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 Barb Williams
Stevenson School has a wonderful thing,
If you touch it, you can make it ring.
It rang out over the countryside,
And graced the bell tower with scholarly pride.
The Bellevue School District is in the process of bringing its schools up to date technologically, educationally and facility-wise. A new Wilburton Elementary School was completed in 2019 on Main Street at Wilburton Hill. A new Stevenson Elementary School was recently completed on NE 8th Street. And construction, of a remodeled Highland Middle School on Bel-Red Road, is in progress. Historically, two of these schools have something in common. But which two? The answer lies in the large bell that hangs at the front of Stevenson Elementary School. If you ring the bell, you will hear the deeply melodic sounds of history that rang out over the Highland countryside where the bell began it’s journey. So let us go back to a time before the bell arrived and was placed in the bell tower of the Old Highland School.
The Highland School bell in front of the new Stevenson Elementary School on NE 8th Street
In the mid-1880s, Matt Murdock and William Shiach came from Manitoba to settle in the Highland area of Bellevue. Murdock built a log cabin on his land, but decided to leave the area. At that time he sold the cabin and property to William Shiach. In 1887 the cabin became the first school in the area. It was known as the Claim Cabin School. There were thirteen students and one teacher; Mr. Daniel Collins, who was paid forty dollars per month. He worked a three-month term. The only roads nearby were the “Newcastle Trail” that ran close to the present 140th NE and connected Redmond to the coal mines at Newcastle. The other road (now 24th NE) ran from Lake Washington to the Highlands. Both were small, unpaved roads. It was along these roads that students came to the Claim Cabin School.
In 1890 a new school was built on an acre of land. It was called The Highland School. A.B. Huxford gave the land to the Highland School District No. 57. The land was given with the provision that it be used as a school for the next ten consecutive years. The building was improved and additions were added between 1910 and 1912. But the excitement came when in 1915 a huge 200 pound bell was placed in the bell tower. It’s melodic sound could be heard far and wide calling the children to school at 8:30am and again when it was time for students to enter the schoolhouse. The bell became the time piece for the local people. Perhaps Mrs. Tosh and Miss Albrecht, teachers at the Old Highland School in 1916, summoned their students to class by ringing the bell. However, they were not the only teachers to ring the bell, Mr. Walter Stevenson may have rung it as well because he began teaching at the school in 1933. Then in 1935 he and the bell were moved to a new brick Highland school that was built at 15027 NE Bel-Red Road. The huge bell was set in the front yard between two concrete stantions. The school was built with Works Progress Administration (WPA) funds. The Old Highland School was sold to the W.A. Ashton family who fixed it up as a residence. They lived in the historic schoolhouse from the 1940s to 1960s. In the following years, the building was occupied by several businesses. Mrs. Camille Armor saved it from demolition when it was threatened by I-520 construction. The building was moved 400 yards from its original site to NE 29th Place. Corporate Express bought the historic building but it was later razed due to further road construction.
In 1955, a third Highland School was built at 142nd Avenue and NE 8th in Bellevue. The brick building from the Highland Elementary School on Bel-Red Road was incorporated into the buildings of the new Highland Middle School. The old brick building is still visible today.
Mr. Stevenson, who had been a principal at the Old Highland School and also at the new brick Highland Elementary School, became principal at the NE 8th Street Highland Elementary School. He and the bell moved together to the new school. When he retired in 1964, the Highland Elementary School was renamed Stevenson Elementary School. The bell hung in a bell garden at the school with a plaque that read, “Stevenson Bell Garden dedicated May 31, 1991 by the students, staff and parents of Stevenson Elementary School to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the Highland School bell originally dedicated September 23, 1915 and to commemorate the heritage of the Highland School 1887 - 1890 - 1935 - 1957 Walter S. Stevenson Elementary School”
Presently the bell and plaque have been moved to the new Stevenson Elementary School. You can experience both there --- a piece of tangible history.
Old Highland School teachers: Mrs. Tosh and Miss Albrecht 1916.
Many thanks to the Bellevue School District for preserving the bell: a treasured and historic artifact. Its journey through the Highland Schools is fascinating. And now you know what the Highland Middle School and Stevenson Elementary School have in common.
The Highland School bell in front of the new Stevenson Elementary School on NE 8th Street
Sources:
Bellevue Schools Timeline, by Mary Ellen Piro
The Little Red Schoolhouse, by Dixie Wynn
