Mailbag and Season 2
Hello Bremelorians!
I wanted to let you all know that more episodes are on the way! But instead of just dropping a one minute announcement, I thought I would take this opportunity to answer some of the questions you’ve sent me!
“I heard a rumor that War Balloons were tied up to the dock/pier at Snyder, maybe there were more?”
Yes! So the war balloons you are talking about are called “Barrage Balloons” and they were installed all over town during WW2. They were these giant inflatable monsters that had to be tied down to big concrete blocks and guarded 24-hrs a day. They often broke loose and floated away, and then had to be popped and retrieved and dragged back to their anchor sites. They were used alongside to smokepots, anti aircraft guns and night time blackouts as a countermeasure against enemy bombers. There was a lot of fear that after pearl harbor, that the japanese were going to bomb PSNS because we were closest and best equipped repair facility, and battleships were being towed here after being ruined in hawaii.
Other known locations of barrage balloons include:
Gold mtn golf course
Roto vista park (S side of Warren ave bridge)
The fire station on rocky point
A chicken farm 4 miles outside of chico
And many many more, there just is no comprehensive list that I’m aware of. But anywhere that there was enough open space to anchor a balloon, a unit made camp and installed one. There’s a really funny quote about this from the October 1942 issue of National Geographic that says “No housewife is astonished if, rising some morning to get breakfast, she finds army tents in her backyard and soldiers setting up anti-aircraft guns or inflating a barrage balloon.”
If you want to know more about this, Josh farley has done some great coverage about former barrage balloon sites for the Kitsap Sun in recent years, and there was even a walking tour during the “Bridging Bremerton” event about the Barrage balloons! You could also pick up a copy of the book “Victory Gardens and Barrage Balloons” by Frank Wetzel.
—
“I live on Lafayette below the Napa and have a HUGE retaining wall in my backyard. I also noticed in my land deed that I own part of what was once Ford Ave (behind my house). So, what was here before Kitsap Way plowed through everything? Why did they build it, and did they have to like demolish homes to make room for it?”
Okay! So this actually ties into the federal aid highway act of 1956. Sort of. In America, roads were funded and managed on the state and local level until the 1950’s. There wasn’t a lot of regulation about how wide they should be or how many lanes a freeway should have until Eisenhower was elected president. He proposed and implemented the Interstate Highway system that we know and use today, standardizing road design and signage laws and expanding the existing numbering system. So, how does this affect Bremerton and in particular, someone’s backyard on Lafayette? Well, it’s a lot of background info but it’s important to know that in america, including in bremerton, there was a lot of thought and a lot of work going into roadways and the freeways in particular. Some of it was state funded, some of it was federally funded. In this case, one particularly dedicated man had some ideas about kitsap way and 11th st.
The section of 11th st that connects up to kitsap way, now known as the Fred Schoneman Overpass, did not used to exist. The traffic pattern used to be that to get up to kitsap way, you had to come up the hill at 6th st, known as state route 310. Kitsap way has always been there but it was significantly expanded when the overpass went in. I found a scan of an old Bremerton Sun article written in January of 1962 about the story behind that overpass and it detailed a little of how they were changing the traffic pattern. It sounds like there has always been a huge hill there but that in the process of installing the overpass they deadended at least three streets- Terrell, Meade ave and N. Cambrian. If you look on google maps, you can see that cambrian has been split into two separate sections and that there are a number of streets all around the overpass that look short and stubby. The North side of Ford Ave is one of those short little streets, and even though it’s not listed in this particular article, It must have been affected by the construction of the overpass and the widening of kitsap way. The article goes on to say that more than a dozen buildings were moved or demolished to get the overpass built. All of that land belonged to someone before it became the overpass we known today- I would be willing to bet that the city bought out all of the land they thought they needed to build and anything that was leftover after would have been deeded back to private owners. I’m not saying there’s any ill will here but if someone had sold their home on Ford ave, the city had torn it down to build the overpass and then realized they still had a chunk of land that they weren’t going to be using after all- It would make very little sense to return it to the original owner- but it might make sense to give it to bordering parcel of land- perhaps on lafayette. So that’s my theory on why you might own a small portion of what was once ford avenue.
