COURTESY OF THE MUSEUM OF HISTORY AND INDUSTRY

The Interbay address for the Henry Smith home was 2827 15th Ave. W. This late view of it was photographed probably some little time before the home was razed in the 1950s in connection with the Interbay dump. Now the old home site is intruded on by a widened 15th Avenue and a golf range built atop compacted construction waste and garbage. Avoiding the constant rain of golf balls, I photographed the "now" scene from about a half block north of the home site, looking west on West Barrett Street with my back to 15th Avenue. The north end of the driving range is on the left and the small barn on the right is one surviving remnant of the old neighborhood.

PAUL DORPAT

As a 22-year-old farmer, physician and poet, Smith arrived on Puget Sound in 1852 and soon chose a donation claim in Interbay north of the tideflats of what was later called Smith Cove. Here he was joined first by his mother and younger sister and then by Ione's mother, Mary Phelan, of Portland, Ore., "a red-cheeked brunette with a lithe figure of above-medium height and with a very gracious manner."

When Mary died in 1880 the oldest of their eight children - seven of them daughters - was 16 and the youngest but 1. Smith handled their rearing by pairing. The oldest cared for the youngest, the next oldest the next youngest, and so on. Smith also added eight rooms to his home. The far west wing is shown here.

The doors of the Smith family home were never locked and, on occasion, a relative or friend might come and find a bed in the dead of night. Some of them, Ione recalled, "stayed for a year or more, for there was always plenty of room."

Readers wishing to learn more of the Smith family as revealed in a daughter's recollections may like to read Wooton's offering in the new Magnolia book - if they can find it. As publishers ready the book for a second printing, we hope this time they'll see that it is also available through bookstores. In the meantime, there is a moral to glean from Ione's 11 pages, and it is this: While there is yet time, we, too, should write it down.

Vol. 1 and a new edition of Vol. 3 of Paul Dorpat's books, "Seattle Now & Then" are $19.95 each from Tartu Publications, P.O. Box 85208, Seattle, WA 98145.