History of Black Diamond

The Green River region lies about 30 miles southeast of Seattle on a flat bench of glacial gravel. Its perimeters are older sedimentary mountains to the west and north, with the Cedar River forming a snaking northern boundary; towering Cascade foothills to the east; and the lush Enumclaw floodplain to the south. Black Diamond lies in the heart of the Green River region.

Millions of years ago, an array of geologic occurrences converged in this area to create difficult and expensive coal beds, and impoverished possibilities for farming and forestry. The area is cooler than Seattle and twice as wet, which means much of Black Diamond’s history took place in the rain.

The Black Diamond Coal Company was organized and started work in 1864, in Nortonville, Contra Costa County, California. In 1873 four men took up claim in the Green River area and formed the Green River Coal Company. About the same time California speculators, aware of the fact that the abundant Mt. Diablo mine at Nortonville, California would soon be depleted, began their investigations in the Pacific Northwest. One of them bought out the Green River Coal Company, but because of the low quality of exposed coal, the fields were not developed. In the spring of 1880, P.B. Cornwall, President of the Black Diamond Coal Mining Company, sent Victor Tull to explore possibilities on Puget Sound. He discovered an abundance of higher quality coal a few miles north in the future Black Diamond-Franklin-Ravensdale district.

B.B. Jones, a coal expert, was sent north to continue the prospecting. The Company immediately started to open the first big Black Diamond mine, No. 14. On April 7, 1882, 800 pounds of Black Diamond coal was sent to San Francisco for testing. Its quality so impressed Cornwall and Morgans, his superintendent, that they came north in June.

By 1885, Mt. Diablo was dead and the predominantly Welsh Nortonville miners moved into the Green River Region, giving birth to Black Diamond and its surrounding settlements.

A scramble for possession of the newly discovered veins involving Seattle, San Francisco and New York set the stage for two crucial processes-one was the development of a huge monopoly over Northwest transportation by a New York financier, Henry Villard, through NP and the Oregon Improvement Company, and the other several million dollar survey of soil, timber and mineral potential which Villard inspired.

By 1882 the pattern for Green River economics had been determined. The Black Diamond Company and Oregon Improvement Company along with Northern Pacific developed the mines and dominated the Green River field throughout its history.

Any hope for immediate prosperity for the area was an illusion. The coal was hard to mine; gas, faults, dust and steeply pitched beds added to production costs. But by March 1885 coal, in large quantities, was being mined from the new tunnels. The end of that year saw 43,868 tons produced. During the first 20 years production continued to increase, rising from 115,028 tons in 1895 to 234,028 tons in 1914. The 1873 Coal Land Act specified 160 square acre plot limits per individual, ignoring the meandering deposits and uneven surfaces, thus seriously limiting successful mining and giving rise to fraudulent purchasing. English and Australian merchant ships carried high-quality coal as ballast, flooding the market with superior and very cheap coal. British Columbia used Chinese labor to keep its costs down. By the mid 1890’s the entire Green River Field had a reputation for failure, but the peak years for the Black Diamond mines were still ahead.

Labor-Management clashes were numerous during the period of 1880-1915. As in other mining areas across the country, issues of wages, hours, safety, workmen’s compensation and union recognition were sources of frequent strikes, lockouts and incredible hardships for mining families.

Those difficulties were further compounded by periodic, national economic depressions. By the year 1907, however, the Pacific Coast Coal Company signed an agreement with the United Mine Workers, and by 1914 the mines of the entire Green River Valley were unionized. The year 1907was also Black Diamond’s peak production year---970, 000 tons; and the year 1915 saw some 1,400 miners employed in the Green River fields. Neither the production nor employment level was ever achieved again.

In almost every respect, economic, social and physical, the town of Black Diamond was shaped by the demands of the industry and its management. The land on which most of the homes were built remained the property of the company; and the mine superintendent, Morgan Morgans, determined who could buy and sell to whom and at what price. He donated the town cemetery; controlled liquor, electricity, medical care and political rallies, permitted collection of relief funds, determined mine holidays, and attended the state constitutional convention.

