Posted in Businesses, Mining, People, Towns, tagged Auburn, bakery, Black Diamond, Black Diamond Coal Co., Covington, Flaming Geyser Park, Green River, Kanaskat-Palmer State Park, Labor Day, Lake Sawyer, Maple Valley, Mount Rainier, World War I on May 30, 2019| Leave a Comment »
Originally published in the King County Journal, June 2001
Workers harvesting leeks at the Mosby Brothers Farm near Black Diamond on a sunny winter day.
Black Diamond is a small town located 35 miles southeast of Seattle, east of Auburn, and south of Maple Valley. It was established more than 100 years ago when a wealth of coal was discovered. The town’s name came from the Black Diamond Coal Company of California, which began mining in the area in the 1880s. (more…)
Posted in Mining, People, Towns, tagged Black Diamond, Confectionery, Enumclaw School District, Green River Community College, Labor Day, Labor Day buttons, Labor Day Queen, parade, Voice of the Valley on May 28, 2019| Leave a Comment »
Originally published in the Voice of the Valley, May 28, 1977
By George and Dianne Wilson
Planning has begun to offer Black Diamond, and especially its children and young people, a traditional Labor Days celebration. At a well-attended first meeting last week, eighteen interested persons began to draw the plans that will make the celebration possible.
Sid Bergestrom and Steve (Home Smith) Gustin are acting as temporary co-chairmen. Sue Capponi will be in charge of the Finance Committee which involves soliciting donations for prizes, etc. Chuck Capponi will handle the Soap Box Derby, George and Dianne Wilson will do the promotions.
There was a general consensus among those attending that the event was mainly intended to be for Black Diamond and the smaller Valley cities rather than for large numbers of Seattle area people who unfortunately have viewed it as opportunity to come into this area to drink and “tear up the town.” (more…)
Posted in Buildings, Businesses, People, Towns, tagged baseball, Cedar River, dances, Enumclaw, fires, fishing, King County, Labor Day, Lake Desire, Lake Lucerne, Lake Meridian, Lake Retreat, Lake Wilderness, Lake Youngs, Maple Valley, Maple Valley Historical Society, New Year's Eve, Pipe Lake, Renton, resorts, Selleck, Shadow Lake, Shady Lake, Soos Creek, Spring Lake, Taylor, World War II on May 24, 2019| Leave a Comment »
Originally published in the MVHS Bugle, May 2000
By Barbara Nilson
Photos by Sherrie Acker
The “action” in the 1920s to 1950s, from Seattle south, was at the lake resorts in the Valley. Memories of those glory days were shared at the March program with Dolores Gaffney and Janet Bertagni talking about Gaffney’s Lake Wilderness resort, and Gloria Foss remembering the family’s resort on Shadow Lake.
Attending the historical society program on resorts were, from left, Janet Bertagni, Dolores Gaffney Judge, and Bernadine Gaffney Gebenini.
Dolores Gaffney, daughter of Tom Gaffney, reported her father and his brother Kain purchased the property on Lake Wilderness in 1926 from Abraham and Sam Cohen. The family moved to the lake and the resort opened in the spring of 1927 as Gaffney’s Lake Wilderness.
At that time there were three small family resorts on the lake. Dieckman with his two sons, Jeff and Don, had just started one, and across the lake was McKinney’s. McKinney’s also had a dance hall that was two stories high that they eventually turned into a skating rink. In April 1939 McKinneys sold their place to Gaffneys.
One of the older buildings was used for a dance hall, said Dolores, and they used kerosene lamps. In 1936 they built a new dance hall after the old one burned down. They had a 30-foot-high diving board as well as cabins, tennis courts, picnic areas, ball fields, and playgrounds.
In 1949 Diekmans and Gaffneys were combined and the Gaffneys decided to build a lodge. The design was developed by Young, Richardson and Carlson and won the grand prize from the Washington Chapter of Architects in 1951 and the top award from the American Institute in New York in 1952. The center column totem pole was carved by the famous Doug McCarter. It is 35 feet tall and weighs ten tons. (more…)
Posted in People, Towns, tagged baseball, basketball, Black Diamond, Black Diamond Museum, Green River Eagles, King County, Labor Day, Labor Day buttons, parade, Pierce County, soccer on April 23, 2019| Leave a Comment »
Originally published in The News Tribune, April 23, 1995
By Lisa Kremer
The News Tribune
For 47 years, Black Diamond’s Labor Day celebration has displayed the essence of a close-knit small town.
There were three-legged races. A greased-pole climb. A shoe-kicking contest. And a parade everyone in the community could join—and did.
But this year, organizers are afraid there might be no three-day Labor Day celebration. Only three people came to the last organizational meeting, said Lorianne Taff, who was there.
Taff moved to Black Diamond less than two years ago.
“I fell in love with the town and the charm of the town, and I want to see it preserved,” Taff said. (more…)
Posted in Businesses, Mining, People, Towns, tagged bands, Bellingham, Black Diamond, butcher, Carbonado, fire boss, King County, Labor Day, labor relations, mining safety, parade, Pierce County, Ravensdale, Seattle, United Mine Workers of America, Wilkeson, World War I on September 9, 2018| Leave a Comment »
Originally published in The Seattle Daily Times, September 9, 1914
Pete Frederickson, Black Diamond butcher, won the prize for the most handsomely decorated auto.
That the team entered by the local miners’ union was victorious in the mine rescue and first aid meet held in Black Diamond on Labor Day, defeating the fire bosses’ team organized by the mine operators, is the report to Seattle by William Short, state district secretary of the United Mine Workers, who served as master of ceremonies at Black Diamond’s celebration of the holiday. (more…)
Posted in Mining, People, Towns, tagged baseball, Black Diamond, boxing, Carbonado, dances, Labor Day, Newcastle on September 2, 2018| Leave a Comment »
Originally published in The Seattle Daily Times, September 2, 1928
Special to The Times.
CARBONADO, Saturday, Sept. 1. — Residents of Black Diamond and Carbonado will join in a Labor Day celebration here Monday, the principal event of the day to be a monster picnic. A program of sports for the children at 9 o’clock in the morning at N.D. Moore Park will start the celebration. (more…)
Posted in Businesses, Mining, People, Towns, tagged Black Diamond, Enumclaw, Labor Day, Labor Day Queen, labor relations, Morganville, Union Stump, United Mine Workers of America on September 2, 2018| Leave a Comment »
Originally published in The Seattle Times, September 2, 1958
A plaque was placed on a cement-encased stump in a field near Black Diamond yesterday, commemorating it as the rallying point where 200 miners met May 15, 1907, and organized Local 2257, United Mine Workers of America. Albert Donati, president of Local 6487, placed the plaque. Standing on the stump were, from left, Fred Roberts, Sam Nicholls, and William C. Lewis. Roberts and Lewis signed their names to the charter on the stump the day the local was founded. Nicholls is president of District 10, United Mine Workers.
A decaying tree stump in a field near Black Diamond was the rallying point for miners of the area yesterday during the annual Labor Day celebration.
The old stump, now encased in cement, was the spot where 200 miners met on May 15, 1907, to organize Local 2257, United Mine Workers of America. (more…)
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