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Locating Lost Old Coal Mines of King County

This is a directory of blog links of my searches for Lost Coal Mines around the Seattle area. Hard to believe 100 years ago we had a booming mineral extraction business here.  Now these old mines are buried and long forgotten.

It all started with my fascination at Cougar Mountain Regional Park.  This wonderful wilderness on the east side sits is on top of where a small town and multiple mines existed.  Next to nothing is left of them except old pictures and the rare piece of preserved things.  That ranges from a stray piece of black gold on the ground to an actually sealed mine entrance.

Often all that is left is a huge lump of old concrete. These blocks of moss covered cement are usually hoist foundations.  They held the huge machines that pulled the coal, miners and equipment with steel cables out of the mines.

My quest to find these old relics of our past is not over & I will update this directory as I add more mine finds.  I appreciate any input or tips you might have or just a bit of commiserating with me at how time changes our landscape so completely.

This directory article has become a bit cumbersome.  Here is a little index of the topics in the order they are below:

  • Cougar Mountain, Coal Creek Coal Mines, Newcastle Washington
  • Renton Coal Mine  – under I-405
  • Franklin – Ghost Town, Mines & Cemetery
  • How to find a Coal mine – Smaller mines on the east hill behind Renton – New Lake Youngs, Spring Glen or Starkovitch, Springbrook, Red Devil/Fire King
  • Tiger Mountain Coal Mines – Caroline & Bear Creek Yards
  • New Black Diamond, Indian Coal Mine & Jones Brothers
  • Cedar Mountain – Ghost Town and Mines

First Coal Mine Moment – Cougar Mountain Regional Park in Newcastle –

This blog post was called “Coal Creek Mine Ruins – 100 years later”. It started out as a hike to see Coal Creek Waterfall in the spring of 2017.  Then I tripped upon the history that surrounds this park on the edge of Seattle. Once hundreds of people lived and work to pull coal from the ground here.  This post starts with the natural part and ends with how I became fascinated by this concept of what a 100 years does to the land.

Second Visit to Cougar Mountain Park –

See the “Big H”? We are going there

This blog post was called “Time – A Conundrum”.  I returned later in 2017 to document the Ford Slope Mine and how we have forgotten that mother nature is the one in charge. No matter that we are buried in social media of today, nature is busy putting things back the way she wants it.  That includes this once busy industrial intensive coal mine of 100 years ago.

Thru the Gate to History

The shack and red brick pile above the Coal Creek ravine

A trip I did in 2017 but did not become important until I read about it on Facebook in the Ghost Town Lovers group.  Went thru a little gate and checked out this shack that rumor has it sits on the foundation from the company store.  Plus piles of old red brick that we think are a foundation for a Generator House.

Coal Creek Hotel Trash

A recent adventure where my partner in crime Alan pointed me towards where the Coal Creek Hotel dumped their trash.  Found pottery and bottles dating about 100 years old.  Check out how things were just tossed down the hillside for us to find.

Not Just an Old Shack

Shack and brick in 2011 – Ghost Towns of Washington Coal Creek – caption said Generator House Foundations

This was a revisit in 2021 of this old shack and the brick foundations around it.  We dig deep into the history and where and what these relics came from.  Was the shack a reclaimed building from the old coal mine camp?  Was it put on a foundation from the old company store?  And what a work of art these red brick footings are.  Lot to explore in history here.

There’s a Coal Mine Under my Freeway –

1963 – Renton Coal Mine exposed during original construction of the Freeway I-405

You read that right.  In 1963 when they built I-405 close to the S curves they found the old mine entrance which they sealed up forever under our freeway.  This post is about the one thing left from the Renton Coal Mine; The Hoist. Plus if you align yourself right you can imagine how this industrial endeavor stretched under the current freeway and down where the old Sam’s Club was built.

Summer of 2018 I hiked up to the old site of Franklin, Washington.  This is not only a 3 part series of the mines but also of the town of hundreds that is no more.

Franklin Coal Mine on Green River –

Up close of the coal car in Green River

Before I got to the actual town site I walked down a side road.  So glad I did because I came to the river and found where one of the mines had been dug into the side of the river gorge.  Plus a bonus sighting of a little bird called a Dipper.

