This circa 1922 view from SR 169 will be familiar to anyone traveling north on Maple Valley Highway while descending the long hill before crossing the Cedar River at mile post 15. On the far side of the river was the original settlement of Maple Valley which grew rapidly after the Columbia & Puget Sound Railroad constructed their rail line from Renton to the coal mining towns of Black Diamond and Franklin in 1884.
Nearly forty years later, the line was called Pacific Coast Railroad with its impressive wooden trestle adjacent to the highway. Further right was the Milwaukee Railroad completed in 1909 on tracks that traveled up the Cedar River through the Seattle city watershed before crossing over Snoqualmie Summit. Towards Renton, the Milwaukee Road used tracks owned by Pacific Coast Railroad, whose trestle and bridge were eventually dismantled. The Milwaukee bridge is still there and is now a central feature along the Cedar River Trail that stretches from Renton to Four Corners.
The white building between the two railroads was near today’s bright red Cascadia Pizza building. In 1922, the Diamond Stage Company’s garage operated their stage line under a large sign advertising Shell oil. At the time the firm was owned by Oral “Shorty” Grove and Arvid Larson. They started the company in 1919 after passenger buses became popular following the widespread introduction of cars and trucks. The Diamond Stage offered bus travel between Black Diamond and Seattle with stops in Maple Valley and other places along the way. Railroads increasingly concentrated on moving freight and slowly discontinued unprofitable passenger service.
Still, some railroads like the Milwaukee Road sought new opportunities for moving passengers. During winter months in the 1930s and 1940s, snow skiers could board special trains and travel up Snoqualmie Pass, then through a 2.3-mile tunnel the Milwaukee Railroad built to avoid snow accumulations that seasonally closed their tracks.
At the eastern end of the tunnel was a rail stop called Hyak, where the railroad opened new ski slopes known as the Snoqualmie Ski Bowl and later the Milwaukee Ski Bowl. Trains originated in Seattle and Tacoma but picked up passengers at the Maple Valley Depot. Getting there was almost as much fun as skiing. Ski trains featured reserved seating, a food car, one with a jukebox for dancing, plus a car set up to wax skis with a hot iron. The ski area later operated as the Hyak Ski Area. It was eventually incorporated into the Summit at Snoqualmie together with Ski Acres and Alpental.
This photo comes courtesy of Gary Gibbon, whose family were some of the earliest residents and entrepreneurs in old Maple Valley. It was provided by JoAnne Matsumura. The original black and white photo was enhanced and colorized by Doug “Boomer” Burnham, a Tahoma High School photography teacher with a side business called www.BoomersPhotography.com
