Black Diamond NOW

Logging Railroads - Not Always Safe

Last week, I posted some photos of "speeders" that were used to tranport loggers from mill to forest.  As Judy's father could attest, accidents were not uncommon.  The same can be said of "skidders" and other railcars of the time.  The following photos were taken sometime during the 1930's at a site known as Good Water which is located near Grass Mountain just east of Enumclaw along what is now Hwy 410.

Photo courtesy of Washington Rural Heritage, EPL0042_773a, circa 1930-1939

How would you like to be riding the skidder that crashed through this trestle?  These wooden trestles have always looked pretty fragile to me - like a bunch of toothpicks.  Apparently some of them were.  I could find no information about injuries.  Following is a picture of the same crash taken from the opposite side.

Photo courtesy of Washington Rural Heritage, EPL0043_773b, circa 1930-1939

 

 

 

Ever Ride In A Speeder?

Speeders were used early in the past century to transport logging workers from the mill to where logs were cut - big logs and even bigger logs back then.  It's fun to reflect on what a "speeder" at the time looked like. Judy's dad was a logger for the St. Paul Lumber Co. back in the day and actually fell from a speeder, breaking his back.  Fortunately he recovered with just a lttle hitch in his gitty up to show for it.

Enjoy the pictures, all taken of speeders used by the White River Lumber Co.

Photos courtesy of Washington Rural Heritage, No. 2 Speeder, Washington State Library, no date

This one looks pretty plush to me.  Number 7 speeder at the White River Lumber Co circa 1930 - 1939.

No. 8 Speeder circa 1930 - 1939.

For more interesting Rural Heritage photos of this period, follow this link. 

Diamond Mineral Springs Resort

Photo courtesy of the White River Valley Museum, PO-05460, circa 1901

The Diamond Mineral Springs Resort was located along Green Valley Road, about 9 miles from Auburn, 4 miles from Black Diamond and just west of Flaming Geyser.  Originally an 80 acre cattle ranch purchased by Thomas C. Spaight, they discovered a bubbling spring on the property.  Testing of the water confirmed that the spring was rich in mineral elements valued in the treatment of diseases and illnesses.  Mr. Spaight apparently was quite the entrepreneur so they ended up deciding to bottle it and sell it locally.  They also built the resort which included a dance hall, tennis courts, baseball diamond and tents - thought to be the first resort to be built in the area at the time.  Diamond Mineral Springs was not named for Black Diamond as one might think, but instead for the sparkle of the water caused by ethane gas contained in it.  Apparently the same phenomenon that created Flaming Geyser.

For more information about the history of Diamond Mineral Springs, follow this link to White River Valley Museum.  Thanks again to the Museum for permission to post their photo.  Located in Auburn, the Museum is also a great place to visit if you have the opportunity.

Landsburg Headworks Circa 1899

In an earlier post, I focused on Taylor - A Mining Town Condemned.  Though once a thriving community of nearly 1,000, concern existed that coal and clay mining in the area was contaminating the Cedar River and the City of Seattle's principal water supply source.  Located just a few miles south of Taylor between Hobart and Ravensdale is Landsburg where the diversion dam, an intake canal, settling basin and gatehouse were built across the Cedar River in 1899 to supply Seattle's growing water needs.  This turned out to be quite a public works project as can be seen in the following photos.

Photo courtesy of University of Washington Libraries, WWDL0568, Anders Beer Wilse, cira 1899

The above photo shows the headworks under construction.

Photo courtesy of University of Washington Libraries, WWDL0541, Anders Beer Wilse, circa 1899

The above photo shows the intake diversion dam underconstruction.  The two holes you see in the brick structure divert flow into pipe that ultimately extends the 29 miles to Seattle.

Photo courtesty of Museum of History & Industry, SHS8670, circa 1930

Additional expansion occurred in 1930, further increasing the size of the transmission pipe.  Now that's what I call big pipe, especially for the time!  I wonder if the shift from clay pipe to concrete pipe had occurred about then?

