Posted in Buildings, People, Towns, tagged Black Diamond, Black Diamond Community Center, Burlington Northern, churches, Green River Valley, Kent, King County, Maple Valley, Palmer Coking Coal Co., Ravensdale, sewage, Weyerhaeuser on November 30, 2020| Leave a Comment »
Originally published in the Enumclaw Courier-Herald, November 30, 1988
Black Diamond’s Community Center Board is hustling to get its hands on another $100,000 for a community center in the city that would provide the area’s seniors and youth with services, classes, crafts, counseling, and summer programs.
The board has raised enough money to build a center, but not enough to build the kind of center it hopes to have. (more…)
Posted in Buildings, Businesses, Infrastructure, People, Railroads, Towns, tagged Auburn, bank, Black Diamond, Cascade Mountains, Crystal Mountain, dairy, Enumclaw, Enumclaw School District, farming, Green River, Green River Valley, Kanaskat, King County, Mount Rainier, Northern Pacific Railroad, Seattle, Tacoma, Washington State University, Weyerhaeuser, White River on November 29, 2020| Leave a Comment »
Originally published in The Seattle Sunday Times, November 29, 1970
By Walt Woodward
What few detractors there may be of Enumclaw would laugh in derision if you would liken the place to mythical Camelot. They would remind you that Enumclaw, to ancient Indians who fled the region after experiencing a violent thunderstorm, meant “home of evil spirits.”
Yet the Enumclaw area, perched on a pleasant plateau in Southeastern King County, does equate with these words which King Arthur sings in the Lerner and Loewe musical play:
“In short, there’s simply not/A more congenial spot/For happily ever-aftering/Than here in Camelot.”
But if that verse should please Enumclaw residents, they should remember that the king at the haunting end of the production, sings yet another chorus, a wistful lament for a Camelot which has vanished and is no more. (more…)
Posted in Buildings, Businesses, Mining, People, Towns, tagged Black Diamond, Black Diamond Elementary, Black Diamond Historical Society, Black Diamond Museum, coal mining, fire department, Italians, King County, Wales on November 29, 2020| Leave a Comment »
Originally published in the South County Journal, November 29, 1999
By Mike Archbold
Journal Reporter
Carl and Ann Steiert are proud of the Black Diamond Museum, which they helped start after they played host to the first meeting of the Black Diamond Historical Society in their basement. (Gary Kissel/Journal)
BLACK DIAMOND — If there was such a designation as The Senior Couple of Black Diamond, Carl and Ann Steiert would get the nod.
Together they have lived more than 160 years of the history of this one-time coal mining town. Carl, 88, arrived in 1911 when he was 8 months old. Ann came with her family in the early 1920s.
What they don’t know about the history of Black Diamond probably isn’t worth knowing. And most of what they know is on display in the Black Diamond Historical Museum, which draws thousands of visitors each year since it opened in 1982. (more…)
Posted in Buildings, Businesses, Mining, People, Railroads, Towns, tagged Bayne, Black Diamond, boarding houses, Buckley, Carbonado, Cedar Mountain, coal mining, Cumberland, Cumberland Store, Deep Lake, Durham, Elkcoal, Enumclaw, Eureka, Franklin, hotels, Hyde Mine, Knights of Labor, Lake Walker, Lawson, mine accidents, Mount Rainier, Navy, Newcastle, Nolte State Park, Occidental, Ravensdale, Renton, sawmill, schools, Sunset, taverns, United Mine Workers of America, Wilkeson on November 28, 2020| Leave a Comment »
Originally published in the Voice of the Valley, November 28, 2006
By Barbara Nilson
A crew of miners are ready to go into the Hyde Mine which opened in 1912 in Cumberland. Safety lamps are slung around their necks and lunch buckets in their hands. (Photo was donated to the Maple Valley Historical Society by Mr. and Mrs. George Richardson or Cumberland.)
The old mining town of Cumberland is a destination for bikers when Taco Thursdays are offered at the hotel built in 1893 now serving as The City Hall Saloon & Eatery. Located just 6 miles northeast of Enumclaw, the town is sprouting new homes and the general store built in 1916 offers supplies for picnickers at Deep Lake or Lake Walker. (more…)
Posted in Buildings, People, Towns, tagged Black Diamond, fire department, fires on November 27, 2020| Leave a Comment »
Originally published in the Valley Daily News, November 26, 1993
By Valley Daily News staff
Firefighters battle hot spots Thursday on a house that sits behind Black Diamond’s fire department. (Valley Daily News photo by Duane Hamamura)
BLACK DIAMOND — A fire believed to have been started by a contractor trying to thaw out frozen pipes with a torch destroyed a home behind the Black Diamond Fire Department Thursday afternoon.
