Buildings & Sites
Northern Pacific Water Tank

The Northern Pacific - North Bend Line's Issaquah Water Tank. I.H.S. # 86-18-2522.

The Northern Pacific - North Bend Line's Issaquah Water Tank as viewed from north. This site is currently just off the Issaquah pedestrian corridor and trail, near the trail's intersection with 2nd Avenue S.E., and in proximity to the proposed South East Bypass. The date of the picture is unknown.

Northern Pacific Water Tank Site: Between Front Street S and 2nd Avenue SE

Map (click to zoom on MapQuest) / Latitude: 47.52115   Longitude: -122.03162

By 1891, the Seattle Lake Shore & Eastern had failed, and in Issaquah area the company was operating under receivership as a subsidiary of the Northern Pacific Railroad. In July of 1896 the major assets of the SLS&E had been acquired by the Seattle & International Railway. In tern, the S&I was absorbed by the growing Northern Pacific Railway in 1901.

In 1920, the Northern Pacific North Bend Line (NP) built a new 54,120 gallon wooden water tank at the junction of the main line and the coal mine loop south of town. A wooden water pipe supplied the tank from Cabin Creek on Squak Mountain above the Issaquah and Superior Coal Mining Company's coal mine. The tank was 37 feet high at the top and was used to supply water to the steam engines, as well as several neighboring houses.

August 2004 photo by Jim Loring

Pieces of the cement foundation are all that remain of the NP Water Tank. The site has been selected for clearing the encroaching vegetation and the placement of a commemorative historical marker.

Researched by Eric Erickson and Jim Loring, Issaquah Historical Society

References:
Renz, Louis Tuck. The History of the Northern Pacific Railroad. Fairfield, Washington: Ye Galleon Press, 1980.
Robertson, Donald B. Encyclopedia of Western Railroad History. Volume 3, Oregon-Washington. Caldwell, Idaho: Caxton Publishers, 1995. pp. 261, 265-267.

Related Web Sites

• Issaquah Railway History Chronology

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