The Company, however, did not operate the limited retail facilities. The town’s residents had to travel to Seattle for major purchases such as bulk staple, clothing and household furnishings. Even at the turn of the century, Black Diamond with a population of 1,000 did not have the wide variety of businesses and services, which characterized most other towns of similar size.

The “Company Store,” which typified most mining communities, did not come into being in the Black Diamond area until 1904, when the new mine owners sought to increase their revenues by raising the merchant’s rents. Eventually, a company store and company coupons were introduced.

Following World War I, after substantial wage increases had been achieved by the miners, the Black Diamond area became more susceptible to national trends in the economy than it had been in earlier decades. Nationwide strikes in the industry couple with the replacement of coal by oil and electricity in many industry which had been a major market for coal, contributed to both a declining market and weakening of the unions. The 1920’s witnessed some of the most tragic and violent labor disputed in the history of the State of Washington.

By the year 1927 the Pacific Coast Coal Company closed the Number 11 mine within the community and developed the new Black Diamond mine about six miles south of Renton. Many of the miners transferred to that area. During the 1930’s a new mine was stared in Section 5 and the Franklin mine was reopened.

In the late 1930’s, the company disposed of Black Diamond and its residences, bringing to an end the company’s total domination of the community’s economic and social life. Miners were given the opportunity to buy their houses. If they did not choose to buy, the houses were sold to any interested party.

By 1946, the Pacific Coast Coal Company’s holdings were acquired by the Palmer coal and Coking Company.

During the mining era and after the end of major mining activities, most community services were provided by King County. There was much dissatisfaction with county services and Black Diamond citizens discussed the possibilities of municipal incorporation. An incorporation petition was initiated and presented to King County officials. The issue was determined by a favorable majority vote on January 20, 1959; and the first official meeting of the Black Diamond City Council was held on March 3, 1959.

The present day City of Black Diamond is essentially a resource-oriented community. The initial purpose of the establishment was the discovery and extraction of coal. The extraction of clay, gravel and other non-fossil minerals was a later development, less impressive than the value of coal, but some economic significance. The mineral deposits of the area are still substantial; and in a period of rapid population growth and rising costs of energy resources of all kinds, there exists the very real possibility that the exploitation of the coalfields will again be economically feasible. Technological developments such as gasification or other processes for the on-site use of coal in electric and physical development. Two major utility companies have examined such possibilities at least in preliminary fashion in recent years.

The mine workings are at several different levels ranging from surface levels to approximately 2,000 vertical feet below the surface. They are connected by a series of access and air shafts the pitch of which ranges form 19 to 63 degrees.

When mining operations were completed or abandoned, the various levels and shafts were collapsed or filled to reduce the possibility of future cave-ins. There is however, no guarantee that the surface areas above the former workings are entirely reliable for building construction. Every building site for proposed construction should, therefore, be carefully examined for potential hazards. Moreover, pockets of water or gas may be present in some of these areas; and appropriate testing should be done for these features on proposed building sites.

Elevations range from 525 to 1,180 feet above sea level. The highest elevations are on top of the steepest slopes. Most of the city’s development has occurred at elevations in the 500 to 780 feet range, with the lowest found in the Morganville area and the higher elevations east of Highway 169 (Third Avenue).

SCOTCH-WELSH EMIGRATE NORTH

Fred Roberts, retired mechanic and coal miner, who has now passed away, came with his family in 1887, shortly after the railroad had made it possible to haul coal to tidewater.

His parents were Welsh, part of the Welsh-Scots emigration of the 1880’s. His father worked first in the Pennsylvania anthracite mines; they came to Washington when Fred was nine years old. About 10 years later the young man started working in the black Diamond mines.

Asked what he did, he laughed and said, “A little bit of everything.” I started working in No. 11, shoveling coal and carrying timber. Later I drove mule teams, which hauled the coal cars. There were a dozen mules down in old No. 11. Sometimes when the mules weren’t handy or got stuck, we young fellows pushed loaded cars, each carrying one and one half tons of coal. We were the mules!

