Ballard History

6754 15TH AVE NW

Here’s some fun history on our current building:

MEET DWIGHT ROUSU

...the little boy pictured bottom right in the white shirt!

I was in the back storage room at the end of January 2022 when a fit gentleman in his 70’s walked down the ramp, turned left and headed towards me. I asked if I could be of help (because it was the storage room after all), and he said he was just trying to see where he had slept when he was a little boy!

Above photo: Dwight said it was taken in the "back yard" just before his family moved to a bigger house in 1946 or 1947. I'm guessing that they are standing close to where the back entrance is today.

Below photo: Dwight & his brother standing by the front door of the grocery store (15th & 70th).

D&L GROCERY

So... long-story-short, it was his family that operated the grocery store, D&L Grocery — stood for Don & Lois, his parents — with his mom running the store with the help of his aunt while his dad was away in the service during WWII. His twin sisters were born after he returned, and they lived in the back apartment (all 6 of them!) for a short time before moving. He showed me where he and his older brother had a bunk bed and where his twin sisters slept after they were born. He showed me where the kitchen used to be and confirmed that the toilet looked pretty much the same (minus the mop sink).

I asked about how the grocery store was organized. He said there was no back door, only the front entrance with a cash register by the front door. He thinks what is now the tasting room was their storage room. As to what was in the shop, all he could remember was that the popsicles were located “over there” pointing to the southwest corner of our shop where the Italian wine section is now located.

MOVING ON

He said that after his sisters were born, the store apartment was too small for their family and that the competition with the big chain stores was making business hard. Said his dad refused to shop at Safeway for the rest of his life! They moved first to Sunset Hill where his dad worked at Cash-and-Carry wholesale grocery outlet, the local Ballard one run by Associated Grocers who had their big warehouse further south in Seattle. When Dwight was about 10, his family moved to a small farm in Sultan, Washington.

Today, Dwight is a retired engineer who lives in Redmond. He said he has visited the wine shop before (incognito) and bought a bottle of Ripasso. So glad he came back!

A couple other historical notes from Dwight:

• “It is interesting to look at the haze in the picture (above), which looks like the coal smoke haze that used to settle around Seattle when there wasn't a good breeze.

• Mom went to Roosevelt High School, close by there.

• An aunt's parents lived a half block south of the store on 15th in a house now gone, where Pops ran a small shoe repair shop in the basement.

• An uncle's barber shop was about 5 blocks north on the west side of 15th.”

I have to say that getting to meet and talk with Dwight was crazy-informative and such a delight. I told him that I will get the photos developed and put them up in the shop for customers to enjoy. He said he had no idea that the property was historically protected, so he has now contacted the Seattle Department of Neighborhoods and submitted his photos and stories to the register, which is super interesting btw. Have a read. There's more about how the 3 distinct store fronts (pictured above) were used.

Hope you enjoy this bit of Ballard history!

Cheers,
Julie (co-owner, Portalis Wines)