Echo Lake is a naturally occurring glacial lake that is part of the headwaters of the McAleer Creek Watershed system. Echo Lake is fed by springs as well
as run-off; it flows into Lake Ballinger (once known as McAleer Lake). When the area was first surveyed by the United State Government surveyor William Carleton, in about 1859, it was noted that Echo Lake had been at the center of a fire some years earlier. Recently, it has been determined that the fire
had probably been a controlled burn set by local Native Americans as part of their regular agricultural practices. The closest permanent settlement was that of the Tuobedabsh, just two miles away on Lake Washington.
Due to the practices of the Native Americans, and the predominance of wetlands around Echo Lake including bogs and marshy areas, the area did not produce timber as well as areas directly north, beyond Lake Ballinger. Around 1862 the Federal Government opened up the lands in northwest King County for homesteading, or for sale at $1.25 an acre. The large timber companies focused on acreage closer to Lake Washington and Puget Sound, which produced more board-feet per acre of timberland. Areas such as Echo Lake were left to secondary timber companies and individual buyers.
The first government certificate holders for land surrounding Echo Lake were Dudley Evans (cert. #4082) , J.D. Lewis (cert. #8480), and L. Jacobs
(cert. #9156), none of whom were particularly well-known in the timber trade. The low number on Evans’ certificate indicates that he probably received
his property around 1880. These certificate numbers are easily looked up for their exact dates of issue at the State Archives, Puget Sound Regional Branch.
Somewhere around 1900, A.W. and Lolly Mowatt established a shingle mill at the north end of Echo Lake, allowing for local processing of shingles.
Much of the region had already been logged by that time, but there were still pockets of virgin forest here and there.
 | Taken about 1910, the photo looks northwest on the Interurban tracks. The Mowatt Sawmill is in the distance on the left, the main building covered by the steam generated by the sawmill. The mill burned in 1912. The Mowatt family lived just east of the lake. |
The Mowatts’ children (Jessie, born ca. 1895; Annie, born ca. 1897; George, born ca.1899; and Harry, born ca. 1903) attended Ronald School, at least through 1913. Son Arthur, who was 19 in 1910, probably never attended Ronald. Arthur, Jessie, and Annie were born in Australia; George was born in Canada; and son Harry was born in Washington.
The Mowatts had a number of employees at the mill, and a servant for the house. Nearby the mill, in 1910, was a “railroad camp” listing over 60 workers. This may have been a central location for the completing of the Interurban line, which was finished all the way to Everett in 1910. It is known that the Mowatt sawmill burned down in 1912, and was not reconstructed, although the Mowatts continued to live in the area at least for a time.
 | Amelia and Heinrich Emme at their house at the south end of Echo Lake, about 1910. |  |
By 1910, Echo Lake was starting to gain a rural popularity owing to the freshly opened Interurban electric trolley. Fred Sander, the originator of
the Interurban run north of Seattle, also owned property along the Interurban right-of-way, and advertised it on the back of the trolley timetable.
Platted territory around Echo Lake can be found as early as 1904.
The Interurban was finished past Echo Lake in 1906. Eventually it was taken over by a different company (Interurban Traction) who completed
the route to Everett by 1910. The availability of public transportation spurred the growth and development of the area. The first Ronald School
was opened in 1906, coinciding with the initial coming of the trolley, and then a new larger school was built in 1912, just two years after the trolley
work was completed. While one could not say that Echo Lake was teeming with development, it certainly had a number of families living near its shores. One family that had just obtained property at the lake, Herman and Minnie Butzke, were building a new home on the western shore, and
moved there from Ballard in 1913 with their three-year-old daughter Florence.
| |
1913: On the right, Herman and Minnie Butzke and daughter Florence line up with family and friends for a picture of their new house on the the west side of Echo Lake. The house was built by Herman Butzke, who is probably taking the photograph. In the distance across the water, an Interurban car, blurred by its speeed, crosses the trestle at the northeast end of the lake. | 1913: A neighbor, Mrs. Bache, sits with little Florence Butzke near the Butzke's new home. |
The North Trunk Road, completed in 1913, did not directly pass near the west shore of Echo Lake. At 185th, instead of going straight past the lake,
it veered westerly to come closer to Firland, which had its share of doctors with cars. Then, it slanted back down the hill just before 200th to continue
its pace to 205th. The little brick road was the first paved road north of Seattle, and the forerunner of a very important highway. A new road was soon planned, and by 1928 much of the brick road had become secondary, and the new route cut a straight path along the west side of Echo Lake.
This would become the dream of a number of future-thinking people such as Judge Ronald: Highway 99, stretching from Mexico to Canada.
 | |
1914: Florence and cousin Herbert Butzke show the largesse of Echo Lake. | 1916: Florence Butzke poses for an advertisement brochure for Echo Lake property. Here she demonstrates how wonderful vegetables grow near the lake. |
 | |
1913: Marian Rogers and her niece pose on the porch of the Rogers Store built just two years earlier. Before them is the new North Trunk Road, ready for its brick paving. The store faced south at 185th Street, right in the middle of what is now Aurora Ave. The road came to their doorway, and then made a west-angled turn toward the Firland Sanitorium. It traveled about 1/3 mile north before angling down the hill east, near Echo Lake, and then made it's way to the county line. Some time after 1928 this section became known as "Firland's Way", meaning the road that belonged to Firland as its gateway. At that time there was no road going directly past Echo Lake. | 1916: Blackberry Picking. Old friends from the Ballard neighborhood visit the Butzkes at Echo Lake for a day of berry picking. Left to Right: Freda Stokes; Wanda Parks; Hattie Parks; and children Bud Parks and Florence Butzke, holding little Laverne Parks. |