About 1903 the mines installed generators and made their own electricity. At first this was used only for lights. In tow or three years electric motors came along and did away with the mules. Then I ran an electric hoist; worked on the pumps, too. The entrance tunnel was near the big slag dumps, just back of the new bank building outside Black Diamond today.

“The Pacific Coast Coal Company bought the original Black Diamond Coal Company in 1904,” Robert said. They owned Sections 10, 12, and 14; every other Section belonged to the Northern Pacific Railroad. The coal company later got Section 11 from the railroad.

Roberts considered himself lucky. After working more than a quarter of a century in the mines, he came out alive, and uninjured. His closest call was when he started to clean out a chute, storage space off the min slope. The heat under his feet was so great he couldn’t stand on the rock. He warned the superintendent. The coal cars were run out. Hurriedly, working in short shifts, the men shoveled out the fine coal on the floor of the chute and avoided a fire from spontaneous combustion.

He explained the event, which closed the Black Diamond mines. After paying a wage of $7.55 for an eight-hour day during World War I, the mine owner’s announced March 15, 1921, that wages would go back to $6.05.

“Cle Elum and Roslyn miners were getting $7.55. We weren’t about to take less.” Roberts stated firmly. We were locked out. Strikebreakers were brought in, first from Butte and then as far away as Alabama. We were evicted from our homes. The Company owned the land and we paid $1.00 a month for ground rent. Finally I got $300 for my house and moved. Our coal miners union bought land from Timothy Morgan, a Welshman, who had squatted on 80 acres outside of town. We all built new homes at Morganville. I’ve lived here, in my house, since I moved out of Black Diamond in 1923.

I sat on a picket line for a while. When I got tired of that I went to work for Pacific Dar and Foundry, in Renton, and stayed there until I retired in 1949. That was the end of the two big mines here for not many men ever returned to work in the mines.

The Palmer Coal and Coking Company are getting some good coal out of No. 11 right now. Coal from the last two mines still operating is screened and washed at the old bunkers. The other big mine in town was No. 14. The two, 11 and 14, were connected with a tunnel. When they closed in 1921, they were said to be the deepest coalmines in the United States.

Roberts explained that the coalmines in and around Black Diamond were named for land sections, No. 11 being on Section 11 and No. 14 being on Section 14, Township 21, and North Range 6 East.

FLOYD TURNBULL: another who remembers early days in Black Diamond is Floyd Turnbull, born there in 1898. His father, Alexander Turnbull, was the master mechanic who installed much of the machinery in the two big mines. The latter came north from California in 1887 and the rest of the group of Scotch-Welsh miners followed the next year.

The elder Turnbull, known as “Sandy,” had served a seven-year apprenticeship in Scranton, Pennsylvania, under his own father who was general superintendent of a large firm. The family had come from Scotland a number of years before and various members had worked in hard coal mines.

His wife, Margaret Nokes, had an English father, an Oxford graduate, who was disowned by his family when he married a Welsh girl whom they considered beneath him socially. The elder Mr. Nokes came to America with the family and is buried in Black Diamond Cemetery.

This group left the east because of a strike in the hard coal mines and religious strife between Protestants and Catholics. Turnbull said his family told him about the “Molly McGuires,” a group of Irish Catholics who caused much trouble. After their barn was burned and threats made against them, the Turnbulls started for the west coast.

Floyd Turnbull worked in the Black Diamond mines as assistant mining engineer. One of his jobs was going down in the mine and measuring how much coal each miner took out. This was when them miners worked on piecework. He said he always arranged it so the miner made decent wages. In the early part of the century contract mining paid very well. An efficient miner might get a check for $400 every two weeks.
“ I’m certain there were more than 1,000 miners employed when No.’s 11 and 14, at Black Diamond, and 2 and 7, at New Lawson were all open and busy.” Turnbull said, “However, there was a great deal of gas in these mines.” We couldn’t seem to find the cause of the “bumps” in No.11 when the mine floor would rise to suddenly and trap miners. We were very careful about going in a new tunnel; always sent a fire boss ahead with a safety lamp. It was a gas explosion, which blew up part of the New Lawson mine in 1916 with a number killed. A promoter who drilled a number of test holes found the old Lawson Mine, near Jones Lake. I think the gas burning in the holes he left formed the Flaming Geyser.

