Coal mining in Ravensdale began in 1898 following the Northern Pacific Railroad’s decision to build a direct rail connection between Kanaskat-Palmer and Auburn. The original route of Northern Pacific’s transcontinental rail line turned south at Cumberland, continuing through Enumclaw and Buckley on its way to Tacoma. Ravensdale was first named Leary. The McKay coal seam so successfully mined in Black Diamond and Franklin since 1885 proved equally so two miles north. The town of Leary was soon renamed Ravensdale. Northwest Improvement Company (NWI), the Northern Pacific’s subsidiary, operated the coal mine.
For 16 years, coal mining boomed. The Ravensdale mine produced an average 146,000 tons per year and was typically the 3rd largest operation in King County. Then came that fateful Sunday, November 16, 1915, when an explosion ripped through the Ravensdale mine and claimed the lives of 31 men. The town struggled to survive. Its population fell from 1,200 to fewer than 200. Adding insult to injury, the town’s leaders failed to renew incorporation, so Ravensdale lost its status as a city and became just another hamlet in unincorporated King County.
However, a valuable seam of coal still lay below the surface, and two firms, Raven Coal Co. and Central Coal Co., opened mines over the next several years. Still, both failed. In 1923, the Dale Coal Company revived coal mining on the McKay coal seam after leasing the mine, lands, and homes from NWI. By 1927, substantial improvements were made to increase production. The mine was situated south of Ravensdale Lake, where the Black Diamond-Ravensdale Road crosses the railroad tracks.
When this photo was taken circa 1940, the Dale Coal Co. employed about 200 miners and was the second-largest coal mine in King County, producing an average of 130,000 tons per year. Mining operations were transferred to Continental Coal Company in 1942 at the start of World War II. NWI assumed ownership in 1944.
Louie Vaiente is the miner highlighted with a green circle. He’s dressed in a plaid shirt and standing in the top row. Another miner has an arm around his shoulder. Originally named Luigi Vajente, he emigrated from Italy in 1920. Next week, more about the life of Mr. Vaiente and his tragic death 15 years later in the Landsburg mine located a mile north of the Dale Coal facilities. This photo comes courtesy of Palmer Coking Coal Company with photo enhancements by Doug Burnham, a Tahoma teacher doing business as Boomers Photography.
