THIS PLACE MATTERS.Perrigo Springs was the Redmond's first "watering hole." Indians and early settlers first used the spring.
The spring's water source is the Hartman wetland watershed. Perrigo Creek drains the wetland into the springs. Upper Perrigo Creek is a dry stream bed much of the time. The underground water springs up at the spillway.
Children and dogs are often found playing in the cool waters behind the spillway. These children were floating cork boats My friend Richard Morris, with his dog Sadie, were at the spring to take a picture for the "National Trust for an Historic Preservation" contest --"THIS PLACE MATTERS." Squint hard or click the photo to read the sign these kiddos are holding. Water pooling behind the spillway with beautiful moss covering stone cobble are behind them. The riparian vegetation is beautiful. I've seen folks softly playing their guitars and meditating on the spillway.
"Daughters of the American Colonists" placed a rock marker and planted a Corkscrew tree near the spring. Here's some history:
Perrigo Springs was purchased by the Redmond Water Department in 1914 and was the first water supply for the newly incorporated town of Redmond. A dam was originally constructed to impound the water for storage, with the transmission main a 4” to 8” wood stave pipe. This site was Redmond’s only water supply until 1927 and served as a major source of supply until 1962.
You must have taken that photo yesterday (6/01) I was walking a dog in that area around 4pm and saw those two girls playing in the spillway with their boats. On a side note I have to say how happy I am that the Willow tree planted next to the plaque seems to finally be thriving. Yes, that place most certainly matters and I am worried about what will become of it with the influx of new construction in the neighborhood.
ReplyDeleteYes this photo was taken on June 1, 2009. There is an older photo of the Willow tree and story posted at Redmond Neighborhood Blog: 10/25, Restored: Historic Perrigo Springs Marker & Willow Tree
ReplyDeleteFrom the Redmond Historical Society web site:After vandals destroyed a plaque at Perrigo Springs that was provided in 2004 by the Snoqualmie Falls chapter of the Daughters of the American Colonists, the DAC and the City’s Public Works Department got even.
ReplyDeleteThe DAC’s Winnie Sihon led the charge to pay for a new bronze marker. The City embedded it in a boulder and moved the marker slightly – but still close to a willow tree planted by the DAC – so as to be more visible from a nearby City security camera! “We did some rearranging of the rock in relation to the tree, added some landscaping timbers and beauty bark,” says Nelson Monroe, water operations supervisor at Public Works. “This will allow for the rock and plaque to be within the view of our security camera.”
Honoring homesteader Warren Perrigo and those here before him, the plaque retains the original wording:
Perrigo Springs
The willow commemorates this water source used by Indians and early Redmond pioneers
Snoqualmie Falls Daughters of the American Colonists
2004
From the Redmond Historical Society newsletter June 2004:Read Newsletter PDF
ReplyDeleteFrom historical newsletter June 2001:
ReplyDeleteThe local chapter of the Daughters of American Colon-ists has made an admirable commitment to recognize a local historic site in 2001, by providing it with comme-morative signage. Tom Fix, Redmond’s drinking water quality analyst, has made a formal nomination that Per-rigo Springs be honored as the site selected by the DAC.
The springs are located on the northeast portion of Edu-cation Hill, once part of the William Perrigo homestead. Tom visits the site every week while monitoring the nearby reservoir, and he writes:
‖The Perrigo site was acquired by the Town of Redmond in 1914, at the time about one mile northeast of the Town limits. A dam was originally constructed to im-pound the spring water for storage. The transmission main consisted of 4‖ to 8‖ wood stave pipe. This site was Redmond’s only water supply until the late 1920s, and served as a major source of supply until 1962. Cur-rently, the spring is still there, trickling through a small, forested valley, past the City’s Perrigo Springs Reservoir (not connected) as it makes its way to Bear Creek. There is a wide trail near the spring that goes up to Education Hill. Hikers, school kids, and the curious use this trail. This old site is a charming bit of our heritage in a city now known as the home of Microsoft…I would recog-nize this site with a pedestal/plaque saying…’This is the site of Perrigo Springs, Redmond’s original water source 1914-1927.’‖
Without such signage, very few of us would recognize the springs for the important natural feature they have been in our history.
Richard, thank you for providing these historical notes about Perrigo Springs. THIS PLACE TRULY MATTERS!
ReplyDeleteThanks also for designing and updating the new Redmond Historical Society website!