Looking for seattle newspaper stories about the Mansion (Henry Pratt
Mansion) at 4732 E Mercer Way on Mercer Island WA which was barged out
to the Island from Seattle's Reed Estate in Madison Park after the war
around 1940's or so. HELP

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Request for Question Clarification by pafalafa-ga on 01 Nov 2004 04:50 PST

We cannot post the full text of newspaper articles, since they are
protected by copyright.

However, it's possible that -- if we can find some articles -- we can
provide brief excerpts here, and a full citation so you can track down
the original article with the help of a librarian.

Would that meet your needs?

pafalafa-ga

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Clarification of Question by breffni-ga on 01 Nov 2004 07:43 PST

the home/mansion at 4732 E Mercer Way on Mercer Island Washington USA
was barged to the present location in three pieces around 1940 or so
from the Reed Estate in Madison Park, a waterfront neighborhood in
Seattle. Henry Pratt was the owner at the time. I am a realtor who has
the home listed for $12,500,000.00 and am looking for a photograph of
the house on a barge for my advertising. It was supposed to have been
in the local papers with photos too. Seattle Times and or the Post
Intelligencer. You may view my listing and photos at www.breffni.com
Thanks
Breffni

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Request for Question Clarification by omnivorous-ga on 02 Nov 2004 14:28 PST

Breffni --

I tried a couple of other techniques to see if I could pin down the
date for this move, including looking through some marvelous
photographic histories of Seattle and the waterfront(s).  Found a
great poster for the first floating bridge, a toll bridge built out to
Mercer Island.

But again, no luck with this photo.  If we can get the date pinned
down to 1 or 2 years, this is much more workable.  Some questions for
you:
1.  does the original deed or plat provide any closer date for the
placing of the house?
2.  how about property tax rolls?
3.  homeowners' association?

Best regards,

Omnivorous-GA

Breffni --

Being in Snohomish County, I've got pretty good print resources for
historical questions like this one -- but I'm striking out.  Let me
summarize a few things here in hopes that it will help you or other
researchers:
1.  the Seattle Times is online since 1984; the Seattle P-I since
1990.  There are some weak paper indexes of the two newspapers from
the 1980s.  None turn up any secondary references to the move (often
columns like "50 years ago today" or "The Way We Were" reprise
noteworthy topics).
2.  the event was so photogenic that I thought it might have caught
the attention of Life Magazine or Look Magazine -- but there's nothing
in the Reader's Guide to Periodical Literature from 1939 through 1950.
3.  the Everett Herald also has some print index resources at the
Everett Public Library.  Again: nothing.
4.  I even tried the NY Times index, though I didn't expect much.  And
I didn't get anywhere.
5.  And finally there are some local books, like "Made to last :
historic preservation in Seattle and King County," by Lawrence
Kreisman (1999) but no joy there either.

If you know someone at the Times/P-I, a potential solution might be
asking them to check the morgue of articles from the period.  I'm
checking a few other historical sources and will report back if I find
anything.

Best regards,

Omnivorous-GA

Thanks Omnivor , I have faith you can deliver !!
Breffni