The adverse consequence of this new dam was that it effectively blocked salmon spawning on a prime 17 mile segment of the river further upstream.  Correcting this and providing fish passage upstream has been one of the early priority salmon restoration projects in the Puget Sound region.  Quoting from Seattle Public Utilities:

"The construction of Landsburg fish passage facilities at the dam and aqueduct crossing were completed in 2003. The facilities are comprised of four primary components:

1. A full channel, boulder/chute fishway downstream of the aqueduct crossing to provide easy passage over the aqueduct and improved habitat conditions

2. Fish ladder and sorting facility at the diversion dam,

3. Tip-out downstream passage gate to provide safe passage for downstream migrating fish, and

4. Special screens on the municipal water intake to route downstream migrating fish away from the municipal water intake and safely back into the river.

The numbers of fish passing above the dam have generally increased since construction of the passage facilities. Early monitoring suggests that fish are performing well in this new habitat and recolonization is progressing well."

If you have an opportunity, be sure to visit Landsburg where you can connect with the beginning of the Cedar River Trail that can take you all the way to Renton and Lake Washington.  We have logged many a mile on this trail and consider it one of our funner jogging and biking trails.  The many river crossings also make it a great place to go if you want to observe fall Sockeye salmon runs.  Enjoy.

Historic Franklin Walking Tours Scheduled for February 4 and March 4

The Black Diamond Historical Society is once again planning to take people on a walking tour of the old historical town of Franklin on Saturday February 4 and Sunday March 4.  For more information on specific schedules, just follow the link above.  If you haven't been there yet, it's a absolute must do.

Railroad Avenue In The Snow

The above photo is courtesy of Ken Jensen and the Black Diamond History facebook page.  For more information about this photo and much more interesting history, follow the above link.

Coal, Clay, Cinnabar or Timber - Who Really Was King in the Late 1800's?

The answer may well surprise you.  None of the above?  How about HOPS?  Though definitive data is lacking, hops were all the craze during this period.  In the 1880's and 1890's, the Green River valley and much of King and Pierce counties were in the grip of a hops craze - the first crop to bring a measure of real wealth and prosperity to our area.  A hop blight in England and elsewhere in Europe drove hop prices through the roof and a new crop took root here.  Well known settlers such as Ezra Meeker made their wealth growing hops.  In 1882, King County farmers cultivated 200 acres that yielded 300,000 pounds of hops.  According to HistoryLink.org, the crop that year sold for $180,000 with expenses totaling a mere $30,000.  Now that's a profit margin that I can relate to!
Hop kiln photo courtesy of University of Washington Libraries, BOY23, circa 1889, photo taken in the Kent, Auburn, Puyallup Valley

Farmers rapidly converted their land to hop fields and by 1890 more than 9,000,000 pounds were harvested and King County supplied more hops than any other county in the State.  In a good year, farmers could expect to earn $400 or more per acre - a huge sum at the time.
Photo courtesy of University of Washington Libraries, LAR 033, circa 1893

Hop pickers included whites, Japanese and Chinese but most were Native Americans who came to the Valley by the thousands from around Puget Sound.  The above picture shows a Native American harvest crew. I am told that hop harvesting represented the first real cash commerce between the tribes and new settlers.  Each of the hop boxes as shown above when filled would contain about 100 lbs of hops.  An experienced hop picker could earn as much as $3.00 per day during the August/September harvest period, perhaps explaining why so many Native Americans participated at the time.  Following is another picture showing the baskets used by pickers and the family affair that harvest time created.
Photo courtesy of University of Washington Libraries, HES327, circa 1890-1893

Whole tribes at the time would make the migration to the area as shown by the following picture of a group of Quieleute tribal members.  The Quieleute, whose small reservation lies on the west coast of the Olympic Peninsula traveled all the way to Puget Sound to pick hops during the autumn harvest.  A fishing and seafaring people, they relied on wages from seasonal labor to purchase necessities for their families.
Photo courtesy of University of Washington Libraries, SHS 19, 061, circa 1904

Unfortunately, as we saw with so many natural resource industries at the time, their boom times could be short lived. An infestation of lice beginning in 1891 began to take its toll and early growers such a Ezra Meeker exited the business - well after he had pocketed a fortune.  Others continued but harvest levels declined.