Franklin Town site and Old Foundations –

This is where the rubber meets the trail and I tell you about what I found where the town used to be.  I wrote a pretty profound thing that is relevant to today’s COVID-19 Stay at Home or any time in our lives when we feel stuck.

When you find yourself losing faith that life is stuck in some shallow place or you can’t quite imagine how things will change or you are wondering when will Lady Luck or the Devil tear at the fabric of your lives. This is when change happens.

Franklin Ghost Town Cemetery –

It is only right that this is the third and final installment of my Franklin “the Ghost Town” adventure. I have to say I got more than I bargained for. My experience was memorable and made me respectful of things we don’t understand. A ghost town is not named just because it was something in the past. It can harbor things that do not want to let go of what was.

Moving on to the summer of 2019.  I had retired with more time to go dig around for old coal mines.  That is where my research took me to the hill area above Valley General Hospital and the smaller family run mines.

How to Find an Old Coal Mine –

After my experiences with Franklin and Coal Creek I wanted more adventure. This post documents my search for a mine named New Lake Youngs Mine that my friend Jeff at work told me about. It was not as easy as it was for the larger mines where there is something left.  It required several visits and a lot more research using multiple maps and digging around.  Hence, how do you find an Old Coal Mine.

More Coal Mines to be Found –

Spring Glen or Starkovitch Coal Mine map from DNR

This is about some more investigative adventure around the two smaller mines – The Wilson & the Starkovitch Mines. Again, not as conclusive but just as satisfying trying to figure out from old maps where these coal mines were and what is on top of them now.

Spring Glen/Starkovitch Coal Mine – How to Find a Mine V3  – It always seems so easy on paper. I had to go back to the site of the Spring Glen Coal Mine with a lot more info and a pair of clippers to attack the blackberry brambles.

Red Devil Coal Mine – Where are YOU? –

I was going to work on the mines around Talbot Road but was distracted by a bit of serendipity.  I had found a map of the Lake Desire & Spring Lake hiking area.  With that map in hand I opened up the Washington State Coal Mine Map Collection.  OH Boy….  Did I need all my How to Find A Coal Mine experience to sort the Red Devil/Fire King Mine. This post goes into detail on how I align the old and new maps to plan my trip to the actual site.

Red Devil Coal Mine – Fairwood Park Boots on Ground –

I split the Red Devil / Fire King into two blog articles. The mine activity crossed over between two housing developments plus this mine not only had a slope mine but also a surface mine.  This first one is about the search for the mine and the houses involved when the contractor finds the old mine by accident.  Told you we forget about these old mines and most that live on top of them have not a clue.

Red Devil Coal Strip Mine – Quest to Find –

This is about the Woodside Commons Park that was once a Coal surface strip mine.  Plus how I found some remnants of the mine operations area where they had the bunker & washing plants.  Oh and I found coal!! That is always a huge success moment.

Caroline Coal Mine aka Tiger Mountain Mine

 

DSCN4753

Come with me to the Southwest corner of Tiger Mountain Forest.  There around 1920 to 1940 several coal mines were developed.  A nature trail along Fifteenmile Creek is dotted by the remains of them.  See what I find there and read up on the odd history related to this area.  The 1930s had a stock scam and a high profile kidnapping touch this area too.

New Black Diamond aka Indian Coal Mine Big & Messy

This was the last hooray for the Pacific Coast Coal Company after Mine #11 in Black Diamond became too dangerous.  It was located on the Renton-Maple Valley Highway near the Cedar River. Many drive by the property everyday and have no idea this huge coal mining complex existed there.  It failed due to how the changing times came quickly (Oil killed Coal), mine danger, errors in prospecting for new coal mines, ineptness and greed in the company that owned the mines, and how the land was not respected.

Jones Brothers Coal Mine – Beginning of Indian Mine

Jones Mine Complex (aka Indian or New Black Diamond Coal Mine) – Mystery of “The Hole”

The Jones Brothers around 1919 started looking for a coal seam on top of Cedar Mountain. The theory was the McKay seam from Black Diamond, Franklin and Ravensdale continued west towards Renton. They pushed a slope mine up by Lake Desire and found two seams. In 1920 Pacific Coast Coal Company bought them out and built the Indian Coal Mine.  This is the first of several articles following my many visits to unravel what is left 100 years ago around their operation. It all starts with finding the “The Hole”.