Turnbull’s reminiscences afford a glimpse into the past days when mine owners ran the town. When Morgan Morgans was superintendent from 1885 to 1904, he was czar in complete control, according to Turnbull. If he didn’t like you or your family or if you didn’t follow orders, your job was apt to vanish. However, Turnbull conceded, under this stern but benevolent rule, the town was well run and organized. The miners knew first aid and had their own mine rescue teams. When there was an accident, they didn’t wait for outside doctors to arrive but went ahead and took care of themselves. Each miner paid $1.00 a month for medical care.

An explanation of “drawing the pillars” was given by Turnbull. Pillars of coal, 60 by 60 feet, were left in all the early coalmines, he said. After all the rest of the available coal was mined, men went in and took the pillars, timbering the roof as they progressed.

In addition to mining the Turnbull family homestead and logged the area around Lake Wilderness about 60 years ago. The loggers lived at the upper end of the lake in a settlement, called Eddyville. This area has had a resort and golf course for many years and in 1966 was purchased by King County for a public park. Alexander Turnbull also was one of the organizers of the White Lumber Company at Enumclaw.

FRED GRANT: Sometimes they needed outside help in stopping fights and riots. Fred Grant now retired and living on Guemes Island, was a state patrolman in the days when husky drinking miners swung at each other in the saloons and dance halls. The patrolmen wore heavy leather gloves. The right palm was padded with a circle of buckshot.

When the ringleaders in the fights could not be subdued otherwise and sometimes, so Grant remembers, when two patrolmen were facing a crowd, determined to wipe out the policemen, a swing with the right arm would send the most belligerent fighter to the floor and the rest would retreat.

The energetic miners of Black Diamond did not neglect the education of their children. The first school District No.41 was organized November 6, 1885. Later District No. 132 was formed August 5, 1901 and in 1909 the two districts united into District No. 160. On August 8, 1918 160 combined with District 53, of Franklin where a school had been started on February 12, 1887.

HISTORIC ASPECTS OF BLACK DIAMOND
RAILROAD REVENUE: From the intersection of First Avenue to the intersection of Jones Lake Road. This is perhaps the most important historic area. The avenue is the abandoned right-of-way of the Old Great Northern Railroad, which now terminates at Roberts Drive. This segment of Railroad Avenue includes the following buildings.

THE DEPOT: At the intersection of Commission Avenue.

The train depot now houses the Historical Society and is sitting on the original site. The depot was built around 1886 by the Oregon Improvement Company that owned the Columbia & Puget Sound Railroad. It was added on to in 1904 and remodeled in 1915 before being sold in 1916 to Pacific Coast Coal, a large conglomerate out of New York City.

The first train arrived in 1886 and the line continued to run until the early thirties. In the intervening years the depot has been a café, phone exchange, Library, Water Department, and a city storage building. When the Bicentennial came around a group of citizens formed the Historical Society and gradually over the years have taken over the building. They started restoring it in 1978 and are continually improving it every day. The citizens of Black Diamond and the surrounding area have donated many items, from 1882 to the present time.

The Society has installed approximately 125 feet of railroad track in front of the depot where it originally laid. People in memory of past loved ones donated the railroad ties and their names are on a plaque on the front of the depot.

If you are ever in this area and are a history buff this building is a must see.

THE JAIL: Circa 1910, the only one Black Diamond has ever had, is sitting to the south of the depot. When it was first built it was sitting down the hill, west behind the depot, along with a saloon, blacksmith shop and a livery. It has two small cells, a small stove and one chair for the guard. It has been moved in the early thirties to a site east of the depot where it slowly deteriorated over the years until the Society moved it in its present site in 1980 and began restoration.

