Des Moines Memorial Drive
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N 47° 27.767 W 122° 19.415
10T E 550979 N 5256815
This historical marker commemorates the 10-mile stretch of road South of Seattle where an American Elm tree was planted between 1920 and 1922 to honor each Washington State Soldier who lost his life in World War 1.
Waymark Code: WM9EW
Location: Washington, United States
Date Posted: 03/25/2006
Views: 125
From the Des Moines Memorial Drive Corridor Management Plan:
Des Moines Memorial Way, a road located in the Highline area of south King County, Washington, was established following World War I as a living memorial to those who gave their lives in the course of the war. Within months of the end of the war, the Seattle Garden Club decided to transform a ten-mile section of the Highline Road, also known as the Des Moines Road, into an American Elm tree-lined road. The original plan envisioned the living memorial road to extend from Seattle to Tacoma.
The Garden Club's decision, to dedicate a road and convert it into a tree-lined avenue reminiscent of those of France, arose from the desire to create a "living road of remembrance" that would both honor and memorialize men and women from Washington State who gave their lives in the recent war. In addition, they wished to demonstrate community commitment to work for peace throughout the world.
Funded by donations from individuals and organizations, the “living road of remembrance” was completed by the spring of 1922. Between 1922 and 2004 the memorial road has been cared for by several organizations, with American Legion Post 134 in Burien serving as the principle steward for over 60 years. The road's name was changed to Des Moines Memorial Drive (DMMD) in 1984. Since the first year, the memorial Elms began dying for reasons such as poor soil preparation and inadequate watering. As the Highline area experienced increasingly intense development throughout the twentieth century the Elm-lined character of the road deteriorated as trees were aggressively pruned or destroyed according to the needs of road and utility work.
In 1962, a granite memorial was created midway on the corridor near the Sunnydale School. Many Highline residents did not find the stone memorial an acceptable substitute for the living trees, since the 1970s, there has been an on-going effort to rehabilitate and restore the road to its original status.