Jones Slope Coal Mine – Widening my Search

Crop Coal mined down this little road

This is my second article on the Jones Brothers Coal Mine up on the hill above the main Indian Coal Mine Complex (aka New Black Diamond). My goal this time was to get a better feel for the area and sort out what the “The Hole” used to be. Was it the Water Tank or the Fan House? Then I took a side trip to where in 1940 Pacific Coast Coal mined the edge of the coal seam. The coal map called it the Crop Coal Slope.

Jones Brothers & Indian Coal Mine – Hoist Search

With Map Scale I calculated how far apart the Jones Slope Structures were

The third trip to the Jones Slope was to search for the Hoist.  It took some fancy map math, serendipity, luck and magic that I actually found the 100 year old hoist foundation.  This find is one of my biggest ever and I walk around my house still saying… “I found the Hoist!”

Jones Brothers Slope Mine Entrance – Where are You?

The middle of a brier patch is where the entrance now resides

In late June I returned for a 4th time to the Jones Slope to locate where the mine entrance used to be. This was an exercise in bushwhacking into the middle of a boggy brier patch. This is not as exciting as finding the hoist since technically there is no big hole in the ground to crow over.  However, all the data points to the spot I got to is where the slope pushed down into the ground.

Jones Slope Hoist – Deeper Investigation

Exposed cement – stick is where a corner of the solid slab meets the curbed edge

My second investigation of the Jones Slope Coal Mine Hoist that I found in June 2020.  I got a little more scientific and marked the 4 corners with red yarn flags. Then made a video of who it looks.  That sure helped get a better perspective of its size and shape.  Plus unearthed more of the edge exposing a section of the concrete.

Jones Brothers – Story behind the Mine

Jones Brothers posing at their mine entrance at the 1925 Opening – Thanx Liz at Renton History Museum for sending better photo!

Why would someone research a family you are not related to? That is the rabbit hole I went down after spending so much time on the New Black Diamond aka Indian Coal Mine and Jones Slope.  The final straw was the picture of two Jones Brothers and the mystery of which one is on the left.  It is Tom on the right for sure but I still am working on who else is in the opening day photo.  Is it Ed or Ben?  Come with me on a tale of a pioneer family with grit who struck it rich.

New Black Diamond Coal Mine – Mine Entrance Search Round Two

This is the mine entrance or where it is behind dirt, rock and logs.

Two months after my search for the Main Mine Tunnel Entrance to the NBD Coal Mine I returned. This time I was better equipped with snipers and hiking boots. Found the entrance at the top of a rocky stream bed that had carved a ravine out of the hill side. Water from heavy rains and potentially the mine have moved a lot of soil and made finding this entrance even more difficult.  Come with me on that adventure into the wild to get the job done.

Cedar Mountain Coal Mine – The Tangled Web

The first chapter of my search for the remnants of the Cedar Mountain Coal Mines and the town that formed there. The town is now erased but one can find parts of the mines still. This mine dates back to the 1870s and includes several mine entrances/slopes, lots of players and companies.  This seam of coal after 20 years got lost due to a fault in the ground. Searching decades later find coal again and spawn a reopening of this mine and the founding of the New Black Diamond Coal Mine.

Quest for Mine Entrance – Cedar Mountain Coal Mine

The West Coast (aka Cedar Mountain) Coal Mine area from Cedar River Trail

Cedar Mountain aka West Coast Coal Mine east of the Cedar River poses a challenge. There are no direct roads to area of the mine entrance. It is bordered by a river, a quarry with tall cliffs down to the river, power transmission lines, Cedar Grove Composting and the very large Cedar Hills Regional Landfill. Follow my adventures to get boots on the ground and my ultimate decision guided by safety concerns.

