This home was built in 1922 as part of an effort by displaced coal miners to find housing in the wake of a bitter strike and lockout between their union and their employer. In response to falling coal prices at the end of World War I, coal operators throughout the state cut wages as mining costs in Washington were 80% higher than the national average. A state commission was assembled and recommended a solution which miners reluctantly accepted. However, coal operator losses in the midst of falling prices were unbearable. The operators, including Pacific Coast Coal Co. with its mines in Black Diamond issued an ultimatum: reinstate the October 1919 wage scale or workers would be locked out. The miners went on strike March 15, 1921. On August 31st Pacific Coast and other major coal operators evicted union members from company homes on mine property and began deploying strike breakers to fill those union positions.
In response Tim Morgan, who had lived in Black Diamond since its founding days in 1883 sold the union 16 acres from his 80-acre homestead upon which 200 miner homes were planned. According to a Union Record Labor Reporter article from 1922, Morgan turned down an offer of $30,000 from the coal company and instead sold his land for $2,500 so displaced miners could build new homes. This area of Black Diamond immediately became known as Morganville. Scores of those early 1920s homes still stand. This home, located at 32003 Morgan Drive was purchased by Hugh Hughes in 1940 from the Trustee of the United Mine Workers, District 10. In 1966, George Franchini bought it from Hughes and 31 years later sold it to Palmer Coking Coal Co. His father, also named George Franchini, was born in Black Diamond in 1913 to Italian immigrants. He worked as a King County grader operator during most of his career. This November 21,1939 photo of tax parcel 564360-0185 comes from the Puget Sound Regional Archives collection of King County Assessor records. Next week, now and then photos of another Morganville miner’s home.
