Black Diamond Depot - Black Diamond, Washington
N 47° 18.517 W 122° 00.432
10T E 575042 N 5239938
The Black Diamond Depot, built in 1886, is one of the oldest depots still in existence in the Pacific Northwest. Today the depot serves as a history museum for the Black Diamond area.
Waymark Code: WMAE2D
Location: Washington, United States
Date Posted: 01/02/2011
Views: 8
The
Lake Sawyer Community Club has a history of Black Diamond. The part pertaining to the depot is reproduced here:
The train depot now houses the Historical Society and is sitting on the original site. The depot was built around 1886 by the Oregon Improvement Company that owned the Columbia & Puget Sound Railroad. It was added on to in 1904 and remodeled in 1915 before being sold in 1916 to Pacific Coast Coal, a large conglomerate out of New York City.
The first train arrived in 1886 and the line continued to run until the early thirties. In the intervening years the depot has been a cafe, phone exchange, Library, Water Department and city storage building. When the American Bicentennial came around, a group of citizens formed the Historical Society and gradually over the years have taken over the building. They started restoring it in 1978 and are continually improving it every day. Many items, from 1882 to the present time, have been donated by the citizens of Black Diamond and the surrounding area.
The Society has installed approximately 125 feet of railroad track in front of the depot where it originally laid. The railroad ties were donated by people in memory of past loved ones and their names are on a plaque on the front of the depot.