Eastside Stories is our way of sharing Eastside history through the many events, people places and interesting bits of information that we collect at the Eastside Heritage Center. We hope you enjoy these stories and share them with friends and family.
Article by: Barbara Williams
Its Sunday today, so where shall we go?
To the Wake Robin Lodge, don’t you know.
Receptions, dancing and chicken for all.
Teas and music, you’ll have a ball!
The Wake Robin Lodge was the former Enatai home of Sam Krueger. It was built around the time of the First World War (1914-1918). In 1926, Mr Krueger leased the building and the land to two African-American men from Seattle: A. Cunningham and C. James. They planned to open it as a roadhouse or restaurant. It would be the first African-American enterprise on the Eastside. They named it the Wake Robin Lodge. Wake Robin is the name of our local bird, the Spotted Towhee. It is also the South Carolina name for the Trillium flower. Both the bird and the flower are indigenous and common to this area.
The new owners remodeled the building to resemble a semi-bavarian chalet with a large stone fireplace in the main room, porches, wide front steps at the entry, inside balconies around three sides, and beautiful hardwood floors throughout the building. The Lodge was totally self-sufficient. An orchard with fruit trees framed the long driveway along which Mr. Cunningham often drove his shiny Nash car with wooden spoke wheels. There were chicken sheds, a water tank, a dairy and large vegetable garden. Almost everything that went on the tables was produced on-site. Not only that, being at the top of the hill, the building sported a lovely view to the east ..... the perfect destination for a day in the country.
When the two men opened the Lodge for business on Saturday, February 19, 1927, people were curious to sample the new restaurant. Word went out about the delicious chicken dinners, fresh vegetables and fruit, music and dancing, as well as, teas, receptions and celebrations. Visitors came flocking by ferry boat and automobile from places like Seattle and the surrounding towns to enjoy a good time. The Lodge was located just south of the junction of the paved Lake Washington Highway (Bellevue Way SE) and the Mercer Island Enatai road (108th Avenue SE) with a turn onto the long driveway (presently, SE 23rd Street). Sunday full course chicken dinners were served from 2 pm to 9 pm for $1.50 per plate. To make reservations visitors could phone: Lakeside 126. The food was delicious and the waiters, excellent. Waiters were older African American men and sometimes students from Garfield High School in Seattle. The students usually took the Leschi to Medina ferry. They worked late at night washing dishes and making five dollars a night.
Bellevue High School celebrated its 1933/1934 Junior-Senior banquet at the Wake Robin Lodge. Many celebrations happened at the Lodge including the wedding reception of Miss LaReine Renfro to Mr. Roland Putnam Burnham on June 30, 1934.
This special country inn situated just up the hill from Cecilia and Frederick Winters’s home and floral business on Bellevue Way SE, was a very popular outing for many people. However, when the Great Depression hit the country between the years of 1929 to 1933, it affected businesses such as the Wake Robin Lodge. People no longer had the money to eat out and the business began to flounder. Soon it closed. The property was then held by The Home Savings and Loan Association and the Lodge sat empty for many years. During that time, Leila Cook Martin and her sister, who grew up next door to the Lodge, loved to explore the grounds and buildings. With permission from their parents, they took their roller skates and skated around the wonderful hardwood floors. The doors were never locked and a Mr. Jones was caretaker of the white leghorn chickens. By 1941 the building was torn down. State Senator, Al Thompson bought the property. The Thompson family built a large house close to where the Lodge had stood and the land was subdivided. Today there are multiple houses in the area. The driveway is labeled SE 23rd Street and there is a sign at a loop in the road that reads “Wake Robin Farm Crescent”. So the Wake Robin Lodge and it’s people live on and with more research it’s light will become brighter and more colorful.
Photo: Aerial view showing the Winters house (light colored building on Bellevue Way SE) and the Wake Robin Lodge building (dark roof, lower left)
Resources:
Eastside Heritage Center Vertical File of newspapers and other ephemera
Book: Culinary History of a Pacific Northwest Town by Suzanne Knauss, 2007
Writings by Leila Cook Martin and her brother, Bill
Photographs: Eastside Heritage Center data base, Barb Williams
