Chuckanut Drive at Fairhaven
By Curt Cunningham

The first road to Chuckanut creek from Fairhaven was built in 1890 and ran down 24th & 25th streets to Fairhaven Ave. Bear hunters used this road to reach the trails to Chuckanut mountain which had a large bear population at the time. In 1891 this road was extended 1.25 miles to the quarry. The road was built by Henry Roeder and Mr. Roth using their own funds. The road began at the southern end of S. 16th Street and crossed (most likely forded) Chuckanut creek and then climbed the hill just below the present Chuckanut Drive at Okanogan Street. The road then ran through Woodstock farm and around the gulch to connect with the current road. After about a half mile the road started down the hill to the quarry.

From Fairhaven you traveled east on Donovan Ave. to Fairhaven Parkway. Fairhaven Parkway was once a section of the Old Lake Samish Road. At 24th Street the road turned south and followed Chuckanut creek to the north end of 21st Street where it connected to Fairhaven Ave., and then connected with S. 16th Street.

In September of 1891 Deidrich Burfeind, Victor A. Roeder and Henry Roeder petitioned for a county road that would extend the quarry road south to Skagit county. This road would become known as the Burfeind Road to the locals, and in 1895 it became a state maintained highway. It was a one lane path about 7 or 8 feet wide and was a very rough road. It must have been better than the Old Samish Road which was just a path through the forest and had not been maintained or improved at this time.

In 1895 a 9 mile road from Fairhaven was constructed along Chuckanut creek to connect with the Old Lake Samish Road and followed it to the Skagit county line. Today this intersection of the new and old Lake Samish Roads would be near Falls Road about a mile southeast of Lake Padden. This is when the Old Lake Samish Road which ran along the south shore of Lake Padden from Fairhaven was abandoned.

The 14th Street Crossing

In the Seattle Post-Intelligencer on August 9, 1895 is an article discussing the construction of a bridge at 14th Street over the railroad track and Padden creek to connect with the new Waterfront and Lake Samish roads. The article reads; "General Superintendent Barr, Division Superintendent Riton and Judge Burste, representing the Great Northern, were here yesterday investigating the question of the construction by the city of a grade crossing of the railroad at Fourteenth street, on the line of the new city road to Chuckanut. The work is well under way, and it was thought last night that the representatives of the railroad company had decided to let it go on without interference."

"It appears today (August 8th) that such is not the case, for Attorney Wood, of Seattle. and Right-of-way Agent Wilkeson, of St Paul, are here now trying to rustle a bond to get out an injunction to restrain the city from proceeding with the work. The crossing would really be a dangerous one if there was much traffic on the road, an it is on a curve, close to a cut and where the road has a heavy grade from the waterfront."

"No interference on the part of the railroad company was expected, however, as it was the desire of Mr. Larrabee that a wagon road, which is a very important one for the city, should cross at Fourteenth street, and he is not only president of the land company, but also of the Fairhaven & Southern Railroad Company, which is now asking for the injunction. The whole difficulty might have been avoided by crossing at Tenth street, where there is already a good bridge over the railroad tracks."

It appears that the bridge was completed and was in use until it was replaced in 1930 by a new bridge across the creek and railroad at 12th Street. The crossing at 14th was then abandoned.

Jeff Fox grew up south of Fairhaven in the 1950's and talks about the 14th street crossing of Padden Creek; "When I was 5 I had to walk home from kindergarten at Lowell School via Chuckanut Drive. Lowell was on 14th Street. In fact, when I delivered papers in 1961, those people on the stretch of Chuckanut before the first curve past Fairhaven Park listed their address as 14th Street as it was in a direct line with 14th."

"At Fairhaven Park the highway makes a 90 degree turn west and there was a very large permanent barricade blocking the 14th street right of way. Over the barricade was a very narrow double slab of concrete going nowhere. My dad told me that this was the old highway. From my knowledge chatting with the old timers, the route was 12th Street over the hill to South State Street. On 12th, there was a large wooden bridge crossing Padden creek and the Interurban tracks. In 1931-32, this bridge was removed and the present day concrete bridge was built."

