This photo was taken circa 1882 in Munden, Germany
(known as Prussia at that time)
Left to right:
- Heinrich Frederick Wilhelm Kilian (1864-1920, oldest son of August's first marriage)
- August Kilian (circa 1839 - 1897, father)
- Karl Kilian (1869-1945, second and last son by first marriage)
This story is about Heinrich F.W. Kilian.
Was he your great-great-grandfather? (Chris, Leslie, Dustin, Sara, and Mike say "yes")
Or your great-grandfather? (Vic, Carlin, Bruce, Gari, Warren, Nancy, Ruth, David, Paul say "yes")
Or your grandfather? (Carl, Bert, Aletha, Frank, Don, Len, Phil, and Mike, say "yes")
In 1890 Heinrich F.W. Kilian (1864-1920) and Dorothea 'Dora' Frieling (1872-1951) married in Bergen, Germany.
This photo dates from around 1890, not too long after they were married, even perhaps on their wedding day.
See the flowers in Dora's hand? Heinrich is 26 and Dora is 18.
They had met in Dohnsen, Germany where Heinrich F.W. was teaching school in his first government-assigned teaching post and Dora was his pupil (in 1885) because her family lived in that town. Heinrich taught in Dohnsen for 6 years (from 1884 to early 1890).
He was then transferred to Hamburg from where he wrote longing and lonesome love letters to Dora which led to them getting married in July 1890.
Here are some pictures of them before they married.
This picture of Dora was taken (we think) around 1887/88 when she was 15 or 16. It could have been taken to commemorate her confirmation in 1887. Note the Christian cross around her neck. She was Lutheran.
Below is Heinrich F.W. circa 1880 (we think) when he was about 16 or 17. It might have been taken when he graduated from the teacher preparatory schools in Hanover in 1881. Or it might be when he graduated from "normal" school in 1878 at age 14.
How old do you think he is in this photo?
How stern and serious he presents himself!
And yet he was loved by his children and adored by his students.
Members of the family have letters that make this clear.
This photo is somewhat later, closer to 1884, the age when he started teaching. Note the receding hairline.
Over the next 14 years, they had 7 children, all born in the U.S.A.
Here is a picture of their family, taken in 1919 or 1920. Do you look like any of them?
Back row left to right:
- Bruno ‘Art’ (born in Seattle, WA, 1898-1984): fifth child
- Martin (born in Seattle, WA, 1897-1977): fourth child
- Thusnelda ‘Nelda’ (born in Seattle, WA, 1905-1991): seventh/youngest child
- Bernhard ‘Ben’ (born in Springfield, MN, 1893-1984): second child
- Hermann Kilian (born in Lake Elmo, MN ,1891-1930): first/eldest child
- Hulda ‘Dorothy’ (born in Gothenburg, NE, 1895-1988): third child
- Heinrich F.W. (born in Lutterberg, Germany/Prussia, 1864-1920)
- Dorothea ‘Dora’ (born in Siddernhausen, Germany/Prussia, 1872-1951)
- Gudrun ‘Margaret’ (born in Seattle, WA, 1899-1977): sixth child
Notice her broad, flat forehead inherited from her father and her prominent cheek bones inherited from her mother. For others of you, your direct line of descent is through one of the other Kilian children. What traits do you see in yourself from this family?
Heinrich F.W. has changed! Compare him in this photo with his image in earlier photos. The tilt of his head shows a softness that was not present (or at least not demonstrated) when he was younger. Gone is that stern, rigid presentation.
He no longer glares at you or away from you; rather, his eyes calmly look at you. His meticulous, tailored clothes indicate both his better financial position and his gain in social status.
Heinrich F.W. was a stickler for order and he was an artist (a future topic). Can you see his organizing, artistic touch in this photo?
Hint: there is strong symmetry and balance the way the males and females are arranged around a central triangle.
This photo was taken circa 1919-1920 in Seattle, Washington.
Here are two more pictures of this family. In each, the children are organized in order of age.
The first dates from around 1902/1903. The second is from around 1913.
NOTE: Thanks to Aletha Jensen (daughter of Bernhard Kilian),At this time, Heinrich earned $25 per month; the mortgage payment was $6 per month (about 25% of his salary) and the down payment was $50 (12.5% of the total cost). The house cost them 1 year and 4 months of his salary. Today, houses routinely cost 5-8 years of a person's salary!
Dustin Bingham (great-grandson of Gudrun Kilian), and Ruth Otto Bingham (grand-daughter of Gudrun) for the idea of the topic for this part.