Turn of the Century and Cedar Mountain Coal Mine

Yup!! There are two and that means a rail track was here

Times were turbulent in the 1890s. They remind me of today in many ways. The coal mine at Cedar Mountain had to be impacted by the forces that swirled at the time. We left off in our last articles with photos of the first mine entrance at the intersection of 196th and Maple Valley Highway. Then we moved to my many attempts to reach the second across the river. Now we are going to focus on how they ended up digging the third on the highway side of the river.

For a Decade Cedar Mountain Fades Away

Sink hole on east side of 194th Ave SE – McQuade Slope I bet

The story of Cedar Mountain Coal (aka West Coast Coal Mine) became murky after the third slope closed in 1906. That dang fault seemed unsurmountable so most moved away to where the coal was easier to find and mine.  This article talks about the two groups, Jones & McQuade, searched for the lost vein.  Plus what I found when I went searching for two mine entrances (#4 & #5 Cedar Mtn) that are east of the Jones Slope.

Cedar Mountain Coal Revival

Issaquah History Museum Photo – McQuade is on the right

The return of coal mining at Cedar Mountain (aka West Coast Coal) in the 1920’s was brought about by a mysterious figure. His name was John “Jack” McQuade. Are you ready for his story and a deeper investigation into his importance to the area?

Finale Dance of Cedar Mountain Coal

Updated – Over view map to give you the lay of the land of Cedar Mtn Town & Mines.

It is the final piece of the chronological history of the Cedar Mountain Mines.  McQuade, Pacific Coast Coal, E.R. Peoples and his nephew Ed Littlefield all play a part in this chapter.  It covers from the mid 1920s till the mines closure in 1944.  Plus a little history on the final owners.

Cedar Mountain Railroad Depot Mystery

Cedar Mountain Pacific Coast Railroad Depot

We got super excited when the PNW Railroad Archives found this photo for us. At the time it was only the second one we had ever seen of the old Cedar Mountain Town.  Come along on my research to determine where this depot was.  It burned down in 1933 so it has become a mystery.  

Cedar Mtn – The Wagon Road & New Photos

1880 road King County Cedar Mtn v2
1880 road King County & Cedar Mtn

This article covers new maps around how the old wagon road and the railroad meandered through Cedar Mountain.  Add to this some new photos that surfaced of Cedar Mountain Town and the Bunker structure where the first mine was located.

More Mysteries Surround the Cedar Mountain Mines

Cedar Mtn #3 Mine Area in Hillshade
Cedar Mtn #3 Mine Area in Hillshade

Found some great new relics and clues as I search for the 3rd Cedar Mountain mine entrance. The one that was sunk at the tail end of the 19th century.  Not only investigated the hanging rail but also more carved out roadways, steel cables left behind and where is that lost mine entrance.

Revisiting McQuade Slope at Cedar Mountain

k_41-coal-mine-map-on-top-of-current-hillshade-map
K_41A Coal Mine map with McQuade Slope on current hillshade

Went back to look at the McQuade slope and found another mine entrance of interest to search for.  It is right near where I have been looking along the gas pipeline right-a-way.  Discovered some other interesting items, viewed what I call the dimples aka sink holes and hole in sandstone cliff (nature or man-made?).  More questions than answers!!

Ghost Town of Cedar Mountain

Cedar Mountain in 1889

There is a ghost town in our midst. Some of us drive by her everyday and some have been seeking her for decades. Come with me on my quest to find Cedar Mountain. She is under our urban noses but difficult to find since she was razed decades ago. There are even differing opinions on where this town in the photo was located. In this article I will lay out my theory on where she once stood and share what I found on-site.

Cedar Mountain Scale House Found

Scale House – partly visible

Another lover and seeker of Cedar Mountain, Dow D., contacted me about the Scale House from the 1930s. He had new information after speaking with a local resident walking his dog at the site which currently is Belmondo’s Reach King County Park. We got together and started to dig out what had been hiding under leaves and plants right at the edge of the parking lot. Who would have thought it was there all along?

Cedar Mtn Depot – Where art thou?

This article pinpoints the location of the Cedar Mountain Railroad Depot. Again, Dow D brings to the table information that breaks the mystery. He shared railroad charts and timetables along with his deep understanding of the ways of railroading. Add to this a new 1907 map I discovered that gives us a clear picture of how Cedar Mountain looked more than a century ago. Great breakthrough!!