"On 12th Street the pavement was a single slab concrete from the Padden creek bridge to South State Street. The concrete was unusual as it showed lots of small rocks at the surface. Later, maybe in the 1930's, curbing was added on both sides. The road remained untouched until the late 1970's when it was overlaid, a waste of $$ as it was in great shape. 14th Street was not originally paved from Padden creek to Harris Ave. a distance of 4 blocks."

"From Harris to Knox Ave. it was single slab corduroy cement that made lots of noise with your tires. From Knox to Garden 14th was sheet asphalt, and from Garden to South State was a single slab of concrete much like 12th Street. Galen Biery's brother and family lived on 14th and Wilson just North of Padden creek. 14th was overlaid in 1964 with the exception of the hill from Knox to Harris. This section fell victim to newcomers moving into the neighborhood and complaining about the noise so the city overlaid this section circa 1987. I have photos of the original concrete."

"This is all I know about the 14th street route. My dad would have just graduated High School when the Padden Creek bridge was torn down and replaced and since he lived on the north side of town, this is probably where he traveled when he first learned to drive. This makes sense to me as to him 14th Street would have been the old highway."

21st Street Bridge

Construction on the first bridge to span Chuckanut creek at 21st Street began on July 11, 1895. This is when work commenced on clearing a right-of-way for a bridge which was to be built across Chuckanut creek. This bridge was on the city connection with the Waterfront and Lake Samish roads near were they intersect. The trestle was about 75 feet high and was quite long.

It is unknown how long this bridge lasted or if it was replaced by a newer bridge. What is known is that a bridge remained at this location until 1931 when it was removed and a new road was built to the east. Instead of a new bridge, the gap over the creek was filled in and the creek flows though a pipe under the road.

Jeff Fox tells a story about the old Hansen's Texaco which was located at the north end of the bridge. He said; "Mrs. Hansen told me that when the highway traversed the 21st bridge, the gas pumps were on that side of the station. They had a small grocery in front. When the new alignment was being built, the pumps were moved to the other side of the building so they would face the new route. The grocery became the kitchen that I remember as a kid and the grocery section was also moved to the other side. Hansen's had a garage, and living quarters. There were 2 bedrooms, a living room, and a kitchen. I went to school with their 2 sons."

Today the old Texaco station is now the Chuckanut Bay Gallery & Sculpture Garden.

Viaduct #1

After crossing the bridge the new road begins to run along a ledge cut into the mountainside. At first it was probably 7 or 8 feet wide. When the road was improved in 1914 it was widened for 2 lanes and 4 viaducts were required on the way to Blanchard. Viaduct #1 is about 700 feet south of the 21st street bridge. This viaduct is roughly 100 feet long and had concrete lamp posts at both ends. Today this viaduct has new railings and never sees much sunlight due to the overgrowth along the scenic drive. When it was built in 1914 there was plenty of sun shining on the concrete structure.

Jeff Fox used to live near Viaduct #1 in the 1950's and remembers driving on it in the 1960's; "Even in 1967 the sun never hit the area at Viaduct #1. Below is a somewhat shot of the railing taken June of 1967. If you look closely, you will see the guardrail with the white concrete posts. Where the last white post is closest to the rail, this is how far the original railing extended. Sometime in the very late 1950's or early 1960's a car failed to make the turn and knocked a section of the rail over the cliff."

"About 2 weeks later another car failed the turn and took out even more of the railing. These 2 small sections were then replaced by wood posts. At this point there was just the railing, as the viaduct did not begin until the railing straightened out. At both ends of this railing there were concrete lamp posts. One of the posts was rescued by myself in 1966 and I dragged it up the cliff. I am sorry to say that I no longer have it. The railing on the other end was sinking when I was a little kid and this small section, about 12 feet or so, was removed in the later 1950's."