This property was located on Queen Anne Hill at 2106 Ninth Avenue West, Seattle, Washington.
Above shows the back of the house with Dora; below is taken from the front showing the additional building on the back of the property with [left to right] Martin, Heinrich F.W. and Hermann.
Sometime in the early 1900's, probably close to 1910, Heinrich F.W. raised the house up and built a new first story underneath. What a beautiful house! Heinrich F.W. was an excellent carpenter !!
Below is the front of the house with Ben, Dorothy, Dora, Martin, Gudrun, and Hermann on the upstairs porch.
Below is the side of the house with Hermann, Dora, and Ben upstairs and Dorothy and perhaps Gudrun downstairs.
The Kilian's owned this property for 54 Years. Dora was 25 when she moved into this house in (1897) and she died here at the age of 79 (1951). Four of the Kilian’s children and at least two of their grandchildren (Gudrun’s eldest boy [Carl Warren Otto] and Nelda’s son [Leonard Braarud]) were born in this home, literally no running to the hospital for the Kilian's.
From Nelda’s family comes the story that her son was “born on the kitchen table”.
From Gudrun’s family comes the story that her son was born “in the same bed and bedroom as my mother”.
Before purchasing this property, Heinrich and Dora had lived in many locations, including the following:
- Two rooms in St. Paul, Minnesota (1891)
- A school building at Lake Elmo, Minnesota (1891)
- A small house near Lake Elmo, Minnesota (1891)
- A church school building in Springfield, Minnesota (1892);
- Olrich, South Dakota (1893)
- Deadwood, South Dakota
- A small house in Gothenburg, Nebraska (1894)
- The parsonage of the Zion Lutheran Church in Seattle, Washington (1895).
It took them 6 difficult years to find a place for themselves in their new country.
What did the Kilian's do in the days before automobiles, phones, televisions, and computers?
Read – Heinrich F.W. about 1900.
Play marbles – Hermann, Ben, and Martin about 1905.
Play the piano – Gudrun about 1915.
How American can this photo be! Old world violin being played outdoors near a rustic, “Western” building with farm implements standing nearby. This violin is still owned by one of his descendants.
Exercise – Heinrich F.W. at the age of 50 (about 1915)!
He was an accomplished gymnast. What a remarkable man.
Kayak – Gudrun about 1919.
This is one of the two kayaks that Ben and Hermann (in 1914) or Martin and Hermann (in 1919) brought back from Alaska (the subject of a future story). A similar photo with Dorothy in the kayak is a famous historical photo.
Fish – Gudrun about 1915.
Work – Dora
Dora at her state-of-the-art “Star Estate” kitchen range in about 1910. Note the hot water tank behind the stove. In those days, what luxury!
Ride new-fangled machines – Hermann about 1915.
Ride old-fashioned (30-year old technology) machines – Heinrich F.W. around 1915.
NOTE: Thanks to Phil and Judy Kilian (Phil is a son of Bruno ‘Art’),On 3 August 1909, Heinrich F.W. Kilian (1864-1920) purchased a 4.91-acre lot approximately 50 miles north of Seattle.
Don Kurtz (a son of Dorothy), and Carl Otto (a son of Gudrun 'Margaret') for these images.
Specifically, he bought Lot 5 in Block 72 of C.D. Hillman’s “Birmingham Waterfront Addition to the City of Everett, Washington”.
He paid $700 for it, which is equivalent to $17,500 in today’s dollars.
The picture below, taken in 2012, shows this area as it looks today.
Notice the beautiful gravel/pebble beach and the steep, high, forested bluff that overlooks the beach. Heinrich’s lot was on this bluff overlooking this beach. This is beautiful land.
Photo belongs to gomaika.com
Over the next few years, Heinrich F.W. purchased 2 more bluff lots of approximately 5-acres each, and various other members of the Kilian family purchased adjacent and nearby lots (both on the bluff and on the beach) so that the family ultimately owned over 30 acres (for details, see the table later down this page).
Kilian's owned this gorgeous property for the next 48 years. They called it Kayak Point.
Here is a map that shows the location of Kayak Point (top left corner) north of Everett which is itself north of Seattle.
In 1909-1911, when Heinrich F.W. purchased his first 3 lots on the bluff, and Bernhard ‘Ben’ (1893-1984) and Hermann (1891-1930) their much smaller lots on the beach, the area had recently been logged of all its valuable trees/lumber.
The bluff area was littered with slash (a technical term that means ‘the leftover parts of trees’) and the beach with driftwood. The two photos below show how the land looked.