To this day, Washington State remains the number one grower of hops in the U.S. and number two in the world behind only Germany.  Virtually all hop production today takes place in the Yakima Valley, though having grown up in the Puyallup Valley I still remember seeing hops growing in the Alderton area between Sumner and Orting even then.  Perhaps that explains my continuing fascination with this crop - and a taste for beer.

If hops were not king of the hill during this period, they certainly had their day and left an impressive footprint in the history of our region.

 

More Adventures Hiking Into The Gorge Along The Green

It's after 10 pm and well past my bedtime following our open community forum but couldn't resist posting a couple of photos from my hike last weekend into the gorge.  The big hole you see is an old mine entrance about where the Kummer mine was located decades ago.  This area is incredibly beautiful!

Notice the Kyaker near the hole.

This site seemed so weird.  The river at this point divides into two distinct paths.  The upper area just flowed gently, divided by a rocky shoal that separarated it from the lower and much deeper and bigger flow area near the opposite shore.  What made it so unusual was that the farther channel was at least a couple of feet lower in elevation than the upper area.  To catch the current, the kyakers obviously stayed in the deep and big flow channel.

More on this hike and area in future posts.

Bunkers At Mine B In Black Diamond - Circa 1915

Photo courtesy of University of Washington Libraries, Image no. 1978.65.85.38, circa 1915

Mine B in Black Diamond apparently operated between 1911 and 1914 on what was known as the Franklin series No. 13 coal seam, which was located stratigraphically below the McKay seam and west of the larger Mine 11.  Mine B had a maximum depth of 450 feet and also would appear to have a pretty short life for all of the investment in infrastructure required.  How could you make money in this business with such a short life-span?  I'm also waiting to find a photo from this period where we see clear blue sky.

And can you guess what natural resource investment at the time delivered the highest returns - coal, clay, cinnabar or ???????  The answer in a future post.

Black Diamond Mines Superintendent Home - Circa 1915

Photo courtesy of University of Washington Libraries, image No. 1978-6585.32, circa 1915

The above picture taken from a Pacific Coast Coal Company photographic album shows what it was like to be a superintendent of mines during the early 1900's.  Pretty spacious accomodations, at least in a comparative sense.  A continuing unanswered question for me is why the roof design of the time.  Small flat area on top and then gently sloping.  What was the functional value of this design that we can still see today in historic areas of our community?  Did they even have attics?

Taylor - A Mining Town Condemned

Photo courtesy of University of Washington libraries, Asahel Curtis Collection CUR788, circa 1910

In earlier posts re the Denny Renton Clay & Coal Plant, the Kummer Mine and the Johnson Clay Mine, we focused on the role that clay mining and manufacturing played in the early history of our region.  Add Taylor to the list.  Thanks to an extension of the Columbia and Puget Sound Railroad from Maple Valley, through Hobart and then on to what became known as Taylor, a new town was born.  Taylor apparently was a company town originally owned by a Scotsman named Sam Galloway who discovered deposits of coal and clay around 1892.  As with the mine at Kummer, Galloway eventually sold out (for the big sum of $64,000) to what became known as the Denny-Renton Clay and Coal Company. Bricks manufactured here played an important role in the reconstruction of Seattle following the disasterous fire of 1889.

From what we know, Taylor's population rose to nearly 1,000 by 1900 with 135 men working in the coal mine that fueled the kilns for the clay products.  High quality clay was also mined here and served as the basic raw material for the manufacture of bricks.  From what I am told, the coal was not of "saleable" quality but did serve to fire the ovens that produced the brick and other clay products.  According to an article in the Maple Valley Reporter by Barb Nilson, the first generation  population consisted of "250 Americans, 80 Italians, 53 English, 37 Finnish, 13 Polish, 16 Slovakians, 36 Slovanians, 11 Swedish, 11 Welsh, 6 Russians, 2 Scotch, 2 Lithuanians and a Letish.  In the 1920's, English as a Second Language was being taught in the school in Taylor."

Photo courtesy of University of Washington Libraries, Asahel Curtis Collection CUR787, Circa 1910

Notice the company housing in the photo above top right. 

