Curiously Wonderful Local Facts

Strange and Fascinating Facts about Seattle Southside

Seattle Southside may seem like an ordinary region on the outside, but scratch the surface a little and you'll find some bizarre, fascinating, and truly delightful facts about our neck of the woods.

From close encounters of the third kind to a giant sloth found under the airport to Cold War-era missile launch sites converted to dog parks, Seattle Southside is an area full of curiously wonderful history.

Read on to learn more about the secret history of the region.

Curiously Wonderful Seattle Southside History and Facts

Prehistoric Giants
Early European Settlement
The Men In Black Origin Story
Cold War to Cold Noses
Pet Cemetery
George the Ghost
Unsolved Mysteries
Local Legends: Bruce Bickford
The Area is Full of Unusual Art
Robert Morris Earthwork
Diversity Rules
Lightning Round

Prehistoric Giants: The SeaTac Sloth

Let's kick things off with a trip back in time—way, way back, 12,600 years ago, to a time when giants roamed the earth, including a giant sloth that was found right here in Seattle Southside. We may think of sloths as cute, cuddly creatures that climb trees, but the ground-dwelling Megalonyx that used to roam our region was about 10 feet long and weighed roughly 2,200 pounds.

How do we know this giant used to roam our neck of the woods? During the construction of an expansion at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport in 1961, workers uncovered an incredibly well-preserved fossilized skeleton of a Megalonyx as they were digging a new runway. Today, you can see a replica of the creature at the Highline Historical Museum to get a sense of just how massive it was.

While you're at the museum, be sure to check out all the other exhibits featuring local history and art. You also might want to keep your eyes and ears open—rumor has it that the building might be haunted. In 2022, members of Advanced Ghost Hunters of Seattle-Tacoma (AGHOST) investigated the scene, reports the local B-Town Blog. One member said she felt a tap on her shoulder, while another felt something like a cold hand caress her face.

Foster Links Golf Course along the Duwamish River

One of the First European Settlements in the PNW was at Foster Links Golf Course

Joseph and Stephen Foster established one of the first European settlements along the Duwamish River in 1852; a site that would later become Foster Links Golf Course. After traveling to Washington from Wisconsin with an ox team, Joseph Foster settled in the area. He later served as an early Washington Territorial legislator and the first superintendent of schools (hence Foster High School). You can still find a plaque commemorating the site of Foster’s original homestead on Tukwila’s oldest maple tree at Foster Golf Links.

The Truth is Out There: The Origins of the Men In Black

In June of 1947, weeks before the infamous Roswell incident, Fred Crisman and Harold Dahl had a close encounter off the shores of Des Moines. Allegedly, a group of UFOs rained down a metallic substance on their boat, injuring one and killing Dahl’s beloved dog! In the days following the encounter, a mysterious man in black made contact with Dahl and threatened him not to tell anyone of the incident or “bad things would happen”. The shockwaves from these otherworldly events are still felt today.

Years later, local filmmakers would recreate the encounter in the 2014 short film The Maury Island Incident. Every year, two different celebrations mark our local connection to the out-of-this-world: in Burien, the local community gathers to celebrate the otherworldly and watch the short film at the Burien UFO Festival, and in Des Moines, the Men In Black Birthday Bash marks the anniversary of that first ever sighting of a mysterious man in black. Even outside of these annual events, there's a touch of the alien always present thanks to the Maury Island Incident Mural and the nearby sculpture "Raven Discovers Spaceship", but we'll talk more about outdoor art later.

Watch More about the Maury Island Incident

two women walking dogs at Grandview Dog Park in SeaTac Washington

Grandview Off-Leash Dog Park Used to be a NIKE Missile Launch Site

With all the happy dogs frolicking around at Grandview Off-Leash Dog Park nowadays, you’d never know that the location used to house a Cold War-era missile defense system. The Nike Project came about in the late 1940s as a defense system against hypothetical incoming Soviet bombers. Nearly a dozen Nike Missile sites were established in Washington state in the 40s and 50s, and one such site is just off Military Road. Since the Nike project fell out of use in the 60s and 70s, most of the sites fell into disrepair and were forgotten about. The launch magazine off Military Road was covered in soil and is now part of the Grandview Off-Leash Dog Park!

And speaking of Military Road, that stretch of roadway has a long and storied history of its own. Take a minute to think about the history of the site the next time you let Fido run wild at Grandview. This spot is a part of our Scenes program highlighting local history, culture, and art. Learn more about the history of this site and the other stops along the Scenes trail.

The Seattle Pet Cemetery: Final Resting Place of Beloved Animals

Pet Haven Cemetery, located in Seattle Southside along historic Military Road, might appear fairly mundane to those unfamiliar with its history. This little cemetery is a recent addition to the list of King County Historic Landmarks, thanks to its being the final resting place not just for beloved pets, but for decorated police K-9 units, and even celebrity animals. Little Tyke, a lioness who was a vegetarian, is buried here, as is a goat that served as a mascot in the 1960 presidential campaign. This unique site is also home to lots of interesting art and is definitely worth a visit.