What a mess!! It is difficult, but you can see Gudrun (1899-1977 in white dress) and Dorothy (1895-1988), and a young man, perhaps Hermann, in these photos.
Can you imagine going barefoot in this? Looks like someone (probably Gudrun) got herself a splinter!
The Kilian's had to work very hard to clean this up. In the photo below, a young man (left, perhaps Hermann) and Dora (far right; 1872-1951) are standing by a stump that seems to have either just been pulled up by its roots or is about to be hauled away.
Notice the heavy cables at Dora’s feet and above her head, and the pry/leverage bars near the young man.
These were old-growth (never before been logged) Douglas-fir trees
that were hundreds of years old. Nothing like them is logged today! 94% of these forests in the Northwest are gone.
In the photo below we see Bruno ‘Art’ at about 12-years-old (1898-1984) carrying firewood.
Notice the size of the trunk behind him.
Art will figure very prominently in Kayak Point’s story later on.
History of Kilian Lot Purchases at Kayak Point*:
Lot
|
Date Purchased
|
Purchaser
|
Size
|
3 of Block 72 (on bluff)
|
14 July 1910
|
Heinrich F.W.
|
4.37 acres
|
4 of Block 72 (on bluff)
|
2 September 1909
|
Heinrich F.W.
|
4.64 acres
|
5 of Block 72 (on bluff)
|
3 August 1909
|
Heinrich F.W.
|
4.91 acres
|
6 of Block 72 (on bluff)
|
not known
|
5.18 acres
| |
7 of Block 72 (on bluff)
|
24 August 1925
|
Dora
|
5.46 acres
|
8 of Block 72 (on bluff)
|
not known
|
5.48 acres
| |
15 of Block 72-A (on beach)
|
10 December 1910
|
30x100 feet
| |
16 of Block 72-A (on beach)
|
12 April 1911
|
Ben
|
30x100 feet
|
27 of Block 72-A (on beach)
|
not known
|
Dora
|
30x100 feet
|
28 of Block 72-A (on beach)
|
not known
|
Dora
|
30x100 feet
|
Most of the other 38 lots
of Block 72-A (on beach)
|
20 September 1929
|
Art
|
approx. 2.5 acres
|
All 14 lots of
Block 72-B (on beach)
|
20 September 1929
|
Art
|
approx. 1 acre
|
* Art acquired many of these lots in later years; another issue covers this story.
Below is a copy of part of the plat map for the lots in Block 72 of C.D. Hillman’s “Birmingham Waterfront Addition to the City of Everett, Washington”.
Lots 1-16 are on the high bluff; lots “A” 1-42 are on the beach and lots “B” 1-14 are on the beach:
Original plat map is owned by the Snohomish County Courthouse
NOTE: Thanks to Josh Braarud (Nelda’s grandson) for the photos. Thanks to Len Braarud (Nelda's son) for asking questions that led to improvements. Thanks to Carl Otto (one of Gudrun’s sons) for his many hours of research in the Snohomish County Courthouse locating land sale/purchase/transfer records and copies of the plat maps.History of Birmingham/Kayak Point:
The real estate developer who sold this land to the Kilians was a con-man and went to jail for his false advertising of this specific land. Here is the story of how Kayak Point and the land surrounding it (called Birmingham by the developer) was originally sold. Imagine Heinrich F.W. and Dora seeing this land for the first time and thinking about making this purchase one year before the event described in this article.
The text below was copied from this webpage: (http://www.historylink.org/index.cfm?DisplayPage=output.cfm&File_Id=3080)Here is an ad that appeared in the Seattle newspaper The Times on 6 Aug 1910:
It was Clarence Dayton Hillman's (1870-1935) grandest scheme that failed him. He purchased 12,000 acres of logged off land on Port Susan north of Everett. He planted Himalaya Blackberries and elephant grass to hide the slash left behind by loggers. On June 12, 1910, Hillman ran ads in all three of Seattle's daily newspapers announcing a "Grand Free Excursion" to the "New city of Birmingham." He bolstered the print campaign with banners on a steam calliope pulled by draft horses through Seattle. He advertised for buyers and also required salesmen, only "honest reliable men." Lots were offered for $65 to $150 an acre. Ads mentioned fish-filled lakes, beaches, and free transportation of household goods.
On Tuesday, June 14, 1910, buyers crowded Pier 6 at the foot of University Street to get a free seat on the steamer Venus. Passengers were entertained by a brass band and provided a picnic lunch. The sales pitches started as soon as the ship left touting Birmingham as "where rail meets sail." Gamblers also plied the crowd.
