This is an Ames Lake community newsletter from 1997. Some issues (road cleanliness, beach keys) are still with us today.

In July of 1973, the Department of Ecology landed a helicopter on the lake to test the depth and quality of the water. It was quite an event!

On February 8, 1954, power finally came to Ames Lake. People put away their kerosene lamps, hand-winding alarm clocks, and battery radios. They brought in refrigerators, televisions, electric stoves, power tools, and vacuum cleaners.

Mutual Power and Light

A one-man cooperative, Mutual Power and Light, was able to do the job in this sparsely settled area. The “one man” was A. Cone Hunter, manager, lineman, foreman, groundman, and public relations expert.

There was a direct hookup with Puget Sound Power and Light, who completed the process and installed transformers. Their crews went to the homes of each permanent resident, fastened service wires to the wires running into the house, and installed a meter.

With the power in, Ames Lake was brought up to date, and people were looking into a future of real estate booms. They hoped for two other services that were not yet available: a rural mail route and a telephone line.

Ames Lake was first logged in 1927 by Siler Logging. The lake had been used as a holding pond. Logs were kept there until they were loaded onto railroad flatcars and sent to the mills.

In 1946, railroad pilings were still left in the lake, as well as hundreds of lost and discarded logs. That year, a man named Jim Jackson, along with a friend, used a hand-winch to get the derelict logs to shore. They cut them up and sold them to a nearby mill.

John Ames came to Tolt in the early 1900s. John Ames’ son Arthur was killed while working on the railroad. His father named Ames Lake in his honor.

In those days, there was no electricity or running water in the area. Most families simply journeyed here for the day or camped here for the weekend.

Ames built a home for his family across the Snoqualmie River from the Tolt River, now Tolt – McDonald Park. A trail from the Ames home over the hill connected to the road to Redmond. The trail was eventually widened into a good road.

Traveling across the Snoqualmie river

Ames built a ferry, which ran on a cable. He charged a small fee to carry passengers and wagons across the river. This was a popular way for the people of the Tolt community to travel: across the river by ferry and over the hill.

Ames built another building, separate from their home. He called it “The Blue Front” and took in paying guests. He drove a hack to Seattle, stopping at the Deller Hotel to tell visitors about the great fishing and hiking in the Tolt area. It wasn’t long before he convinced people to come and spend a week at his resort hotel.

The Washington Supreme Court permanently ordered the state from permitting public access to Ames Lake and its property. The idea was that the state be restricted from using the property for other than residential purposes.

The Plat of Ames Lake, an addition to King County, Washington, included the lake and all the property immediately adjacent to it. The lake itself was Lot A and around it were Lots 159 inclusive.

Community lots

Lots B, C, D, and E were interspersed at intervals among these lots, which also abutted the lake. They couldn’t be sold, as they gave owners of lots with no convenient lake frontage to access the lake.

A second tier of lots, 160 to 279, were separated from the waterfront lots by a 60-foot roadway designated “Scenic Blvd.” It went entirely around the lake.

The Plat contained the following statement: As shown on the Plat Lots designated as “A” which is Ames Lake, and B, C, D, and E, are the undivided and common property of the owners of all Lots in this Plat. The development, maintenance, and upkeep of A, B, C, D, and E are a joint obligation of said lot owners and subject to such rules and regulations governing same.

I am a beautiful male mallard duck, and for the past few years my buddy and I cruised the lake together because there is only one female duck left on the lake. We were hoping to get mates someday because we love this lake and the people and the surroundings.

My buddy was my best friend and we went everywhere together searching for food, amusing mankind, and protecting each other from dogs and stuff. Many of you folks who live on the lake know us by the special groups that we cruise in as we are together forever. We like to check out the new houses and new families and make sure that we don’t get in anyone’s way. We just want to look good and live.

But on Sunday, April 6th, two teenagers came out in their boat with rocks, and they threw them at us. My best buddy was hit in the head. A lady jumped into the lake to save him. She took him to her house, but it was too late. His head was split open, it was bleeding, and his neck was broken. He died on her kitchen counter while she was frantically calling vet hospitals.

The families of the teens are dealing with them and I am told that he was properly buried. Every day, I go back to the spot where his life ended, hoping to see him again, but I know I will not, and I am so alone.

We ducks just want to add some serenity to the lake, give you members something beautiful to watch growing up, and we try to stay out of the places we don’t belong. Please don’t hurt us, as I am one of the last Ames Lake mallards.

Quackerly yours,

A Duck