Lost Road at Cedar Mountain

Come with me on the search for a lost road and cemetery across the bridge from Cedar Mountain area. It talks about the burial of a Cedar Mountain resident killed in a mine accident buried in an unknown place. How that search brought me to a road that went up the hill to Lake Kathleen and McDonald starting in the late 1880s. Decades later it became too steep, narrow and some of it even collapsed down the steep hillside. Still some mysteries there to be visited again later.

Pilings? In the Cedar River!

This late summer the Cedar River was low enough to get a glimpse of the old pilings from the Coal Mine across the river there. They used to support a bridge which supported the hoist mechanics that pulled the coal cars from the mine. The article covers the old bridge, the hoist and the slag pile. Odd arrangement to have a river between the mine hoist and the actual entrance. But it worked for them.

43 comments

  15. Oh, and you should refer to Cedar Mountain as Cedar Mountain 🙂 Sorry it’s a pet peeve of mine. King County Parks erroneously re-named it Echo Peak/Mountain a few years ago. I have no clue why they though they needed to, but I guess if you own something you can call it whatever you want. But it’s been called Cedar Mountain for nearly 150 years.

    Reply

    • LOL – I was telling someone that the other day. She lives on Lake Desire at the foot of Echo Mtn. Guess it was because that lake was called Echo lake years ago. And some folks get confused when one talks about the old town that does not exist any more down next to the river. Oh the fun of this puzzle. Thanx for visiting my humble blog.

      Do you live in that area? If you do… do you know where the Cedar Mtn graveyard used to be? Several of us history nuts are searching for it.

      Take care!!

      Reply

  16. About 1997 I created a garden on our property. I had some of our trees cut down, made a garden plan,
    and hired a man to put in the big plants, like small trees and rhodies. One place I picked for a small tree was where he found a lack of dirt. So I told him to put in a large rock, and not plant the tree.
    Since then I put in a rhodiy there. So I wonder if this was an air hole from a mine, or some other. opening as part of a mine, maybe Cedar Mountain. Write me at marthalparker@aol.com to find out where I live.

    Reply

  19. Thank you very much for posting all this information about the Coal Mines. You might already be aware that the property where the West Coast Coal headquarters was located has been purchased by Lakeside industries and they are wanting to build an Asphalt Plant there, which no one wants except Lakeside. Do you know if there were any coal mines actually under the front part of the property? Lakeside said there aren’t any under the northern part of the property but they haven’t done as much research as you have . The site is still designated as a KC historic site even though the headquarters was demolished in 2016. We are hoping some kind of educational monument will be installed there. Anything but an Asphalt Plant would be great.

    Reply

    • Oh thank you for the kind words. I for sure have been fascinated with the history of this little corner of our world.

      Here is the scoop on the Lakeside property. First off that was the site of the New Black Diamond (NBD) or aka Indian Coal Mine. The West Coast mine (part of a group of mines I call Cedar Mountain (CM)) was across the river from the small park just east of the Jones Bridge (Belmundo Reach).

      I agree this is a bad idea for an asphalt plant there. Lot of reasons from traffic to pollution.

      That area of the NBD where the historic landmark building used to site was the processing area for the coal mine. It is pretty amazing how big their operation was and that huge plant erected just to the west of the building was on the cutting edge of it’s time in the late 1920s – 1940s. I have an article where I show some 1930s maps of what that space looked like. Let me know if you can’t find it and will shoot you a link.

      The mines themselves are all in the hill behind that processing area. There is a tunnel that travels from behind the area back towards McGarvey King Co Park and the Lake Desire Area. They originally found the coal seam up close to where the Christian School/Nike Site is. I call it the Jones Slope after the brothers who made the discovery. They ran all the coal out of the front tunnel and some out of this smaller slope.

      So.. Lakeside is right. There is no coal mine under that spot. This includes the Cedar Mountain group of mines. The biggest of them is well to the east under the river, the highway and into hillsides on both sides of the river. The original CM mines are around where 196th Ave SE now intersects with the highway and where the gas pipeline heading southwesterly away from that Lakeside property.