When the Venus arrived in Birmingham, buyers saw three impressive docks. A huge sign welcomed the buyers and a boardwalk extended along the beach for two miles. A department store, two general stores, a sawmill, a church, and a school showed the visitors the amenities that awaited those fortunate enough to acquire lots. The Birmingham Railroad took passengers to more distant parts of the development. Baskets of fresh fruit from "the abundant fruit orchards in Birmingham" were offered by Hillman himself.
The reality of Birmingham was something else. The stores were staffed by actors hired for the excursions. The sawmill was just a collection of machinery that did not fit together. The railroad was the logging line of the old Port Susan Logging Co. The fruits and vegetables were fresh from the Pike Place Market inSeattle. There were no orchards and no businesses. Hillman even misrepresented the weather, claiming that the sun shone 276 days per year. Unsophisticated buyers bought 5000 acres in five-acre tracts within the first 60 days.
At first Heinrich F.W. (1864-1920) developed his land at Kayak Point as a summer vacation spot for his family. The family lived in a tent. Here it is circa 1910 with Gudrun “Margaret’ (1899-1977), Martin (1897-1977) inside the tent, Bruno ‘Art’ (1898-1984) and Dora (1872-1951).
Because automobiles and good roads to rural areas were not common in the early 1900s, the Kilians used rented boats for transportation between their primary residence in Seattle and this vacation home, 50 miles north. In Kilian-descendents’ photo collections, there are photos of boats named Joker and Nix. Here is a photo of one of the Kilian boys standing on a pier at Kayak Point with the Nix tied up:
Over time, Heinrich F.W. built a residence and a large garden on the flatland east of the bluff of lot 5. To later generations, this residence became known as the “Kilian Camp”. Phil Kilian (one of Art’s sons, born 1935) has described it thusly:
“The [Kilian] camp consisted of two tent frames, a wood shed, a root cellar, a one bedroom cabin, and, of course, an outhouse. The entire family spent most of their summers at the Kilian Camp farming, gardening, spending time on the beach, and enjoying the beauty of the country.”Remember the photo of Heinrich F.W. playing the violin? The building in that photo is at Kilian Camp.
The photo below shows the one-bedroom house. Here you can see Gudrun (combing her hair using the window as a mirror), Heinrich (posing with a saw in his hand), Art (on the steps) and Thusnelda ‘Nelda’ (on the right, 1905-1991). This photo was probably taken in 1911 or 1912.
Photograph belongs to Phil and Judy Kilian
Throughout the 1920's, ‘30's, ‘40's, and ‘50's members of the Kilian family lived, vacationed, and visited each other on the Kilian land. As adults, Nelda and Art both built houses/cabins. Nelda and her family spent many weekends in their 2-bedroom cabin. Art lived on this land for most of his adult life; for his family, Kayak Point was home. (A topic of a future issue.) Other members came to visit from Idaho,Oregon, and California. Bernice Kilian West (Hermann’s daughter, born 1930) remembers going to Kayak Point “about once a summer when a kid” and stopping there often in her camper, as an adult in the 1950's. Carl Otto (a son of Gudrun, born 1922) remembers frequent day-trips in the late 1920's and early 1930's, and specifically carving his initials in the fine-quality clay of the bluff during a family visit about 1930. The memories and stories of this land have knit a bond between Kilian family members that ties them to each other even today, more than 100 years after the first purchase.
NOTE: Thanks to Phil and Judy Kilian and Don Kurtz (one of Dorothy’s sons) for the photos in this issue. Thanks to Phil Kilian, Len Braarud (Nelda’s son), Bernice Kilian West, and Carl Otto for sharing their memories of Kayak Point. Phil Kilian’s 2005 memoir and history of Kayak Point was invaluable in preparing this issue.The story of how Kayak Point obtained its name.
The area surrounding the Kilian properties was named Birmingham by the developer.
It is now called Kayak Point – a name given to it by the Kilians. Remember the photo of Gudrun (1899-1977) in a kayak?
That kayak is one of two after which Kayak Point was named.
The 2 kayaks were built and purchased in Alaska. (The Kilian connections to Alaska will be the topic of a future discussion.)
In the family, there are two stories of who brought these kayaks to Washington.
One story says that Hermann (1891-1930) and Ben (1893-1984) brought them in 1914.
The second story says that Hermann and Martin (1897-1977) brought them in 1919.
Use your detective skills to see if one of these stories seems to ring more true for you.
