Kim Nichols is a lifelong West Seattle resident and her love for this area has led her to create a page on Facebook she calls
I Lived in West Seattle Before it Was Cool. The page contains many photos of the area, including pages from yearbooks and student photos from Lafayette Elementary, Madison Junior High, and also because Facebook is after all a social networking site, many
memories shared by those who have lived in this area for more than just a few years. As of mid January the site has over 1200 members
and Kim is encouraging more to join, send in their photos and share their West Seattle memories. "We were talking about it and there were
some facebook pages about reunions and my sister (Mieka) said 'I'd never get to see the people I'd really like to see' so that's what gave me the idea."

Here's an excerpt from the text on the site that reads almost like a quiz for West Seattleites of long standing.

"For those of us who lived in West Seattle before Eddie Vedder and Capers.

I Lived in West Seattle Before it Was Cool

There really was only ONE place in the world to buy both Chuckie Taylors and Christmas trees - Chubby & Tubby!

We could enter “our own door” for kids at the shoe store at West Wood Village.

It was NOT uncommon to run for the ferry and jump on to it as it pulled away from the Fauntleroy dock. We could sell Girl Scout Cookies and YMCA Butter Toffee Peanuts up and down the ferry line to the people in cars.

I lived in West Seattle when “West 5” was more than just a cool pub, it was our PHONE number! (wink wink Dean)

Five words about Hoagies – “A Dilly of a Deli!”

When we lived in West Seattle the “Rat City Rollers” were what our grandma wore in her blue hair on the way back from the White Center beauty parlor.

We didn’t have boutique cupcakes and Party Planners for our birthdays, we all just hopped in the van (without seatbelts) and headed out to Farrell’s for some ice cream and screaming.

We called the Fauntleroy Glen “Whisky Woods”.

The Junction was beautified each new season by the color coordinated window outfits of La Grace.

We lived in West Seattle when Fauntlee Hills was largely populated by people under 70 years old.

We went to Fauntleroy Elementary School when it was, uh, well - a school.

If you were the chosen child, YOU got to write on the cans in black grease pen while riding the cart at Prairie Market.

The Fauntleroy YMCA was more about “kids 24 hours a day” and less like “24 Hour Fitness” – all night “elimination” and “soak-em” games in the gym?

Sea Galley and Red Baron were the coolest watering holes.

What nutritious meal could sustain you on a summer day at the Arbor Heights Pool? Hot chili spooned onto a boat full of Freetos. Mmmmm.

We thought Bison Creek Pizza was as close to “authentic New York Style” as we could possibly get.

We liked to “Shoot the Duck” and play “King’s Corners” for a free Slushie at Southgate Roller Rink.

Our parents would buy cars on Fauntleroy Way rather than Craig’s List.

Hi-Yu Arts was a store to buy poster board for last minute school projects, not girls on pirates in a summer festival featuring Mudhoney.

Rotary and Kiwanis served better pancake breakfasts than Mr. Ed’s.

We lived in West Seattle when Bernie’s Bakery was more famous to us than Krispy Kreme.

You know that IGA, FCC, Hoff’s and NFC are the same store - but you still love to Eat at Joe’s.

You were late for school or work because the “West Seattle Bridge Was Up”.

Kim added the following about her path to create the page and the people involved.

My sister, Mieka, and I were discussing Facebook groups that we’d seen connecting certain high school classes, and even elementary schools, but they are all very specific. We were thinking how fun it would be to connect to people who who were from around the neighborhood since a lot of us were bussed to other parts of the city for school. We didn’t actually attend the same schools as our next-door neighbors or even our siblings. We also knew a lot of people from the “Y”. My father was the director of the Fauntleory YMCA when we were growing up -(and likely your brother, Mike was the best man at his wedding)-… so my brother, sister, and I met a lot of people.

We knew “Gym and Club” kids from all the great after-school programs at the Y, we knew campers and camp counselors from when Camp Colman was owned by the Fauntleroy community, we had Jr. Leaders as our babysitters, and we made plenty of other neighborhood friends along the way.

