Did you know that today’s Lakewood Industrial Park and Clover Park Technical College once was a huge Navy depot where hundreds of tanks, trucks and other military equipment was readied for shipment during World War II?
Part of the property later became the industrial park and a portion was turned into Clover Park Tech. The industrial park property was acquired by Norton Clapp, developer of Lakewood Colonial Center, and development has continued since. The history of the property will be the topic of a Lakewood Historical Society program, Sep. 21 at the Lakewood Library. The free program starts at 7 pm and is open to the public.
Tim Puryear, manager of the industrial park, will not only discuss the history of the property but will show numerous rare photos, most never seen by the general public. Photos show the property when the first buildings were started, half a dozen railroad tracks were on the property and row upon row of tanks, trucks and artillery pieces.
The September program continues the Lakewood Historical Society’s series of public presentations about the history of the Lakewood area.
The October program, also planned for the Lakewood Library, will have a unique presentation on four relatively little known community cemeteries. They include the Western State Hospital patient cemetery in Fort Steilacoom Park, the Masonic burial ground, the Old Settler’s facility and the Jewish Cemetery. A separate program on the Mountain View property was presented a couple years ago.
The Society’s November annual meeting and election will feature Japanese-American Sam Matsui speaking about his WW2 experiences as a veteran of th 442nd Combat team. The public meeting is also open to the public. It is slated for Little Church on the Prairie at 7 pm on Nov. 9.