The Masonic Grand Lodge of Washington

When you see the historic Masonic Grand Lodge of Washington for the first time, the sprawling complex might just take your breath away. Built by the Freemasons in the 1920s as a retirement center, the building resembles the forever haunted mansion in Stephen King’s Rose Red, so it may not come as a surprise that the building is famously haunted. A rumored former Grand Master of the lodge named George allegedly roams the halls in a full tuxedo. Although multiple Georges are pictured outside of the Grand Hall, it is unknown which George this ghost might be. The building was vacant for years but was purchased by an area investment group. However, the plans for the facility are still being determined. As for what George will do if the site is demolished? Only time will tell.

The Unsolved Mystery of D.B. Cooper

In November of 1971, a man who gave the name Dan Cooper purchased a one-way ticket from Portland International Airport to Sea-Tac International Airport. Soon after takeoff, he gave a note to a flight attendant informing her that he had a bomb and demanded $200,000 and four parachutes. Upon landing at Sea-Tac, passengers disembarked, and the man’s demands were met. The plane soon took off with the man and a skeleton crew on board. Twenty minutes into the flight, the man later known as “D.B. Cooper” jumped out of the plane and into history, never to be seen again.

Even though the story of D.B. Cooper is so infamous that it was recently referenced in the Marvel television series Loki, many people don't realize just how close to our home this story hits! After all, right at our own modern-day Seattle Tacoma International Airport, this mystery man landed, refueled, and took off into legend. This story and many other local legends and historical events are documented at the Highline Heritage Museum.

Bruce Bickford

Local Legends: Bruce Bickford

Bruce Bickford is a legend among animation enthusiasts. Born in Seattle in 1947, Bickford has lived his life almost exclusively in SeaTac, Washington. He began his animation career as a teen, animating clay figures driving model cars, before graduating high school and enlisting in the Marines. After serving in the Marines for three years, including eleven months in Vietnam, Bruce returned home and got right back into animation, producing a few short films.

In 1973, Bickford was introduced to legendary musician, Frank Zappa. The two would eventually collaborate on multiple musical films, including: Baby Snakes and The Amazing Mister Bickford. Since that time, Bickford has continued to produce striking images in films and shorts, using claymation, stop-motion, and line animation, working mostly out of his garage in SeaTac. For more information on Bruce, please visit brettingram.org.


The Area is Full of Unusual Art

Seattle Southside is home to lots of incredible sights, but one of the most unexpected things we have is a collection of unusual outdoor art. There's nowhere else in the world you can see a sculpture of a man kissing a fish that was supposedly once his girlfriend, a mural depicting that UFO incident we mentioned earlier, and a gigantic piece of art that was once nothing more than industrial waste. And there's so much more to find, from utility box art to sculptures scattered across the city of Des Moines all the way to beautiful installations celebrating native stories in our parks.

Robert Morris Earthwork

If you were to stumble upon the Robert Morris Earthwork in SeaTac, a 4-acre stretch of land where concentric circles of grassy earth descend into the hillside, you might think you were looking at an ancient amphitheater lost to time. In fact, the site is one of the world’s most prominent examples of land reclamation as art. Before 1979, the area had been a gravel pit used as a dumping ground for industrial waste. The organization 4Culture (formerly the King County Arts Commission) led an effort to transform this blight on the landscape into a moving work of public art. They commissioned the artist Robert Morris, who carved the land into descending concentric slopes and terraces in the shape of an amphitheater. The effect is a peaceful, thought-provoking space where the public can enjoy views of the Kent Valley and Mt Rainier. Morris also left a subtle but somber reminder of the site’s past: a row of blackened tree stumps, which he calls a “ghost forest”, that challenges visitors to consider the consequences of unchecked destruction. Today, Johnson Pit #30, as it is formally known, is recognized and studied worldwide by scholars, urban planners, curators, and art enthusiasts worldwide. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in October, 2021.

Foster High School is the Most Diverse in the Country

The Seattle Southside region is one of the most ethnically and culturally diverse places in the world. This diversity is reflected in the red-hot international dining scene, but there’s likely no better example of the region’s diversity than at the local schools. Foster High School in Tukwila is one of the most diverse schools in the country with students from 50 countries who speak more than 80 different languages.

This beautiful diversity is celebrated with dozens of flags hanging in the cafeteria of Foster High. While Foster High School is in the Tukwila School District, the Highline School District, which covers a large portion of Seattle Southside, has 99 different languages spoken by students throughout its school. Such wonderful diversity helps make Seattle Southside the incredible place that it is.

students eating lunch in cafeteria at Foster High School

Lightning Round: Did You Know...?

Finally, there's a ton of little factoids that are just fun about our region, for example did you know that:

Seattle Southside History: Des Moines Beach Park

Learn More
The documented history of Washington state (and the United States, for that matter) is fairly recent history compared to the rest of the world; although Native Americans have been living in the area we now call Seattle Southside for thousands of years.

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Author

Nick Tolley