July 18, 2018 - Thunderbird at Sunset

The Rotary Viewpoint in West Seattle was adopted and developed by the local civic club from a neglected piece of city land.  On August 10, 1976 the small park was presented to Seattle mayor Wes Uhlman.  The primary feature of the small park, aside from the view, was an 18 foot totem pole, topped by a spread-winged thunderbird, carved by Robin Young, a Native American from South Dakota.

In November 2009 the totem pole was stolen, in broad daylight, by a local resident who had plans of installing it in the stairwell of his two story garage/workshop.  Unfortunately, the crane truck used to remove the 500 pound totem pole got stuck in the wet ground and required a tow.  Once the totem pole was reported missing it didn't take long for police to track down the thief.  The 70 year old man was arrested, the totem pole was returned (along with a second one stolen from a local Fred Meyer!) and $21,000 in restitution was paid.  The funds paid for the totem to be completely refurbished, repainted and reinstalled.  It was rededicated August 10, 2010.

July 2, 2017 - A Little Gas Station, Short and Stout

Outside of the central Washington town of Zillah is the Teapot Dome Service Station.  In the 1920s and 1930s a unique architecture proliferated in United States designed to catch the eye, and business, of passing motorists.  This particular example of roadside architecture was built in 1922 when the news of the day was filled with details of the greatest political scandal (until Watergate) in US politics - The Teapot Dome Scandal.  The service station remained active until almost the turn of the century.

President Harding's Interior Secretary, Albert Fall, was eventually sent to prison for accepting bribes.  In his role as Interior Secretary, he had awarded leases of two oil fields, part of the Naval Oil Reserves, to a pair of oil companies.  The scandal got its name from one of the oil fields involved: Teapot Dome.   The terms of the leases, awarded without a competitive bidding processes, were technically legal.  They were very favorable to the oil companies.  What got Secretary Fall into trouble was that the deal was very favorable to his own bank account.