This first photo below shows both kayaks at Kayak Point. Bruno ‘Art’ (1898-1984) is paddling the one on the right.
How old do you think he is? Could he be 22 (in 1919)? Or is he younger?
Photo belongs to both Josh Braarud and Phil Kilian
The photo shows Hermann Kilian paddling the one in back (he is on the left) with the schooner Polar Bear in the background. This photo was taken in 1913 or 1914 somewhere along the northern coast of Alaska. Do these look like the same kayaks as those in the photo above? Or are they different?
Photo belongs to New Bedford Whaling Museum
The Kilian family also has multiple stories about the first verbal/informal use of the word 'kayak' as a name for their properties. Was it the youngest member of the family, Thusnelda 'Nelda' (1905-1991)?
Was it the businessman, Art? Was it Ben, as he delivered the kayaks to his family's summer residence?
At this late date, it is impossible to discover what actually took place.
In any case, the first official use occurred in 1927 when Art started a business on the Kilian beach lots.
He called his business Kayak Point Bathing Beach, and later changed the name to Kayak Point Resort.
For over 40 years, these 2 kayaks hung on a wall of the building that housed Kayak Point Resort’s convenience store. Many of Heinrich F.W. and Dora’s grandchildren remember these kayaks from their visits to the resort. The kayaks became a well-known and fondly remembered feature of the resort and its land by the public as well as by the Kilian family.
Hence the name – Kayak Point – stuck.
NOTE: Thanks to Phil and Judy Kilian (Phil is one of Art’s sons) and Josh Braarud (Nelda’s grandson) for these photos.
Original photo belongs to Don Kurtz
Original photo belongs to Don Kurtz
Next, Art built a road -- so that automobiles could be driven from the top of the bluff down to the beach -- and a building to serve as a store and summer residence. He immediately hung one of the two kayaks on the front of this building. In this photo, on the left side of the front porch, you can just barely see the braces that hold the kayak to the wall under the eve. This photo was taken in 1938
Original photo belongs to Phil and Judy Kilian
Then, in 1927, Art started a business on the Kilian properties along the beach. This business was based on recreation and fishing. He charged a usage fee for entrance and rented out equipment, such as boats and bathing suites. Initially, he called it Kayak Point Bathing Beach, but later changed the name to Kayak Point Resort.
This photograph of Art was taken about this period of time, when he was in his early 30s. He looks so positive and confident in this photo. A time of grand plans, hopes, and dreams.
Original photo belongs to Don Kurtz
In 1929 Art began purchasing his family members’ lots and other people’s adjacent lots until he owned all the lots along the beach (in Blocks 72-A&B) and 5 of the 10 largest lots on top of the bluff (Block 72). He bought lots from his Mom (Dora), his sister Nelda, and his brothers Hermann and Ben. See the table below for the details; the red text shows the lots that Art acquired. Notice that he never acquired Hermann’s two bluff lots (6 + 8).
History of Art’s Acquisition of Kayak Point Lots:
Lot
|
Date Art Acquired Lot
|
From Whom
|
1 in Block 72 (above bluff)
|
Owned by Art but date not known
|
Not known
|
2 in Block 72 (above bluff)
|
Never owned by Art
|
Never owned by Kilians
|
3 in Block 72 (above bluff)
|
1918
|
Heinrich F.W.
|
4 in Block 72 (above bluff)
|
1918
|
Heinrich F.W.
|
5 in Block 72 (above bluff)
|
1918
|
Heinrich F.W.
|
6 in Block 72 (on bluff)
|
Never owned by Art
| |
7 in Block 72 (above bluff)
|
11-Sep-53
|
Nelda Kilian Braarud
and her husband Henry |
8 in Block 72 (above bluff)
|
Never owned by Art
| |
9-16 in Block 72 (above bluff)
|
Never owned by Art
|
Never owned by Kilians
|
1-14 in Block 72-A (on beach)
|
20 Sept 1929
|
Hillman Investment Co.
|
15 in Block 72-A (on beach)
|
21 Sept 1929
|
Hermann Kilian
|
16 in Block 72-A (on beach)
|
15 Jul 1929
|
Ben Kilian
|
17-26 in Block 72-A (on beach)
|
20 Sept 1929
|
Hillman Investment Co.
|
27 + 28 in Block 72-A
(on beach) |
21 Sept 1929
|
Dora Kilian
|
29-42 in Block 72-A (on beach)
|
20 Sept 1929
|
Hillman Investment Co.
|
1 + 2 in Block 72-B (on beach)
|
9 Oct 1943
|
Carl Bibbins
|
3 in Block 72-B (on beach)
|
29 Aug 1938
|
Clara Gibson
|
4-14 in Block 72-B (on beach)
|
20 Sept 1929
|
Hillman Investment Co.
|
Original photo belongs to Phil and Judy Kilian
Remember the photos that showed all the driftwood littering the entire beach area from the tide line to the base of the bluff? In the photo above, that mess is completely gone. What an enormous amount of work went into this endeavor! Art did this almost entirely by himself. This business turned out to be a LOT of never-ending hard work.
