(This article was also published in the 2000 Winter Edition of "Issaquah Living", a quarterly publication of the Issaquah Press, under the title  Milling Around: No Look back would be complete without exploring the area's timber industry)

As we start the new century this article will summarize the history of one of the Issaquah area's past major industries.

From the beginning of settlements in the Squak Valley, the construction of saw and shingle mills began in the late 1870’s with the Donnelly Sawmill at the mouth of Lewis Creek on Squak Lake (now Lake Sammamish), The Sloten Sawmill (exact location unknown but it was in existence in 1879) and the Becker Sawmill in the Sycamore area. 

As the more settlers entered the area, the needs for lumber grew and additional small, steam powered mills were constructed to supply lumber for homes, barns and early small business buildings. In these early days, horses and oxen were used to move the trees to the mills, given that there was a lack of roads or any other economical transportation system for timber.

It also was easier to move a mill than the large trees. The Wold Brothers Sawmill, first located south of what is now State Route 900 and Northwest Newport Way, was moved to the mouth of Mill Creek (now the East Fork of Issaquah Creek). This move, coupled with the arrival in the Squak Valley of the Seattle Lake Shore and Eastern Railway (S. L. S. & E. Ry.) in November of 1887, solved the transportation problem and the number of mills and their size increased substantially.

Monohon

In 1889 the Donnelly Mill machinery was moved across Lake Sammamish to Monohon and became the Allen & Nelson Mill Co. During the following years, ownership of the mill changed hands many times. Owners included The Bratnober Co., The Bratnober & Baty Co., Dunn Lumber Co., Sammamish Lumber Co., Abe Levy, Issaquah Lumber Co., Custom Planing Mill and finally the Issaquah Cedar & Lumber Co.

This was the first large sawmill in the area and a large company town was built to provide housing, school, store, meeting hall, and hotel facilities, to support the mill and its logging railroad and camps. Most of the large company town and mill was destroyed by fire in 1925. Following rebuilding of the mill it was again destroyed by fire in 1944. Several more small mills were rebuilt on the site, and following a 1980 fire, all milling operations at Monohon ceased. 

Today, only a few of the company built homes remain and Monohon (now known as the Waverly Community Beach and Hills housing area on E. Lake Sammamish Parkway) no longer exists. 

Preston

In 1892, the second of what was to become the longest operating mill company in the area began with the construction of the Preston Shingle Mill, located under what is now I-90 about halfway between the existing interstate's High Point and Preston exits. In 1896 this shingle mill was moved to Saint Louis on the Seattle & International Railway ( S & I).

Saint Louis became what is now Preston and the S & I  had assumed control of the SLS. & E. Due to the abundance of cedar trees in the Preston area, production of cedar shingles remained their prime business until 1901, when a sawmill was built at Upper Preston, about two miles up the Raging River from their shingle mill.

As cedar trees were logged, the company constructed a flume up Raging River to float cedar shingle shingle bolts down to the shingle mill. Following the construction of the sawmill, the flume was used to float rough-cut lumber to Preston, where they installed a planer mill to finish the lumber.

Because the shingle and planer mills were not located immediately adjacent to the railroad tracks, a tramway was constructed to haul the finished products up to the railroad for shipment.

Beginning about 1913, the company started construction of a logging railroad that transported logs from the upper Raging River and Echo Lake areas to the sawmill. The logging railroad, which had four steam locomotives, numerous log cars and many miles of track, was shut down in 1930 due to the Great Depression. Following many fires and a major flood and fire in 1932, which destroyed the flume and the Upper Preston sawmill, the company sold all of the company houses and buildings that surrounded the remains of the Upper Preston mill.

A sawmill was added to the Preston Mill site and, following many more fires and re-buildings of the mill, the mill ceased production in 1992 and the site was sold to King County for park purposes in 1997.

Today, a few of the mill buildings and company-built houses remain on the undeveloped park site, including the Lovegren House, listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The company also operated a large hotel adjacent to the mill.

High Point

The next large mill began operation as High Point Mill Co. shingle mill to utilize the large cedar trees that existed on the valley floor at High Point in 1905. In 1910 the company started construction of a sawmill to cut fir lumber from fir trees extending up the north face of Tiger Mountain. To support these mills, company housing, a company store and a large hotel were constructed. 

As logging extended up the mountain, the company built what was to become the second largest incline railroad in North America (over 9,600 feet in length) to lower logs down the mountain to the mill. The railroad, which operated using logs for rails, was to become known as the Wooden Pacific.

Over time, two steam locomotives were acquired and used to haul logs around the face of the mountain to the incline railroad, where they were lowered down grades up to 40% to the mill. 

A logging camp was constructed on the mountain and at one point consisted of 12 bunk houses and a cook house to house and feed the loggers. Operations ceased on the mountain in 1928 when all the timber had been removed. The mills were destroyed by fire in 1932. A smaller mill was built in 1936, and it operated until 1957 when the state bought the land for construction of US Highway 10 (now I-90).

Other Issaquah Mills

In addition to the Becker and Wold sawmills identified in the opening paragraphs, the following mills were located within the current Issaquah city limits: Seattle Lake Shore & Eastern Ry. sawmill 1888, William E. Vaughn & Sons Sawmill 1889 to 1909, Bush-Trandum sawmill 1890’s-1902, Ent Sawmill 1892, Jacob Jones Sawmill ca. 1893 to1900, Joe Donlan sawmill 1892 to 1900, Donlan & Anderson saw and shingle mill 1900 to 1904, Issaquah Mill Co. 1903, Issaquah Shingle Co. 1905-6, Donlan shingle mill, 1905-6, Forbes shingle mill 1906, Squak Mill Company shingle mill 1906-08, Nevins shingle mill 1907-8, Empire Lumber & shingle Co. 1909, Neukirchen Brothers planing mill 1910-1918, Butske Brothers turning mill 1911, Edward Neukirchen saw and planing mill 1918-1927, Arl (Red) Hall sawmill 1926-63, Leo Schaller sawmill 1927, Castagno & Gustafson sawmill 1927-1929, P & H Lumber Co. 1929, Issaquah Lumber Co. 1929 -1940, Crystal Creek Sawmill 1946-50, Issaquah Cedar and Lumber Co. resaw and planing mill 1981 to present.

Overall in the area encompassing the Pine Lake Plateau to the North, Preston to the east, May Valley to the west and the Hobart area on the south, about one hundred saw and shingle mills existed. Many of these mills were large and had large company towns surrounding them.

With the exception of a few remaining company houses at Monohon, High Point, Preston, Upper Preston and Hobart, company towns such as Kerriston, Barnston, Sammamish, Sherwood and Taylor have all disappeared. During the peak periods some of the towns had populations over 400.

Of all the mills, only the Issaquah Cedar and Lumber Co. in Issaquah and Isackson sawmill on the north end of the Pine Lake Plateau are still in operation today.

Eric Erickson December 10, 1999