In March 1927, a company from California called Gladding, McBean & Co. purchased all of the Denny-Renton properties including Kummer, Denny-Renton and Taylor.  No doubt, Mr. Denny pocketed quite a bundle, especially since he sold just prior to the stock market collapse of 1929.  Clay mining and products were now big time here and continued well into the 1940's.

So what happened to Taylor to wipe it off the face of the earth?  The Depression of the 1930's no doubt accelerated the process of decline and the town became but a remnant of it's earlier self during this period.  But the real death knell came when the City of Seattle concluded that mining activities were contributing to the pollution of their water supply, now know as the Cedar River Watershed. By the powers vested, the City of Seattle condemned the property and all mining and manufacturing operations ceased.  The town was dismantled in the summer of 1947 and approximately 10 homes were moved to Hobart and Maple Valley. 

So, Taylor is no more - sort of.  In a future post, will take you on a great hike around Taylor Mountain.

31 Days Of Adventure In Our Community - My January 2012 Challenge To All

The web is all astir offering numerous 31 day challenges entering January and the New Year.  Using the above graphic as a boundary map to help define our broader community, I offer the following 31 day January 2012 challenge (opportunity).  Whoever takes advantage of the most of these opportunities in January will receive a $25 gift certificate to the restaurant or other establishment of your choice in Black Diamond.

Hiking Trails for Natural Beauty & Exercise

• Jellum & Cinnabar Mining Hub (for more info beyond this link, search this blog for "Cinnabar")
• Hanging Gardens
• The Cathedral
• Icy Creek (for more info beyond this link, search this blog for Icy Creek)
• Ravensdale Creek (the "slatted bridge" loop)
• Ravensdale Lake (the lake and creek east of SR 160)
• Frog Lake
• Franklin Heritage Area (also, follow the link to the Black Diamond Historical Society who sponsors two tours each spring, typically one in February and one in March - credit to those who go on either of these in 2012)

Area Parks To Visit & Enjoy

• Lake Sawyer Regional Park
• Nolte State Park
• Kanaskat Palmer State Park (winter camping and Yurts here)
• Flaming Geyser State Park
• Lake 12 King County Lake Access

Entertainment & Culinary Delights

• Friday night Dinner & Jazz at Black Diamond Pizza & Deli and Baker Street Books (live jazz most Friday or Saturday nights and no cover).  Baker Street Books is directly across the street from Michael's place 
• Breakfast, brunch or dinner at the Black Diamond Bakery
• Awesome Italian at Mama Passarelli's
• Awesome BBQ at Rooters Famous BBQ

Enjoy & Contribute To The Future Of Our Community

• Visit & become a member of the Black Diamond Historical Society
• Volunteer and/or contribute to the Black Diamond Community Center (gas vouchers for the needy are particularly in demand)

For The Adventurous

• Paddleboard around Lake Sawyer ( you can borrow our paddle board)
• Kayak to where Ravensdale Creek and Frog Lake/Rock Creek dump into Lake Sawyer (we would be happy to lend you our two kayaks)
• Enjoy the Lake Sawyer Community Club Polar Bear swim New Years Day (a certified goose-bump event)
• Participate in one of the Yarrow Bay MPD special citizen committees (attend the Water Quality committee formation meeting on Wed. January 4 at 6:30 pm at the Black Diamond Elementary school or attend the Green Valley Road commitee formation meeting on Tues. January 10 at 6:30 pm at the Black Diamond Elementary school)
• Go skateboarding with local kids or just stop by the skateboard park downtown next to the elementary school.  Extra credit if you actually give it a try
• Bicycle, jog or walk any of the cross country trails on or around Ravensdale Creek between Lake Sawyer and SR 169 (credit goes to each outing)
• Bird watch at Frog Lake
• Try fishing in Lake Sawyer - catching a fish is worth extra credit
• Run, jog, walk around Lake Sawyer
• Enjoy a lazy explorative day at the Black Diamond Public Library

And last but not least, attend a City Council meeting (Jan. 5 and Jan. 19 beginning at 7 pm), attend a City Council Open Community Forum (Jan. 12 beginning at 6:30 pm at the Black Diamond Community Center) or just give any of your Councilmembers a call to share what is on your mind.

 

Even More Big Logs!