NOTE:Thanks to Phil and Judy Kilian (Phil is one of Art’s sons) and Don Kurtz (one of Dorothy’s sons) for the photos in this issue. Thanks to Carl Otto (one of Gudrun’s sons) for his many hours of research in the Snohomish County Courthouse locating land sale/purchase/transfer records.Art Kilian’s whole family worked to keep his enterprise (the Kayak Point Resort) operating. From 1933 to 1957 (24 years), his family lived in the convenience store building on the beach all summer: from 1 May to 1 October. For winters, they moved up to the bluff to live in the “Hill House”.
Phil Kilian’s 2005 memoir and history of Kayak Point provided many of the facts and words for this issue. I am indebted to Phil for writing it, and it is fascinating reading.
Original photograph belongs to Don Kurtz
Original photograph belongs to Phil and Judy Kilian
Left to right: a friend, Mike Kilian, Phil Kilian, a friend, and James Kilian.
Original photograph belongs to Phil and Judy Kilian
Left to right: Mike Kilian, Phil Kilian, a friend.
Art was constantly improving his resort. This second photo of the Resort was taken in 1950 and shows the four really unique and very popular cabins called “Wheelhouse Cabins”. Art converted these from pilot houses, which are super-structures where navigation and steering take place. These were literally cut out from the decks of surplus World War II barges and moved into their places at Kayak Point, after which Art changed them into cabins for rent. People liked these so much that they reserved them 2 years in advance. Phil Kilian described them in these words in his 2005 memoir and history:
The four “Wheelhouse Cabins” are on the far right in this photo.
Here is Art in his 50s, at the height of his career operating this resort. Notice how directly he looks you in the eye. Even though this is only a photograph, I can feel his eyes assessing me… am I trustworthy? can I be depended on? what kind of person am I?… questions that are vital to running a business. Compare Art in this photo to his earlier photo when he was just starting his business. The earlier photo captures Art dreaming; this one captures him facing reality.
“Dad successfully bid on the purchase of four wheel-houses. <text skipped> The Wheelhouse [Cabins] were two-story with cooking and living quarters on the first floor, and on the upper floor, where the steering wheel was located, there were bunk beds in the back.”
Original photo belongs to Phil and Judy Kilian
Original photo belongs to Carl Otto
At the age of 55, the hard and unrelenting work of the Resort began to exhaust him “emotionally and physically” as Phil describes so poignantly. On 21 December 1953, Art sold the business lock-stock-n-barrel, including the kayaks and all the lots on the beach. And then, between 28 Feb 1957 and 12 Dec 1961, the Kilians (Art and Hermann’s wife Katie) sold all of their remaining land at Kayak Point. After 48 years, that was the end of the Kilian stewardship of Kayak Point.
Bernice Kilian West (Hermann’s daughter, born 1930) remembers her mother (Katie) giving her enough money from the sale of her father’s lots to purchase a brand-new, yellow, Plymouth automobile.
This land later became part of beautiful 670-acre Kayak Point Regional County Park. Check out the Park: Kayak Point Regional Park
In the Park’s slideshow of the property, the photos towards the end of the slideshow are pictures of your Kilian relatives. See if you can identify them; there is a very cute picture of Nelda and Gudrun at work stacking firewood while Dorothy reads (I guess that is the eldest sister’s prerogative) and one of Art sleeping in one of the covered “tent platforms” at Kilian Camp: Kayak Point Park slideshow
Kayak Point was owned by the Kilian family for 48 years and it was home for Art Kilian’s family for 24 of those years. In memory of this, here is a photo, taken about 1939, with two of Art’s sons -- James and Phil -- in one of those famous, originally-Alaskan kayaks.
Original photo belongs to Phil and Judy Kilian
NOTE: Thanks to Phil and Judy Kilian (Phil is one of Art’s sons), Don Kurtz (one of Dorothy’s sons), and Carl Otto (one of Gudrun’s sons) for the photos
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