Posted in Buildings, Businesses, Mining, People, Towns, tagged Austrian, baseball, Black Diamond, Buckley, cemetery, churches, coal mining, Enumclaw, farming, fires, Krain, Krain Corner, lodges, Maple Valley, Prohibition, Ravensdale, schools, Slovenians, taverns, Wilkeson on February 6, 2023| 1 Comment »
Originally published in the Voice of the Valley, February 6, 2007
By Barbara Nilson
A restored restaurant at the corner of Highway 169 and 400th Avenue Southeast is the only building left in the old town of Krain; just “up the road a ways” is the cemetery dating from the 1900s.
More than 255 graves have been recorded with many names that reach back into the history of Maple Valley and Ravensdale such as Lubinsky, Pauscheck, Petchnick, and Logar, grandparents of the Habenichts.
(more…)Posted in Buildings, Businesses, Infrastructure, Mining, People, Railroads, Towns, tagged bakery, Black Diamond, Black Diamond Elementary, Black Diamond Museum, Black Diamond Police Department, boarding houses, bootlegging, Cascade Mountains, coal car, coal mining, Columbia & Puget Sound Railroad, Enumclaw School District, Flaming Geyser Park, hotels, Italians, John Henry Mine, King County, Krain Corner, Labor Day, labor strikes, Leavenworth, lumber mills, Maple Valley, meat market, Mine #11, mine accidents, Mount Rainier, Pacific Coast Coal Co., Palmer Coking Coal Co., Plum Creek Timber, Pool Hall, Prohibition, Ravensdale, Seattle, United Mine Workers of America, University of Washington, Winthrop, World War I on December 14, 2020| Leave a Comment »
Originally published in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, December 14, 1996
Mount Rainier serves as a dramatic backdrop for Black Diamond, a small community that is nestled in the foothills of the Cascade Mountains.
By Jack Hopkins
P-I Reporter
Black Diamond — Folks generally think of this mostly rural, historic coal mining town as the place to buy bread on the way to Mount Rainier—if they think of it at all.
That’s not surprising because the Black Diamond Bakery’s breads have become known far and wide since the bakery opened in 1902. And the current owner still burns half a cord of wood a day baking breads in the old brick oven, following the same recipes used nearly a century ago.
Little else attracts attention here—except from history buffs.
But dramatic change is sweeping through this tiny community nestled in the Cascade foothills about three miles north of Flaming Geyser State Park. (more…)
Posted in Buildings, Businesses, People, Towns, tagged bakery, Black Diamond, Black Diamond Museum, Confectionery, Great Depression, Koerner's Drug Store, Krain Corner, Morganville, Pacific Coast Bulletin, taverns, World War II on October 4, 2018| Leave a Comment »
Originally published in the Black Diamond Bulletin, Spring 2013
By Ken Jensen
A business sign means more than just hanging out the proverbial “shingle.” There’s always a story.
Case in point. On the cover we find the Koerners—John and Walt—posing in front of their drug store in 1925. One of the signs on the building is for United Cigar Stores Co.
Turns out that cigar franchise was a real boon for the Koerners—and for Black Diamond, too—as John Koerner reported in the September 1922 Pacific Coast Bulletin. (more…)
Posted in Buildings, Businesses, People, Towns, tagged Black Diamond, boarding houses, bridges, cemetery, Enumclaw, Green River Gorge, Green Valley Road, King County, Krain, Krain Corner, Osceola, Selleck, taverns on October 26, 2016| 4 Comments »
Originally published in the Enumclaw Courier-Herald, October 26, 2011
The original Krain tavern and boarding house, circa 1900. Constructed in the 1890s, the building was torn down in 1907.
By Brenda Sexton
Nearly every day at the Krain Corner Inn, owner Karen Hatch gets a history lesson.
Through the 22 years she’s owned the restaurant at the corner of State Route 169 and Southeast 400th Street, she’s collected newspaper articles, photographs and saved the personal letters folks have written about their visit to the historic building and the area of Krain. (more…)
Posted in Buildings, Businesses, Infrastructure, Mining, People, Railroads, Towns, tagged Auburn, Austrian, bands, baseball, Birch, Black Diamond, Boise, cemetery, churches, coal mining, Cumberland, dances, Enumclaw, farming, Flensted, Franklin, Green River, King County, Krain, Krain Corner, logging, Newaukum, Northern Pacific Railroad, Osceola, Prohibition, schools, Selleck, Slovenians, taverns, Veazie, Wabash on October 26, 2016| Leave a Comment »
Originally published in the Enumclaw Courier-Herald, October 26, 2011
By Brenda Sexton
There was a time when the Plateau was covered with bustling, individual communities.
Most had their own school house, community or dance hall and store. They may have had a church, saloon or specialty shop. Most had a band or baseball team. Some had both.
They were filled with farmers, miners and loggers, most arriving from Europe.
Each community had its own heart and soul.
Those areas still serve as reference points for those who live in the Enumclaw area. Ask many today where they live and chances are they will answer with names like Veazie, Osceola, Wabash, Selleck, Birch, Franklin, Flensted, Cumberland, Boise and Krain. (more…)
Posted in Buildings, Businesses, Mining, People, Towns, tagged bakery, bank, Black Diamond, boarding houses, cemetery, Confectionery, Enumclaw, hotels, Krain, Krain Corner, labor strikes, Morganville, post office, taverns on April 8, 2016| 1 Comment »
Originally published in the Black Diamond Bulletin, Spring 2013
By Frank Hammock
Koerner’s Drug, 1925, now Black Diamond Pizza & Deli. (Courtesy Washington State Historical Society, Asahel Curtis negative number 48373.)
In and around our community, several restaurants that reside in historic buildings have stood the test of time and rouse an interest in our area’s colorful past.
Many businesses have come and gone, but the buildings remain and continue to warm the hearts of those in search of a pinch of nostalgia with a dash of modern charm. (more…)
Posted in Buildings, Businesses, Mining, People, Towns, tagged Auburn, bakery, Bayne, Black Diamond, butcher, Carbonado, coal mining, Cumberland, dancing, dentist, Enumclaw, Franklin, Green River Gorge, Henry's Switch, Krain, Krain Corner, McKay, meat market, Milwaukee Railroad, Mine #11, mine accidents, Morganville, Pacific Coast Coal Co., Palmer, sports, strikes on June 13, 2010| Leave a Comment »
Originally published in the BDHS newsletter, January and April 2006
By Frank Hammock
The best of friends: Dr. Ulman and Mr. Kranc
Have you ever taken a two-hour trip into the past to a forgotten era of time? A trip like this is a lot like visiting a grandparent, or a childhood friend who gladly shares the warmth of memories and fun. I had the pleasurable experience to do just that when I recently paid a visit to two long time Enumclaw residents, Dr. John Ulman and Mr. George Kranc, who shared with me their stories of the past that owe some of their humble beginnings to the early days of Black Diamond not long after the turn of the 20th century.
The interview took place in Dr. Ulman’s quiet and well-manicured residence only two blocks from his childhood home in the heart of Enumclaw. Outside, trees stood in somber silence sporting beautifully colored red, yellow, and brown leaves, and rain fell steadily in the gray daylight hours of an autumn afternoon in November. A light wind rustled up the fallen leaves as the conversations began in the dining area with occasional laughter breaking out of the stories from a lifetime of golden memories that flowed like honey from the vine.
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