News reports and photos from Black Diamond and the towns of Bayne, Cumberland, Danville, Durham, Elkcoal, Franklin, Kangley, Krain, Kummer, Lawson, Navy, Palmer, Ravensdale, and Selleck
Frank Grens at home with his dog, Tom — Staff photos by Kathy Andrisevic
BLACK DIAMOND—A faded, mahogany-stained crutch hanging on a wall in Frank Grens’ home is mute testimony to 27 years of work in the coal mines.
He’s been using it off and on ever since suffering a back injury December 6, 1941—“the day before Pearl Harbor”—when a roof beam in a mine tunnel near here slid and pinned him.
Grens said he was intent on quitting the mines then. But he stayed on until after the war. And he hasn’t been far from the area since.
Originally published in the Voice of the Valley, November 18, 1987
Editor, the Voice: The city of Black Diamond is presently faced with a major challenge.
To the north and to the west unincorporated King County and nearby communities have increased population and commercial densities dramatically.
In contrast, Black Diamond has maintained a relatively stable commercial and population level for decades. It is partly this contrast that makes Black Diamond an ideal target for similar development.
It is possible to learn by observation the effects growth has had on other nearby communities. It is apparent that many of these effects have been detrimental to the quality of life and the environment.
The challenge to Black Diamond is to not repeat these irreversible mistakes.
Originally published in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, October 29, 1933
Second highest span in King County bridges Green River; best touring time at hand
By Mitch Sutherland Automobile Editor of the Post-Intelligencer
It isn’t time to jack the car up off the tires, take out the battery, drain the radiator, and cover the car with a tarpaulin. In fact, “there ain’t no such time” up here in your country, although there are a few timid souls who think the touring season is off when the long woolen underwear goes on.
This month and a good part of next are delightful for touring. Great cloud banks seem commoner. The air is fresher and cooler, and dust is only noticeable by its absence. Furthermore, Ma Nature has painted the hillsides with a riot of warm colors—golden browns, flaming reds, yellows. The highways are freer of traffic and for the most part, the picnickers have deserted your favorite resting places.
Originally published in The Seattle Times, September 9, 1973
This is one of a series of Sunday articles of interest to bicycle enthusiasts in the Seattle area. The series provides information and maps on rides the cyclist may enjoy easily and includes tips on bicycling safety, equipment, and maintenance.
Black Diamond ride data Location: South King County. Black Diamond starting point, south of Renton on Highway 169. Terrain: Unusually level riding with little traffic. A few smooth, short hills and several small villages. Time and length: About 18 miles as shown. Allow 1½ hours or more. Three hours gives time for a swim and picnic enroute. A longer tour may be linked to this ride by cycling south from the Bellevue area through Coalfield. Features: The Green River with spectacular gorge area. Pleasant views of mountains and trees. Back roads through an unspoiled region of King County.
By Chuck Seward
Everyone can enjoy a fine bicycle ride covering an 18-mile loop along almost exclusively level back roads far from city traffic.
The tour begins at Black Diamond and passes through the villages of Cumberland, Palmer, Kanaskat, Georgetown, and Ravensdale.
Black Diamond itself is not large, but Seattle riders will have no trouble finding it along the Maple Valley Highway about 18 miles southeast of Renton. The Black Diamond Elementary School sits on the main road in the center of town and provides a good starting point, with space to leave cars and an opportunity for a cup of coffee from the little 24-hour restaurant across the street.
The Black Diamond Bakery probably is the town’s most famous landmark although coal, and not overdone bread, gave the town its name.
Originally published in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, September 6, 1953
By Jim Hill Post-Intelligencer Automobile Editor
GREEN RIVER SCENE—Scenic site pictured here is on Green River several miles above Palmer, Wash. Post-Intelligencer Cartour party noted a number of weekend anglers trout fishing in stream with some success. Fashionable 1953 Nash Rambler used on one-day outing proved roomy and comfortable with lots of engine power and acceleration.
An invitation from Paul Pursley, Nash zone manager, to take a continental-styled 1953 Nash Rambler convertible on this week’s Post-Intelligencer Cartour was received with keen anticipation.
