Monday, June 04, 2007

How the Magnolia Neighborhood Got Its Name


Photo & Text Copyright 2007 Seattle Daily Photo. All rights reserved, including reproduction or republishing.

A friend told me that a European-American sailing past on Elliott Bay in the late 1800s was told he could name the area now called Magnolia. He saw the native madrona trees up on Magnolia bluff and mistook them for the magnolia trees with which he was familiar. This is one of the few along the bluffs that has not died in the past few years. The native madrona trees that have lined Magnolia bluff for centuries have been in decline and dying in the last decade. It is thought that a fungus may be the cause, further aided by the dry warm summers of the past few years.. This one is the only relatively healthy one (to my uneducated eye) left in this particular stand of trees. The color of the trunk in the setting sun's light was spectacular.

7 comments:

Steve Cuddihy said...

I really like the colors and quite an interesting tree. I also like what you have in the background. It certainly adds to it.

Lavenderlady said...

What a magnificent tree.

Beetle said...

I like the structure of this tree and your captured showing its beautiful color

Anonymous said...

This really is incredible. Wow...

pusa said...

what a nice shot and a great tree.. love its colors

tlchang said...

Historical and botanical interest both. :-) We've lived on the East side for nearly nine years now, but I haven't learned all that much about the city of Seattle history. Thanks for sharing!

Anonymous said...

My choice for best picture of your first year! Thanks for the show. I look forward to every day to see what you've done.