Identity elements
Reference code
Name and location of repository
Level of description
Item
Title
D55958-1
Date(s)
- 1951-01-26 (Creation)
Extent
Name of creator
Content and structure elements
Scope and content
Worn siding on an old office building in Enumclaw for St. Paul & Tacoma Lumber Co. This photograph was used in a sale brochure on western hemlock by St. Paul and Tacoma Lumber Co. It shows the durability of hemlock siding; the building's hemlock drop siding is over 48 years old and has only been painted twice. An old wooden sidewalk leads to the building. Enumclaw was a rural community with dairy farms and a view of Mount Rainier founded on the Osceola mudflow, a great outpouring of mud and rock that originated near the summit of Mount Rainier and covered an area of about 65 square miles. White settlement began in the mid-1850's as bachelors claimed land following the Puget Sound War, returned home for brides, and then homesteaded. In 1879, Frank Stevenson and his wife filed for a homestead which now forms the heart of Enumclaw. The Stevensons built a hotel and gave away lots to encourage the formation of a town. In 1883, as work began on the Northern Pacific main rail line, they reasoned correctly that the hastily formed town would be selected as a stop. The town was named after the native name of a nearby mountain. It was settled by homesteaders, Danish farmers who operated a cooperative, and Slavonians (Yugoslavs) who both worked in the coal mines and farmed. The economy was supported by farming, coal mining and the lumber industry. ("Exploring Washington's Past" by Ruth Kirk and Carmela Alexander)
Building deterioration--Enumclaw; General stores--Enumclaw; St. Paul & Tacoma Lumber Co. (Tacoma);