Thanks again to Bernie McKinney, following are some more photos of big logs apparently taken in the early 1920's based on Jack Sperry's assessment of auto models shown at the time. A whole different world.

Wow, look at this train and the truck below.

Can you imagine the headrig at the sawmill designed to process these logs?

Pretty comfy for a log home set on a train.

P.S.  Am a bit consumed right now with proposed CFD (Community Facilities District) legislation, critical Comprehensive Plan changes and other legislation facing us these last final weeks of the month, so this will be a light week of posts.

BIG LOGS!

Photos courtesy of Bernie McKinney

Thanks to my Middle Green River Coalition (MGRC) colleague, we have some pictures of the early logging days here in the northwest.  If you want to talk about really big trees and logs, these photos put it in perspective.  Judging by the vehicles shown, I am guessing that these photos were taken in the 1890's or very early 1900's - or maybe even earlier.  These trees were not just big, but giant.  For contrast, take a look at what you see being hauled by logging trucks of today.  Thanks Bernie!  Will post more of these photos later.

Medic One - Then and Now

Photo courtesy of Chief Smith and Fire District 44

The above picture shows the very first Medic One response vehicle used here in King County in 1970.  Quoting from the History of King County Medic One: 

"Nearly 40 years ago, there was no Medic One and there were no paramedics in King County. But two forward thinking physicians (Dr. Michael Copass and Dr. Leonard Cobb), and the Seattle Fire Chief at the time (Gordon Vickery), had the idea that perhaps firefighters could be taught some of the same skills that doctors used to save people who were seriously injured or ill, and could apply these skills in a person's home or in the street where their accident occurred. But this was a rather radical concept, and many people resisted it.

In spite of this, in 1970, the Seattle Fire Department, in cooperation with Harborview Medical Center and the University of Washington, trained the first class of firefighters as paramedics. The program was quite a success, and later classes soon followed. In 1977, the first paramedics came to work in King County."

As it turns out, Chief Smith was in one of the very first EMT classes held at Green River Community College during 1970 (he must have still been in high school).  They didn't even do CPR in those early days and heart attack survival rates were low.  Much has changed since and now King County Medic One leads the country in cardiac arrest survival. 

For more info on current Medic One/EMS services, follow this link to an earlier post Medic One & EMS.

Maybe I should rethink my search for a hippie bus.  As I continue to get older, traveling around in the above van might have some real advantages.  Thanks again Chief Smith for the photo.

Miner's Picnics - And A Young Gomer Evans

Photo courtesy of Bill Kombol, Palmer Coking Coal and Gomer Evans, circa 1952 at Flaming Geyser State Park

Did miners ever party?  Absolutely.  Each summer, coal and clay mining companies would host a miners picnic filled with games, libations and leasure, according to Bill Kombol.  The above photo shows the Evan & Mickey Johnson Coal Mining Company's miners picnic in 1952. For more information on this mine, follow these links to Hiking To The Old Johnson Coal & Clay Mine and The Johnson Clay Mine

The following miners have been identified:  Back row from left to right: Gene Barnes, Harry Rossi, Dick Wetton, Pete Cartright, Gomer Evans Jr., Mickey Johnson, Frank Costi, unknown, Enoch Johnson, Ed Johnson, unknown, unknown, unknown, unknown, Dewey?, George Savicke (pouring beer), unknown, unknown, Paul Botts, unknown.  Front row kneeling from left to right:  Jack Darby (pouring beer), unknown, Roy Darby, Joe Wilsco, Bill Parkins.  So many familiar names from our community's wonderful history.  Gomer - always the handsome and tall guy.  The swimming suits were not exactly speedos but brief they were. 

To hear Gomer tell the stories, partying was not just limited to an annual picnic.  The wash-house tended to be party central.  From what I am told, miners wore their street clothes to the wash-house every day, then changed into their mining clothes hung from the roof.  At the end of the day, mining clothes were shed, re-hung and showers had before changing back into everyday clothes before heading home.  But on some days there was also a little hootch or other libations to be had before heading home.  For more of our illustrious history, follow these links to Why So Many Plum Trees In Black Diamond and Black Mary - Bootlegging Queen of Black Diamond.  Gomer of course went home before the partying began.  Very fun!

