This morning I drove out to Bothell from Lynnwood. As I hate the freeways, especially in the morning, I back-roaded it out there. Passing a number of construction sites out there didn’t surprise me. This area is quite high in demand, as it’s really the furthermost north end the East-side. One thing in particular stood out: some houses on Vine Road with fencing around them.
I first remember seeing these decades ago. These looked just like all the military housing I’d grew up around. At first that seemed strange, then I learned about Nike Hill. Named after the missile silo not-so-secretly placed on the summit of the hill, I believed the housing was originally for those soldiers. They were built in in 1950, right around the time the silo first came online. Also, the street (technically 216th Pl SW) is Nike Manor Rd. So, viola!
Now, the buildings are owned by the Navy, so my guess is that they were housing sailors stationed with the Everett Homeport. Today, fenced off and vacant, I wondered if they’d been sold to private developers, but they still show as owned by the LLC that the Navy set up to manage properties in the region. So, perhaps they’re going to upgrade these. As they’re pretty much unchanged from the 1950s, that should be rather welcome.
Anyway, I look forward to seeing what’s to come there.
Sidebar: Here’s an interesting article about the site, and how it became the FEMA regional headquarters it is now.
