facilitate temporary storage for waste water during the renovation. The waste water pumped into the pontoons, in addition to the storm water from the lake combined to sink the bridge. The DOT and the contractor were blamed for failure to reasonably foresee this disaster, by allowing those pontoon holes to be only a few feet above the water line. 3:45… Actually Bellevue Square was originally opened August 20, 1946.

[@danielpirone8028]

Thank you for writing up the clarification- I lived in Seattle then and it was shocking. Wave heights could get quite high during storms!!!

[@evanaddington1363]

Bellevue Square Was the home of the first Cinnabon Store

[@anthonyhernandez3569]

I currently work in Old Bellevue. Crazy, cause every building is 8-10 years old max.

[@wakandaforever4291]

My husband's family owned a horse ranch in redmond before 520 was built, and as soon as it opened, their property taxes rose so much they had to sell half their land. They still have the ranch today.