For more about coal miner's picnics, follow this link to HistoryLink.org and type in Miners Picnic in the search box.

Van Asselt School - First In King County

Photo courtesy of University of Washington Libraries, Asahel Curtis Collection, CUR 1735, circa late 1800's

In the process of learning about the Puget Sound Fire & Clay Company - Van Asselt Plant located on Beacon Hill in Seattle, I ran across this photo of the Van Asselt school.  As it turns out, Van Asselt was the location of the very first school to be established in King County.  Following are some excerpts from the verso of the image.

The little settlement of Van Asselt had the first school in King county.  It was opened in "Bachelors hall" by Mrs. D.E. Blaine in 1854.  There were fourteen pupils, thirteen girls and one boy.  The expense was born by a subscription paid by the parents.  This school continued until the outbreak of the Indian War in 1855.  Shortly after the war ended, the subscription school reopened and in 1862 a one room schoolhouse was established on Unversity property (presumably the school shown in the above photo).  The University continued to house the school until 1868, but by then people wanted a free common school.  In 1869, the first tax was voted and a site was purchased at Third Avenue and Marion where the first free public school was built - a two story structure 48 feet by 30 feet.

Does anyone know when and where the first school was established in Black Diamond?

Hiking To The Old Johnson Coal & Clay Mine

Picture of Gomer Evans taken on Wednesday during our hike to the old Johnson Mine

On a beautiful fall day, Keith Watson, Keith's brother, Gomer Evans, Bill Kombol and I had the opportunity to hike to the location of the old Johnson Clay Mine.  Gomer worked here during the 1950's, so we were anxious to see if we could find any remnants of the mine now located on Washington State Parks property.  It's on the south side of the Green River just east of Flaming Geyser State Park.  Thanks to Gomer's memory and the sleuthing/bushwacking skills of our team, I think that we did great and now have a pretty good understanding of how this facility all laid out - at least at the big picture level.

The old haul road that once connected the mine to SR 169 is still there.  In the picture that follows we see where the haul road decended into the area of the mine up on the ridge, about 600 feet above the river, that contained the burn pile areas, hoist, bunkers for loading mined coal and clay, the wash house etc. as sketched by Gomer in the link provided above.  We are hoping that Gomer might put together a more detailed sketch focused just on this area.

Bill Kombol gets the "discoverer" award for finding what clearly appears to be the area where coal/clay cars where hoisted up from the mine on rail to the ridge top.

The picture that follows shows just how steep this incline was for pulling cars up from the mine, which was located pretty close to water level in the river.

If you look near the top center, you will be able to see the river below - way down there.  Among Bill's discoveries was also what could have been a vent or just caved in area - big hole that went well into the hillside.  Notice the clear coal seam.

And for the last picture let me show some of the remnants pulled from the site including nuggets of clay left over from the burn piles, coal remnants and what we might best call a "klinker" that had been heated through the burn process but that contained other minerals like silica that would cause it to fuse and look "glazed" in appearance.

It appears that the best way to get there without having to cross private property is from Flaming Geyser - but I'll save that trail for another day.

Denny Renton Clay & Coal Circa 1910

Above is a picture of the Denny Renton Clay & Coal Company facility in Renton circa 1910 courtesy of University of Washington Libraries, Asahel Curtis Collection, CUR789

In an earlier post, I focused on the Johnson Clay Mine located just south across the Green River from Kummer.  Clay was mined and processed here and shipped to the Renton facility which operated well into the 1950's.  Mr. Denny for whom the plant was renamed, was one of Seattle's founding fathers and he acquired and consolidated much of the region's clay mining and processing facilities into a real empire in the early 1900's, including the mine at Kummer which began operations going all the way back to 1898.  Hence, the Renton Clay & Coal Company became known as the Denny Renton Clay & Coal Company.  In the picture above, notice what clay processing does to the surrounding area - almost looks like snow covering the area except that it's clay.  Such fine particles easily wind blown. 

Notice Lake Washington in the far background.  This plant is where both Kummer and Johnson mine coal and clay were transported to for many years.  In the picture that follows, also courtesy of University of Washington Libraries, you will see the clay sewer pipe manufactured here - lot's of it.

