By HARRIET MUHRLEIN

Imagine a place in the towering virgin trees beside the relaxing inland sea of Puget Sound. Imagine that it was just a short distance from Seattle.

Imagine that the children could partake in varied activities in woods and water just outside the door. Imagine that the women could enjoy the days without slaving over the stove preparing meals for the family.

That was Woldmere.

The University Outing Club was incorporated in 1906 by members of the University of Washington faculty. It was planned as a place for rest and “resort” for faculty members and their families.

There was no financial connection with the university. Eleven faculty members signed the original articles of incorporation and the bylaws. They decided to purchase 17 acres of land between Apple Tree Cove and Apple Tree Point. Individual members were responsible for the taxes and costs of their own cabins. The first summer, the families lived in tents as some of them built simple cabins, sometimes from drift found on the beach.

Each member was a voting member of the cooperative. They paid annual dues, maintained the property, cared for and maintained the community buildings and land and tidelands and beach. Taxes were paid by the corporation.

Over the next few years, 20 more acres were added to the land holding, plus the ownership of the tidelands.

Early in its history, club members decided that they would “keep to themselves,” inviting friends from Seattle but not participating in the nearby community activities. Many inhabitants of the area around Kingston did not even know the Outing Club was nearby. Because it was so private, one woman in the area thought it might be a nudist organization.

Harold Osborne (“Little City by the Sea”) wrote about the University Outing Club and Woldmere for the Kingston Community News in 1997 and much information for this column came from his articles.

To be continued in May.

— The Kingston Historical Society meets the fourth Wednesday of each month, 10 a.m., in the Kingston Community Center. Online: www.kingstonhistory.org.