WHEN COAL WAS KING: The history of first aid dates

Autumn is a splendid time to take a walk. And there’s perhaps no better place locally than the Green to Cedar River trail. This hiking and biking pathway now occupies the former railroad grade, original known as the Columbia & Puget Sound and later Pacific Coast Railroad. When this photo was taken on April 6, 1934 the tracks were still active with trains carrying coal from Black Diamond to Seattle.

The exact location is near Lake Wilderness Elementary where this southeasterly looking photo shows the trail passing under Witte Road. The wooden timber bridge in this photo has been replaced by a 20 -foot diameter culvert, but the actual grade is almost the same. The north segment of the Green to Cedar trail stretches from the Cedar River near old Maple Valley, skirting the east shore of Lake Wilderness, and ending at Four Corners.

A yet to be completed south segment will continue this popular trail into Black Diamond, past Lake Sawyer, all the way to Flaming Geyser State Park on the Green River.  From 1931-1934, Thomas Patrick Blum traveled around King County inspecting and photographing bridges. Blum was born in 1893, was a licensed surveyor, and served as bridge inspector from 1924-1934.

He died in 1942, but the King County Department of Transportation has archived over 500 of his historic bridge photographs including this one.