The strikingly modern Rambler, with a wheelbase of only 100 inches, seats six persons in its roomy, comfortable interior and is a very smooth riding and driving unit. Powered by 6-cylinder, 85-horsepower L-head engine, the Rambler has good acceleration and power to spare.
A picnic outing to the Green River Gorge and vicinity was our objective on this week’s trip as we headed south on Rainier Avenue to Renton and via Highway 5 through Kent and fertile Green River Valley to Auburn, where we turned left for 13 miles through wooded hills to Black Diamond. From this latter town, home of our own Welsh forbear coal miners, a good gravel road leads four miles to the Green River Gorge, a total of 43 miles in all from downtown Seattle.
Originally published in the Covington Reporter, May 25, 2018
The Department of the Interior has granted a permit to resume mining at the Black Diamond location
By Aaron Kunkler
Pacific Coast Coal Company geologist Mike Conaboy shows off a small seam of coal on the surface close to Pit 2, where the company will be mining coal. Photo by Ray Still
After seven years of working with federal regulators, the Pacific Coast Coal Company is gearing up to re-open the only operating coal mine in Washington just outside Black Diamond.
The approval is the latest development for the dormant mine, which made headlines last fall when federal regulators found the mine would have no significant environmental impacts. Environmentalists and local leaders have expressed opposition to the mine reopening, but the Pacific Coast Coal Company (PCCC) appears to be moving ahead nonetheless and is planning to restart mining by this fall at the earliest.
Originally published in The Seattle Daily Times, January 30, 1923
Howard Plass’ body found below precipice he scaled in quest of tracks
Howard Plass, circa 1911
Howard Plass, son of B.T. Plass, farmer who lives near Black Diamond, was found dead at the foot of a two-hundred-foot cliff in Green River Gorge yesterday by neighbors who had searched for him since Sunday night.
Yesterday would have been his twenty-second birthday. Fondness for roaming through the woods, seeking bear and deer trails, is believed to have led the young man to climb the cliff beside the river.
Plass left his father’s home about 10:30 o’clock Sunday morning. Previously he had arranged with another youth to spear fish in the Green River, but because of the heavy snow the other youth declined.
When his son had not returned after he had finished milking the cows in the evening, Mr. Plass started a search. He followed his son’s trail down to the river bank. Neighbors joined Mr. Plass later in the night. Young Plass was unmarried. The body was taken to Scott’s Undertaking Company in Auburn.
[Ed. note: For more about the Plass family, go to “When Coal Was King.”]
Originally published in The Seattle Daily Times, January 29, 1923
Friends, who had been searching since Sunday for Howard Plass, 20 years old, son of B. Plass, a rancher of Black Diamond, found his body at noon today three miles south of Black Diamond, where he had fallen to his death over a 200-foot precipice.
Plass left his home Sunday morning at 10 o’clock for a walk along Green River and met his death near Green River Gorge. Deputy Sheriff Lee Morgan reported the youth’s disappearance to Sheriff Matt Starwich, who acting under meager details, started with bloodhounds for Black Diamond before news of the finding of the body came.
[Ed. note: For more about the Plass family, go to “When Coal Was King.”]
Originally published in The Record-Chronical, January 14, 1973
Story by Mary Lehto; photo feature by Larry Abele
Down in the pit. Tony Manowski probes the blackness of the Palmer Coking Coal Co. mining pit near Ravensdale on a typical workday. The company, the last mining operation active in King County, faces closure in two or three years, even though the vast underground resources of the “black diamond” have barely been tapped. Reason: more modern fuel supplies and ever-stricter safety standards. For details of the end of an era, turn the page.
Coal mining in King County—one of the area’s most colorful, if not always most profitable, industries—is nearing an end.
After more than 100 years of production, only 18.6 percent of the county’s estimated “black diamond” wealth has been mined. Yet, more modern methods of obtaining energy, and new safety regulations for the mines themselves, are gradually forcing the industry into oblivion.
“We have about two to three years yet to run,” said Carl (Charlie) Falk, office manager of the Palmer Coking Coal Co. which operates the Landsburg Mine in Black Diamond.
The mine, located near Ravensdale, is the last actively operating coal mine in King County.
Twenty-six years of Falk’s life have been devoted to coal mining and it is with more than a touch of regret that he talks about “the end.”
Black Diamond History 