Coalfield, Washington
Coalfield, Washington | |
|---|---|
| Coordinates: 47°30′09.36″N 122°07′18.43″W / 47.5026000°N 122.1217861°W Fatal error: The format of the coordinate could not be determined. Parsing failed. | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Washington |
| County | King |
| Elevation | 331 ft (101 m) |
| Time zone | UTC-8 (PST) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC-7 (PDT) |
| ZIP codes | 98059 |
| Area code(s) | 425 |
| GNIS feature ID | 1510885 |
Coalfield is an unincorporated community in King County, Washington. Current notable places include Jay Berry's Cafe, the May Valley Service Center, and in the southern portion, the Sno-King Ice Rink. Currently, the community is mostly rural, although the community has seen some suburban development with more people moving into the Renton Highlands. The town has no official boundaries, although some of it sits inside the boundary for the East Renton Highlands CDP.
While it is unincorporated, the community existed as far back as 1908. During that time period, logging and coal mining were the two industries in the town; when they began, the two companies involved were the May Creek Logging Company and the May Creek Coal Company. The latter was established by a Seattle lawyer, Edwin S. Gill, and John McQuade[1], a prospector and former mayor & sheriff of Issaquah. When the Sunset Highway (now State Route 900) was completed in the 1910s and 1920s, the community became a bustling roadside stop for travelers going to Issaquah and beyond. Before that, the only activity was travel and settlement from the Snoqualmie Wagon Road, which was built from Renton to Issaquah in 1860.[2]
History
The exact history of Coalfield prior to about 1900 is relatively unknown, although Road No. 7 (the Snoqualmie Wagon Road) traversed through the area as early as 1860. In the 1870s and 1880s, the area saw further road construction, like the Thomas Rouse Road (est. 1880, national historic landmark) which connected the town to Newcastle, and the C.H. Bankson Road (est. 1878, modern 148th Ave SE). By 1900, the Snoqualmie Wagon Road was defunct, and the roads built in the 1870s and 1880s became the major arteries for the town.[citation needed]
In 1908 and 1909, John McQuade, a former pioneer, prospector, mayor, and sheriff of Issaquah, worked with Edwin S. Gill (a Seattle lawyer) to incorporate the Seattle & Issaquah Electric Railway and the May Creek Coal Company. "May Creek Coal Co. backed by Lake Washington Mill Co. A logging road runs within a mile of the mine and this has been purchased by the company under another incorporation, known as the Seattle, Renton & Issaquah Electric Ry Co. An extension of the line is being built to the mine and later on the road will be built to Issaquah."[3] The May Creek Coal Company operated from 1909 until 1912 when it was closed due to flooding and low profit. In 1923, the same year John McQuade bought the coal mine at Cedar Mountain on the Cedar River, the mine reopened.[4] It is unknown when the mine permanently closed. It is from this coal mine that the town of Coalfield takes its name.[citation needed]
During the same period of time, a logging railroad proposition reached Coalfield in 1908. This logging railroad was operated by the May Creek Logging Company. The Lake Washington Mill Company was its parent corporation. This corporation was headed by John M. "Jack" Fish and Charlie Niemeyer, both prominent loggers in the North Lake Washington area around Bothell, Woodinville, and Kenmore.[5][not in citation given] The incorporation of the logging railroad ended on January 7, 1916.[citation needed]
Both the May Creek Coal Co. and the Lake Washington Mill Co. can be seen on the 1912 Kroll Map Co. map of T23N R5E (King County).[6]
References
- ↑ "John Mcquade". Issaquah History Museums. Retrieved January 17, 2023.
- ↑ "The Snoqualmie Pass Wagon Road". Retrieved January 16, 2023.[self-published source]
- ↑ The Seattle Times. June 8, 1909. Missing or empty
|title=(help) - ↑ Adams, Robin. "Cedar Mountain Coal Revival". Retrieved January 17, 2023.[self-published source]
- ↑ Fish, Jack (c. 1902). "Logs and railroad at Lake Forest Park, ca. 1902" (Photograph). Museum of History and Industry. Retrieved January 17, 2023.
- ↑ Kroll Map Company (1912). "Township 23 N, Range 5E" (Map). Kroll's Atlas of King County. Kroll Map Company. p. 17. Retrieved January 17, 2023 – via Seattle Public Library Special Collections.
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