Additionally, like most people, when you return to your childhood neighborhood, it is almost unrecognizable in terms of restaurants, housing, and businesses. You can sometimes feel like, “Hey, this is MY ‘hood, even though I haven’t lived here in 23 years”. You meet someone on a plane and he says he lives in West Seattle, and he knows nothing about the West Seattle YOU know. You want to connect with people who remember YOUR West Seattle.

When Mieka, (who now lives in Portland) and I started this, I told her she would have to buy me a coffee if we got more than 200 members. Last week I checked and it was somewhere near 1200. It quickly snowballed from Mieka and I just sending a link out to people we knew who had lived in West Seattle. So, next time we’re up visiting our folks in West Seattle, (George and Joann Nichols), she has to take me to Café Ladro, we’ll bring mom too. Grandpa George, aka, “Papa Bear”, will have his favorite chore, watching 2 year-old grandson, Russell. (He’s pictured as our “logo” on the Facebook Site, the he little boy at the beach).

I think this West Seattle FB Group has hit a chord with lots of people who are nostalgic for something that they cared about and something that had a huge impact on their formative days. I notice some common themes in a lot of the comments, they often have to do with a simpler time. There are lots of lines about just riding bikes around the neighborhood, with friends, stopping at a store for your first time with a little bit of independence as a kid. It’s often people passing landmarks or knowing the names of the people who ran the little independent businesses that seem to matter.

There are a lot of people working hard to recall the name of a favorite spot; a store where they got “penny candy”, or had a great burger, or often a mention of where they had their first job. In my own family, we like to jokingly call places by their old store names. For example, if we’re meeting at Endolyn Joe’s for breakfast, my brother, Troy (who lives in Colorado) will say, “See you for breakfast at the IGA”, and I’d respond, “I can’t, I’m having breakfast at Hoff’s”. That’s our own little way to connect to the past, we didn’t know how many people were also still thinking about these old haunts.

I’m sure we have a lot in common with other neighborhoods in Seattle, but there certainly is a lot of pride in people who have lived in West Seattle at some point. There aren’t a lot of community meeting places anymore, but we have hopefully “virtually connected” some people who wouldn’t be able to share collective memories about West Seattle otherwise. What I wasn’t expecting was the multi-generational aspect. One person will make a comment about a location, then someone who is many years their senior will respond on what the place was called even before that. I’m learning a lot about West Seattle history. And since I grew up near Lincoln Park I’m learning a lot about the Admiral area and Alki life through the decades.

Initially I had intended on putting up old black-and-whites of places around the area. Then it just sort of organically took another direction. Lots of people have scanned old yearbooks or found pictures of themselves with friends as a kid. So I have just let people put up whatever pictures they like.

I, personally, have added 15 or so “new friends” from this site, many of whom I hadn’t had a conversation with in 24 years since moving out of WS (This is my 21st year as a 6th grade teacher, living in Tacoma and teaching in Spanaway). It’s a fun way to get reconnected and hear from childhood friends. I recently have been in touch with a woman whom I used to baby-sit for back when I was in high school. Mrs. (Gloria) Coyle and I have been exchanging funny memories about her kids from the early 1980’s, but in two-sentence bursts. It’s been a sweet laugh at the end of a long day. Last week I was able to thank her for helping inspire me be to become a teacher from some of the things she said to me back when I was in 8th grade. It was a nice closure that I don’t think I would have had the chance to say had I not seen her comment on the Facebook site commenting about the Red Baron Restaurant and its great Prime Rib.

One of our administrators, Kirsten (Johnson) Harbour, grew up in Arbor Heights, but has moved to Pennsylvania. She’s about ten years younger than I am and has a completely different set of memories. But there are some things we can all share. There seem to be a whole lot of references to the Junction, Prairie Market, and everyone’s favorite all-purpose store, Chubby and Tubby. I have seen some addresses online from Kansas, New Mexico, Georgia, and Japan. I guess everyone likes to feel connected, hear from old friends, and fondly remember a childhood neighborhood that they loved. This site has been perfect for that."

To find the page do a search on Facebook or visit this link I lived in West Seattle Before It Was Cool

What are YOUR West Seattle memories? Share them in the comments on our forum.