"I was the one who first painted the rock," says Dr. Gordon Newton. "It was really an act of vandalism."

Anyone in Tukwila has most likely seen the painted rock outside Foster High School on South 144th Street but so few are aware of the nearly 70-year history behind it.

A July 19 Times/News article outlined some of the rock's roots but Dr. Newton has come forward to offer more details.

Dr. Newton was born in Tukwila in 1927, making him now 83 years old. He graduated in 1945 from Foster and says he was literally the first to paint the rock, and admits it had nothing to do with school pride.

He says he was maybe 10 to12 years old at the time, sitting outside the general store on a post, kicking his legs when he glanced over at the Rock, which then sat outside the Tukwila Community Hall.

"I liked to sit on those posts and watch the cars go by," says Dr. Newton.

At that time the Rock had the word "Foster" stenciled nicely in black with two black dots on either side.

Dr. Newton says while he was sitting there with his buddy, looking at the Rock, the idea struck him.

"We got some yellow paint, painted over the part that said 'Foster' and drew an arrow saying 'Tukwila This Way'," he relates.

This is when, according to Dr. Newton, the whole thing began.

Now that one person had done it, others soon followed.

"Somebody else painted it, and so on," he says.

Although he has resided in Burien for 55 years, Dr. Newton still exclaims proudly he was born and raised in Tukwila.

His mother was the town clerk and treasurer and kept the books for Tukwila from around 1935 until the 1950s. Also, according to Dr. Newton she played a major role in convincing city officials to annex the area around Southcenter. The Northwest's largest shopping mall has been a major revenue source for Tukwila's coffers.

Dr. Newton now is the vice president of a trucking company called United Motor Freight, Inc.