As for the giant retaining wall, I don’t have as solid of an answer. But, the commercial buildings at the top of the hill seem to be pretty recent. That parcel actually contains land that was originally part of 7 different parcels, which included various addresses on lafayette. I suspect the commercial buildings weren’t built until 1998 or 1999 based on the parcel’s sales and tax history. I was in town then, though really my only memory of those buildings is that 3100 kitsap way used to be a brand spankin new total video with a fancy neon sign. And it looked, SO COOL. Mom, can we stop at the video store? I heard they have the Sailor Moon movies!
And I want you to know I haven’t forgotten about Toys Topless. I mean, that came out wrong. I mean, ugh. Okay. Look, every time I dive into research for the Gorst episode, I just fall down one of these insane rabbit holes. So the current plan is to get the first Gorst episode out this season and it should answer your questions!
Last but not least.
Bremelore lost it’s biggest fan last month. When I started cooking up the idea for this show, I was encouraged and motivated by my friend Mike. He also grew up in town, and he had questions. He was always sending me suggestions for episode topics and recording little audio clips for me. We spent a lot of time talking about the urban legends and rumors we heard around town when we were teens. This show wouldn’t exist without him. And I know that right now, there are a lot of folks out there, figuring out how to exist without him. I have been thinking about the best way to honor him and I know that if he was here, he would want more Bremelore.. He would be here helping me and encouraging me every step of the way. So, you’ll be hearing a little bit of my friend mike this season because I want to share what he gave me. I could tell you his story, or I can let him tell it. So without further ado, ladies and gentlemen, Here is Mike.
“Alright, so, here’s the deal.” Beer cracks open.
“So I, Before we start, wait, sorry. I just gotta. So, born and raised, my dad was, god, a civ for DOD, he worked for keyport and my mom was an art teacher at the high school level so very different personalities. I went to school at WSU, 2005 I left. I graduated with a pre-law degree and then I did exactly what I told myself I would not do and I met a girl the last 6 months of college and I followed her to fuckin Oregon, where I tried to get residency, to go to law school there and realized that I just absolutely hate law! I worked in the legal field for probably 4 years, and I ran…”
“I think when I met you, you were working in some form of a law office in Seattle and taking the ferry back here at night?”
“Yeah, it was an international business and a pot law firm which was super fun. and I also had ran a couple of kitchens in Portland which was super cool too. but yeah, I moved back up here in 2016. Throw in a couple of shitty girlfriends, a couple of shitty jobs and I was real done with Portland. My family’s up here, my mom dad sister brother in law. They’re trying to start a family and so it was really nice to come back up here. I actually, sad part of the story, my grandmother died in 2017 so had I not moved in 2016 I would not have had any time with her.”
“But you did get to have that time with her. That’s beautiful.”
“Oh yeah, I got a full year with her, it was super cute.”
“I’m sad that she’s gone but I’m so happy that you actually got to have that time with her.”
“It was wonderful, yeah. Yeah, So that’s my story. That’s why I’m here.”
“It’s beautiful.”
“Thank you.”
Rest in peace, my friend. I am so happy that I got to have time with you. Thank you for the drink you bought me for my birthday. It was the weirdest mead I’ve ever had and I kept meaning to ask you what you thought about it. The first harvest is coming in and I caught myself eating blackberries off a bush, wondering if you would be messaging me about your cider making adventures soon. Thank you for always inviting me out of the house even though I’m such a couch potato and thank you for saving all those empty fliptop bottles for me. You were a smart, thoughtful, compassionate man. You are dearly missed, and you will be for years to come.
Season 2 is coming in September, Bremelorians.