Even coal miners have contemplative moods. On a late afternoon in April 1974, Frank Manowski enjoyed a smoking break outside the hoist room at Rogers No. 3 in Ravensdale. Barry Kombol, a 1973 University of Washington graduate who worked a year at that mine, captured this and more than 200 other photos of his fellow miners, mostly at work but occasionally relaxing. Kombol later attended law school at the University of Puget Sound and parlayed his degree into a 40-year law practice in Black Diamond.
Frank Manowski was born and raised in Black Diamond, the son of German-Polish immigrants. Cornel Manowski and his wife, Anna, emigrated to the booming coal mining town in 1900. Born March 18, 1913, Frank graduated from Black Diamond High School in 1932. Afterwards, he continued his education with a scholarship to play baseball at St. Martin’s College. Times were difficult during the Great Depression, so Frank abandoned college and began his first job at a sawmill. Yet Frank never lost his love of sports. He played baseball for 22 years after his school days, and soccer for 11 years. He primarily played for Black Diamond’s coal company-sponsored teams.
Frank followed his father, Cornel Manowski, into coal mining, as did three of his brothers, Max, Les, and George Manowski. All of them worked for Palmer Coking Coal during parts of their careers – George for a short time, Max 17 for years, Les 22 for years, and Frank for 32 years.
After working underground with his father at the Cedar Mountain coal mine for the West Coast Fuel Company from 1934 to 1936, Frank migrated towards surface work in preparation plants outside the mines. That’s where raw coal was processed to clean coal by removing rock, shale, and other impurities before shipping to markets.
He first worked for Pacific Coast Coal, then Strain Coal Company, and finally Palmer Coking Coal. Manowski operated Palmer’s Mine 11 wash plant for most of his career and was profiled in the Black Diamond Historical Society’s June 2020 newsletter as “The Man Who Built a Mountain.” The ‘Mountain’ is a reference to the rock and shale slag pile that rises 100 feet above the surrounding topography west of Palmer Coking Coal’s mine office on Highway 169.
Frank married Helen Strom of Enumclaw in 1939. Two years later, a son was born, named Frank, but not a junior. The family first lived on Lawson Street in Black Diamond, next to the old Presbyterian Church. They moved to Enumclaw in 1959 into a Wells Street home not far from the hospital. The younger Frank Manowski made a name for himself as a recreational coordinator for King County Parks, stationed primarily in Enumclaw at the Fieldhouse near Pete’s Pool. He held that job for 32 years from 1965 to 1997.
The elder Frank Manowski retired from coal mining in 1978 and passed away in 1991. Helen (Strom) Manowski died in 2013, at age 94.
