Happy New Year! -- Renew Your MIHS Dues Here!
February 7, 2026
Let's Talk Football!
If you plan on watching the Super Bowl with friends Sunday, use this article from HistoryLink to impress them with tales of football past. Your friends might be interested to learn that Anacortes High School chose the name Sea Hawks for its football team way back in 1925. Or that in 1903, Chief Joseph attended a UW football game where he watched "a lot of white men almost fight." Or that the Camp Lewis 91st Division team played in the 1918 Rose Bowl. But of course, you'll mostly be talking about the Seattle Seahawks. The team got its start in 1974 when a group of Seattle businessmen led by the Nordstrom family was awarded an NFL franchise...[more]
January 14, 2026
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Behind the Barbed Wire
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Mercer Island resident Judy Kusakabe will share stories of her Japanese American family, friends and community–before, during and after they were sent to prison camps by the U.S. government during World War II. A panel discussion will follow led by ECAAR (Education Coalition for Asian American Representation), a student-led club at Mercer Island High School focused on promoting AAPI culture, identity, and addressing racial issues through community engagement.
This program is a partnership with the Mercer Island Library and Friends of the Library.
October 25, 2025
Matt McCauley at Homestead Park |
Beneath the Surface: 45 Years of SCUBA Diving into Mercer Island's History
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Matt will focus on the Island's history from the perspective of the relics, wrecks (navy planes, parts of the ferry Dawn) and natural features he's discovered on the lake floor since 1979 when he began scuba diving in the waters off Mercer Island as a sophomore at the high school. Recently he found a milk bottle from Kristoferson's Dairy off the north end of Luther Burbank park.
After logging much of the Island in the 1890's, the settlers claimed the land for pasture. Alfred Kristoferson bought ten acres at what is now Homestead Field for his dairy. It was one of the Island's first dairy farms and it's likely that Kristoferson's Dairy was the first regional business of significance founded on Mercer Island. There is more about the early dairies on the Island and the important part they played in settling the Island in our history book, From Haunted Wilderness to Coveted Community.
Matt McCauley moved to Mercer Island at age 11, graduating from Mercer Island High school in the class of 1982. As scuba diving high schoolers, Matt and Jeff Hummel made headlines for recovering World War II aircraft from the bottom of Lake Washington. Matt has continued his explorations since then and has written extensively about Eastside history.
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Thanks to community donations, we have digitized 38 years of the Mercer Island Reporter: 1968 — 2005, accessible for free on-line — at mih.stparchive.com. A special thank you to the donors who've contributed to our digitization project: Cyclemates Bike, the Kiwanis Club of Mercer Island, the Mercer Island Rotary Club and the Mercer Island Community Fund. |
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