The home’s occupants were not there when the fire broke out and there were no injuries, said Lieutenant Duane Mauro of the Black Diamond Fire Department. (more…)
Posted in Infrastructure, People, tagged Black Diamond, Black Diamond Lake on November 27, 2020| Leave a Comment »
Originally published in the Enumclaw Courier-Herald, November 26, 1987
Black Diamond City Council began hearing testimony on the proposed Black Diamond Lake annexation at its regular meeting Nov. 19. Further comment in the public hearing will continue at the council’s next meeting scheduled for Dec. 3, at 7:30 p.m. in the Black Diamond City Council chambers. (more…)
Posted in Infrastructure, People, Towns, tagged Black Diamond, King County, Lake Sawyer on November 26, 2020| Leave a Comment »
Originally published in the Voice of the Valley, November 26, 1997
By Cecilia Nguyen
Mayor Howard Botts reminded council members and Black Diamond citizens during the November 20th council meeting that there would be a special council session on November 26th at 5 p.m.
The topic for the November 26th meeting is the proposed tax levy. The council encourages all Black Diamond citizens and Lake Sawyer residents to attend the meeting and articulate any concerns towards the proposed tax levy. (more…)
Posted in Buildings, Businesses, Infrastructure, People, Towns, tagged Black Diamond, cemetery, coal mining, jail, Kent, King County, Lake Sawyer, Mount Rainier, Puget Sound on November 25, 2020| Leave a Comment »
Originally published in the The News Tribune, November 25, 1993
By Cindy D. Brown
The News Tribune
Black Diamond City Councilman Dave Paules visits his town’s 1910-era jail building. He envisions an expanded historical district for the town. (Teri Harris/The News Tribune)
In 20 years, Dave Paules believes Black Diamond will be as it is today: a town of quirky, odd-sized lots and narrow streets all akimbo.
The city will triple in size, and almost quadruple in population, but the city councilman believes it still will have room for its funky old neighborhoods. There still will be areas where one house is pieced together from recycled doors and another boasts a bicycle dangling from its rafters.
And entering town, Paules believes he still will be soothed by the roll of green pastures and forested hillsides. He will see Mount Rainier filling the sky, throwing everything back into perspective.
After all, even with all the growth, Black Diamond will be a city of only 4,500, which is still a small town. (more…)
Posted in Buildings, Businesses, People, Towns, tagged Black Diamond, Black Diamond Elementary, Black Diamond Museum, post office, Soos Creek on November 25, 2020| Leave a Comment »
Originally published in the Voice of the Valley, November 25, 1998
By Cecilia Nguyen
Black Diamond residents can soon look forward to a new and larger postal facility that will better meet the needs of the growing city.
The question is, however, where will it be?
United States Postal Service contract real estate specialist Dallan Wordekemper, attended the November 26 Black Diamond council meeting to inform the council of its intentions to build a larger post office within the downtown area of the city. (more…)
Posted in Buildings, Businesses, Mining, People, Railroads, Towns, tagged Auburn, Black Diamond, Black Diamond Historical Society, Black Diamond Museum, coal mining, Diamond Stage Co., Enumclaw, Green River Gorge, meat market, Pacific Coast Railroad, Pool Hall, Prohibition, Renton, saloons, Seattle, taverns on November 25, 2020| Leave a Comment »
Originally published in the Enumclaw Courier-Herald, November 25, 1992
By Joyce Marinaro
Whether you sip a specialty beer, watch the Seahawks on the big screen, or enjoy a family dinner in the no-smoking section at Black Diamond’s new Saloon and Eatery, you will be partaking in a bit of history.
On the site of the saloon there once was a log cabin that was built in 1885. It was situated next to the Pacific Coast train station, which is now the historical museum. The log cabin then served as a general store. Farmers in the area crossed the Green River Gorge in a pully-operated bucket to bring the store its produce, eggs, and milk.
About 1900 a pool hall and eatery was built around the log cabin, and it was said that they used the logs from the cabin for fuel. (more…)
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