1950's-1970's Stratford Manor & Eastwood Village (Dayton, Washington: place to live, shopping center)

[NightBazaar]

Originally Posted by ChiDiana

Hmmm... I think, and I could be mistaken, that Shelbourne might have run paralell to Kingsley. It could have intersected with it, though, as I remember Kingsley curved a bit.

Yes, Kingsley curved and ended at the drive by the farm field. It seems like the drive that intersected may have been Shelborne, but it's been too long ago to clearly remember for sure. What was the drive by the farm field called? Eastwood curved into it, but I don't think that part of the drive was called Eastwood. Or was it?

[Hyden]

Hello Everybody I went back to the map and Shelbourne is paralell with Eastwood. Kingsley is paralell with Strathmore. When you look at the map it gets a little hard to see the difference between the alley's and streets. I love looking at the map and seeing my route I walked to go to school. Hyden

[NightBazaar]

Originally Posted by Hyden

Hello Everybody I went back to the map and Shelbourne is paralell with Eastwood. Kingsley is paralell with Strathmore. When you look at the map it gets a little hard to see the difference between the alley's and streets. I love looking at the map and seeing my route I walked to go to school. Hyden

Thanks Hyden. So then Shelbourne and Kingsley share an intersection . So what's the name of the drive next to the farm? Was that still Eastwood? Or was it called Big Chief Drive? I know Kingsley Drive curved to meet with Big Chief Drive (close to Red Barn Road). But I'm not sure if that entire drive by the farm was Big Chief or something else. Do you recall?

[Hyden]

NightBazaar, I talked to my brother and he said he never heard of a Big Chief Dr. We went over the map on the phone and the way that Eastwood goes and then curves then goes straight to RedBank Rd. As you go up Eastwood on the map when you get to the curve, Stop..drag the map down so you can see across the road thats being build and you can see where he said the lake used to be. He said the trees that went around it are still there. I hope this helps....... maybe Red Bank Girl will know.
Take Care, Hyden

[NightBazaar]

Big Chief isn't all that big. It only runs from where Kingsley ends to Red Bank Road. Or at least that's what the most recent maps show.

Yes, I see the trees where the pond was. Although the water is drained out, you can still see the outline of the pond in the 1968 aerial photo.

[Hyden]

NightBazaar, I went back to the new map a half dozen times before I noticed that little street. It looks to me like it dead ends at kingsley, like you can only get on Big Chief from Red Bank. That might be the name of that business on there. RedBank girl might know...I know there wasn't a Big Chief rd. when we lived there, it had to be after it all was rebuilt. I'll try to send her a direct message and ask her to answer it on the thread.

[NightBazaar]

I know it ends at Kingsley now. I don't remember anything called Big Chief either, but just thought maybe that's what that small section was called between Kingsley and Red Bank. I'm just calling it Big Chief Drive, because that's what the current maps show, and I have no idea what else to call it. Before the Manor was leveled though, the drive (whatever it was called) was next to the farm field all the way until it curved into Eastwood. I'm just trying to figure out what that entire road was called next to the field. Hard to imagine it was called Eastwood. On the other hand, maybe it was. It's hard to understand why anyone would rename the drive to Big Chief if it already had a name. Of course, a lot of things don't always make sense. After all, I was pretty surprised to discover that Stratford Manor no longer exists.

[bethany blair]

I lived in Stratford Manor from 1956 - 1960. I have wonderful memories of that place! It was a child's paradise - kids everywhere all the time! We lived on Strathmore Drive in an apt. by the cornfield (near a softball field adjacent to Eastwood Elementary School). Then we moved to a cottage around the corner on the same street. Out back was a large grass field then a wooded gulley. We used to 'run wild' there! In the winter, it seemed hundreds of kids were there sledding. My 3rd grade teacher, Miss Wheeldon, had us bring in clay from the creek there to make pots. We played Tarzan and also roller skated in the laundromats (why someone didn't chase us out, I don't know!). We had such freedom then and Stratford Manor was so great because of all the sidewalks, woods, yards, community pool, etc. We used to walk all the way to what we called "Mansion Hill" - it was northeast of Stratford Manor - a good walk from our house. It was a crumbling old house with only a fireplace, filled in pool and interesting little alcove type areas at the front left on the property. Another thing I remember about that place is the diversity of the people there (unusual for the 1950's). An Asian family lived next door to us and they were so good to us. It seemed to me that people there were sometimes 'down on their luck'. Was it a type of government housing? Our family was going through a hard time.

Eastwood Elementary was a fabulous school! My teachers were amazing and when I moved to the 4th grade, it was hard, but in a good way! We used to walk to the orphanage for a Bible lesson. A girl in my class, Kathy Ziglar, was the daughter of the man who ran the orphanage. The summer playground program at Eastwood was so much fun. I have some plaster of paris plaques that I painted there in 3rd grade.
My father took a lot of b/w photos of our cottage and the area - I'm so grateful he did!

SO glad there are others out there who lived there and have such fond memories!

[NightBazaar]

Welcome to this nostalgic thread. It's great to hear about your memories of Stratford Manor.

The times I went to the house on Mansion Hill, I remember the pool, but I don't recall it had been filled in, although I'm sure it must have been at some point. What I remember about the pool is that it was empty except for a little bit of muddy water at the bottom. There were also a few gawdy mermaids (or something similar) around the edge of the pool that were painted with unnatural cartoonish colors. Some of the windows of the house were broken with curtains flapping around in the wind. There was a dingy pantry room with a few filthy old jars and cans of who-knows-what. There was a filthy mattress on the floor in one of the bedrooms, with rubbish scattered around.

Regardless, it certainly had an excellent view of the surrounding area. I've always wondered about that place. Who lived there? Why had it been abandoned?

At one time behind the school there was a large pile of dirt. Kids from all over would climb up it to play "King of the Hill".

What else do you remember about the Manor? Do you remember any of the kids from there?

If you still have some of the photos, we'd love to see them.

[bethany blair]

I do have 2 class photos from Eastwood. I was in 2nd grade in one (1958) and Barbara Allen was the teacher. The second photo is 3rd grade (1959)and Blanche Wheeldon was the teacher. I wrote all the children's names on the backs of the photos. I will set up my scanner and try to send them.