WHEN COAL WAS KING: S.E. 231st Street – Bridge

This July 6, 1932 photo by Thomas Blum was taken where S.E. 231^stStreet crossed over the Pacific Coast Railroad.  Coal trains from Black Diamond still regularly used these tracks, and would continue to until the last one passed in April 1969.  The final train left Black Diamond on September 22, 1970. S.E. 231^stStreet still crosses what is now a walking and biking trail just east of SR 169, near where the Maple Valley Fire and Life Safety stands across from King County Sheriff Precinct No. 3.

The wooden bridge is gone, having been replaced by a 20-foot diameter culvert through which the Green to Cedar River Trail passes.  The trail goes north as far as Renton and south to Four Corners. An intersecting trail follows the Milwaukee rail line from old Maple Valley along Cedar River upstream to the Landsburg Bridge. This photo was looking north and includes a small sign to the right advertising the Lake Wilderness Lodge Resort. At the time three resorts operated on Lake Wilderness: Gaffney’s Grove, C.H. McKinney’s, and R.F. Dieckman’s.

This photo comes courtesy of King County Department of Transportation with research assistance by Dick Peacock, President of the Maple Valley Historical Society.