      Ok – that was a lot of info and happy to answer any questions you might have. Plus Dorothy who lives up by Lake Desire sent a bunch of us who to ping in the local governments telling them how bad the idea of the asphalt plant is. I joined in even though I live in Southwest Seattle.

      Thanx for reading my humble blog. I have a new post coming soon around one of the Cedar Mountain mines dating back to the 1900s.

      Reply

  20. Thank you very much, all this info is very interesting. Since there’s no coal mines under the property we’ll have to think of some other way to stop the Asphalt Plant . Maybe there could be a coal mine museum on the site, since it is still a historical site, then you could be the historian . Thanks again for all the info

    Reply

    • Oh do send that idea of a mini museum to both Renton Museum and the Black Diamond Museum. I suspect they would need funding because both of them are struggling with the virus shut downs.

      Happy Friday!!

      Reply

  21. Thanks for the suggestion I will contact the Renton and Black diamond museums about it. If it would prevent an Asphalt Plant from being built I think it could get significant donations.

    Reply

  24. […] If you want to read more about my search for Lost Coal Mines here is a link to my directory of articles. Shoot me any questions or better yet any information you have to add. This is a never ending deep dig into 100 years of old coal mine history. Locating Lost Old Coal Mines of King County […]

    Reply

  28. Found your website some time ago and refound again. I live in Renton in Tiffany Park and yes I believe I live on top of a coal mine. I have been interested in the coal mining history of the area and yes I epuld like to possibly join you for one of your adventures in the summer. I also have some information about the Spring Glen Mine. Reading your pist you where possibly at the other side of the mine at rhe Avaya Trails Apartments. I remember years ago when they were building new apartments on the north side of Petrovitsky Road between 116th Avenue SE and Benson Drive ( just before thw old firehouse ) cial tailing piles were found and work was stopped. I later hiked near tha5 area and found them off of 116th Avenue SE across from the post office down a dirt driveway / road that has a house with a business – a hair salin . I think i saw that in one of your pictures so i do not know if you found it or not.

    Reply

  31. Hello! I purchased a home about a year ago in Mirrormont, south of Issaquah. Over the past few months, as I have cleared the overgrown hillside behind my house, I have become convinced that there is a sealed mineshaft there. I’ve been scouring the internet for information and found your blog. Amazing stuff! I am wondering if I might be able to contact you directly and invite you to visit the site. I’m anxious to discover more about the history here! Thanks!

    Reply

    • Good Morning – I have not done a ton of work on the Issaquah side but last year did some preliminary map work. Then got hooked on Veazie and my High School Totem Mascot history in preparation for a change in mascot.

      Here is my email address – D_radams@msn.com. Do give me your address so I can look at the maps and see if we can sort this out quickly.

      Glad to help and always a good opportunity for another article to share with the world if you are ok with that.

      Reply

  32. It’s been a while… You were kind enough to comment on a blog post of mine, For the love of maps: We were Bound to Mete. I haven’t been very active lately and am just now getting off my duff and back to writing again. Anyway, I circled back to check out your blog and I want you to know I really like it. You really dive deep into the topic! These are wonderful posts. They’re very well written and documented! Excellent work!

    I grew up in Renton. My Grandpa worked the mines when he first arrived here from France in 1912. He worked the Black Diamond, Carbonado, Franklin, and Newcastle mines (and I’m sure there were others) until the late 1920s. After escaping the mines he became a contractor and built many homes in the area. My Uncle George and Dad were both born at the Newcastle mining camp (1919 & 1921).

    Reply

    • Thank you for all the kind words. And wow you have quite a bit of coal mining history in your blood. I have collected a lot of stuff that needs to be written about lately. Mostly about the town of Veazie over by Enunclaw and a lost road I found close to Cedar Mtn. But life keeps getting in the way and had to change gears to a time sensitive project around my former High School. They are one of the schools who have to change mascots. We were the Totems and this is being retired this summer. The history of our relics got lost along the way, so I have been focusing on researching and documenting what I found. Good news is the local museum is going to take several of the items. Funny how history from the 60s & 70s can be as hard to crack as history from the 1890s – 1920s. Amazing how we just have amnesia. Keep up the good work yourself. It is a passion we have.

      Reply

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