A park is going to be built soon on Ninth Avenue Northwest between Northwest 70th Street and Northwest 73rd Street. If you go there now, there are two houses, some sheds, what was once a huge garden and a mysterious message written in stones: SALWT.

I know everyone is excited to see this park completed, but I am interested in finding out a little more about what went on behind the big holly bushes that used to be there and whether this past is worth remembering.

The “SALWT” stone message refers to Daniel Salwt (a.k.a Sult), the founder of the Seventh Elect Church in Israel.

According to a fascinating report available from the Seattle Parks Department, Salwt was a preacher who abandoned his family in the Midwest and travelled by bicycle to Seattle, preaching the word of God along the way.

When he arrived in Seattle, he preached on the corner of Fourth Avenue and Pike Street in Downtown.

The self-proclaimed “Seventh Messenger” had somewhere between 80 and 400 followers and believed that Ballard (well, Phinney Ridge actually) was going to be the gathering place of the Elect, who were to be saved when Judgment Day came.

The buildings on the property were built in the 1920s, and rumor has it that the big house was a former Single Residence Occupancy hotel transported to the site

But, like much about this group, the truth has been lost in the mists of time.

The Seventh Elect Church members practiced vegetarianism (they grew vegetables on the property), celibacy and communal living. They did not cut their hair, and when they joined, they turned over their money and possessions to the church.

The only person who was allowed to eat meat and not practice celibacy was Salwt himself.

Salwt’s followers believed that he was a reincarnation of Jesus Christ and that he would raise himself from the dead.

When he died in 1929, his followers refused for three days to let the body be taken to a mortuary.

Salwt did not rise from the dead, and he was buried in his hometown in Illinois.

Some of his followers continued to live on the property until recently. As the remaining members died off, the property was sold to the city and will soon become a park.

The final design proposal keeps one of the structure’s walls, and there are plans to include a plaque or memorial of some kind explaining the history of the site.

While some would argue that Salwt and the Seventh Elect Church don’t deserve to be remembered, the reality is that he and his followers, in their own way, have indirectly given a great gift to the community.

I hope the plan to include some sort of historical marker remembering this interesting and unique piece of Ballard history is followed through on, and I encourage you to contact the Parks Department and ask for one as well.

Do you have a column suggestion or a comment for Brian Le Blanc? Leave a comment on this story or reach him directly at brianleblanc76@yahoo.com.