Later this morning, Gomer Evans, Bill Kombol, Keith Watson and I are headed on an exploritory mission to see if we can find any remnants of the old Johnson Mine.  The area where the mine was then located is now owned by Washington State Parks, though getting there requires traversing through some private property for which we have obtained permission.  I will report soon on what we find.  Should be great fun.

The Johnson Clay Mine & Reflections From Gomer Evans

In an earlier post Clay Mining - A Significant Part of Our History, I focused on the role that clay mining played in our area's history and on the Kummer mine that was located just a few miles from Black Diamond along the Green River and Green Valley Road. The Kummer mine, or Claymine as it was commonly known by locals began operations clear back in 1889.  Just recently, I learned that there was another clay mine located in our area - this one just south across the Green River from Kummer and known as the Johnson Mine.  As it turns out, the Johnson Mine operated well into the early 1950's and once employed a young buck and Welsh descendent by the name of Gomer Evans - yes, the same Gomer Evans that is a former mayor of Black Diamond and can now be seen restoring trains at the Black Diamond Historical Museum. 

I had an opportunity to spend some time with Gomer last week at the Museum and learn more about the Johnson mine's history.  Following is a sketch that Gomer drew showing the mine's location and some of the mine fixtures.  We're pretty sure that is very close to scale.

As you can see at the bottom of the sketch, what is now Green Valley Road was then known as Clay Mine road, with the Kummer mine located right along the Green River at the bottom of the gorge at or near water level.  The Johnson mine was apparently just south on the other side of the river.  A haul road connected the mine's operations with what is now SR 169, with processed clay trucked from the mine to a plant in Renton.

The Johnson mine apparently was also located very close to the river down into the gorge.  An electric hoist line was used to haul ore containing both coal and clay up the hill in coal cars on rail.  These cars were then dumped into bunkers where trucks could be loaded to take the ore for further processing.  The following picture, courtesy of Palmer Coking Coal Company and Bill Kombol, shows the coal/clay bunkers.

(NOTE: King County Assessor photo #262106-9022 dated November 13, 1951.)

To quote from the notes of Bill Kombol, "This 1951 photo shows the coal and clay bunkers (i.e. storage/processing facilities) of the Kummer Coal Company as later operated by the Johnson Coal Co. and Palmer Coking Coal Co., Inc.  The bunker’s capacity was listed as 150 tons.  Originally built as a coal bunker, it was later used for clay.  Evan "Mickey" Johnson owned and operated what was known as the Johnson coal mine located between Black Diamond and Enumclaw.  The mine operated from about 1944, when these bunkers were believed to have been built until 1956.  The Kummer mine was unique in that both coal and clay were taken from the same portal and processed on site.  Following mining, slabs of mill-ends were laid on the ground and covered first with coal and then with freshly mined clay. This wood/coal base was set on fire and the clay was burned to rid it of carbon contaminants. The resulting fire clay was sold to Gladding McBean in Renton for the production of bricks.  The Kummer clay beds were discovered by Jacob Sants on August 15, 1888 and named for George Kummer, ceramist for the Denny Clay Company.  This site is located south of the Green River and west of SR 169 on property now owned by Washington State Parks & Recreation in Section 26-21-6."

The long rows that you see in Gomer's sketch represent the slab wood rows where a first layer of slab wood was layed down, and a few tires sometimes too according to Gomer.  Anything to make it burn.  Mined clay ore, which contained coal and apparently looked just like coal, was then piled onto these rows perhaps 15 feet high.  They were then lit on fire until the piles burned down.  Just think of all that smoke.  The piles burned for maybe 30 days before the refined clay was then loaded into trucks for hauling to Renton.  According to Gomer, his job was to load the trucks and unless you did it just right, you ended up dumping this hot clay right on your head.  I guess that Welshmen have long been known for being a bit hard headed.

The building at middle top of Gomer's sketch is the powder house where dynamite was stored and the wash house was the place for partying, but more on this in a later post.  Thanks so much Bill Kombol and Gomer Evans for sharing with us an important and fun part of our local history.