COAL CAR AND WASH HOUSE: To the north of the Depot is a coal car from Mine No. 11, circa 1920 and a washhouse. Most of the homes of that period had a washhouse behind their homes so that their family members, who worked in the mines, could remove their coal-covered clothes there, bathe and change into clean clothes before entering the house.

If you are ever in this area and are a history buff this building is a must see.

BLACK DIAMOND SALOON: Originally built as a log cabin, circa 1886, to be a store, it quickly became too small so the present building was built. The log cabin was torn down gradually about 1917. The building had a wall down the middle with the store on one side and a warehouse on the other. When prohibition came in the store moved out and Morgan Davis and Paul Medica started a pool hall in the store side and a meat market took over the warehouse side. Then in 1919 the Diamond Bus Line moved into the meat market side. Over the years it has housed many other businesses and t hen stood vacant for some years. Its present owner has restored and remodeled the building and it now houses a bar on the north side and a family restaurant on the south side.

BLACK DIAMOND BAKERY: The Bakery, possibly the best-known place in Black Diamond, was originally started in 1902, by (and history is uncertain on this) a Mr. Hadley. John Lapham, who owned bakeries in Enumclaw and Buckley, purchased it around 1915 and his brother Eldon Lapham operated it for him. The shop has been owned by Doug Weiding since 1985 and although many changes have occurred in the last 90 years the basic concept, of baking bread in a brick oven, with a good wood fire is still going strong today.

The shop is open Tuesday through Sunday, from 8:00am to 4:00 pm, but the preparations for the 575 loaves of bread a day. 300 to 400 donuts a day and the 700 Cinnamon Rolls per week begins at 3:00am and continues until 11:00 each day. They bake 26 different breads per week and also man size chocolate chip and peanut butter cookies as well as many types of regular size cookies.

The fire to heat the bricks is actually started on Monday, of each week, because it must burn for eight to ten hours before the baking begins. They use one half cord of wood each day and approximately five cords per week.

People from all over the Puget Sound area come to buy this blank bread so if you’re ever in the area don’t pass it up. A deli section was opened in 1989 and food is terrific.

ART GALLERY AND CONFECTIONERY MALL: At the corner of Baker and Railroad Avenue. The building originally housed the Post Office with a bank in the back. If you were to visit it now you would still find the bank vault there. It now houses many small shops featuring home crafted items. In 1977-78 the current owners restored the building and it is an excellent example of a new and attractive use of an old building.

OTHER HISTORIC SITES AND BUILDINGS: Include at least four residential structures on Roberts Drive between its intersection with Morgan Street on the west and the area known as Morganville to the east. These homes are currently occupied and appear to be in sound condition.

THE BLACK DIAMOND CEMETERY: Is of obvious historical significance. Owned and maintained by the city, it contains the remains of families whose descendants live in the community today. Nearly all of the names significant to Black Diamond history are on the headstones and monuments; and they reflect the multi-ethnic origins of the town’s people. Reflected too, in the dates of birth and death, are the hazards of the mines. If these elements are not enough to declare its uniqueness, it may be the only cemetery around in which several of the family plots are covered with asphalt or astro-turf.

THE UNION STUMP: Located just east of the intersection of Roberts Drive and the Cemetery Road is a concrete monument measuring about six feet square and four feet high. It encases the remains of a large tree stump, which served as a speaker’s platform in the early efforts to unionize the miners. Organizing efforts were prohibited company property, and the stump was in a section of land, which the company did not own. It is surprising that the monument is not more fully identified and its significance noted by a bronze plaque.

ENTRY TO BLACK DIAMON’S COAL MINE: is marked by the original concrete foundations about 300 feet south of the present City Hall, adjacent to a three acre site owned by the City.

BLACK DIAMOND HOSPITAL: On Lawson Road, across the street form the current City Hall, the old residential structure sere as Black Diamond’s hospital form 1908 to 1921. It contained four beds, X-ray equipment and an operating room. At one time it was the residence and office of Dr. Howard L. Botts. He was the company doctor for the Pacific Coast Coal Company form 1929 until the year of his death. His son is now the Mayor of Black Diamond.