(This article was originally published in the 1999 Winter Edition of "Issaquah Living", a quarterly publication of the Issaquah Press. Used by permission. Eric Erickson is a  past-president of the Historical Society).

When the millennium comes, we'll have a full century on which to reflect!  To help commemorate our 100th year of publishing, the Press asked Issaquah native Eric Erickson, a member of the Issaquah Historical Society with extensive historical studies in the local sawmill and logging industries, to take us through the past 100 years. Of course, we're still making history in the final year of this century, so we thought the final year of the 19th century -- when we called Gilman home -- was a good place to start.

In January of 1899, representatives from the town of Gilman requested that the Legislature change the name of the town to Issaquah to match the name of the Issaquah Post Office, established in 1895. On Feb. 2, 1899, the Legislature approved the change, in House Bill 134, and Issaquah adopted the name by ordinance on March 5, 1899.

During the past 100 years, the small town has grown to a city of nearly 10,000 people.

Turn of the century

At the turn of the century, agriculture, coal mining and the logging and sawmill industries were the major source of employment for area residents. Travel and delivery of goods to and from the town was mostly by the Northern Pacific Railroad, along with horse and wagon.

By 1910, Issaquah's business community had started to boom with several new large buildings in place. Buildings such as the Bank of Issaquah (now the Bicycle Shop at 111 Front St. N.), the Grand Central Hotel and the Northwestern Milk Condensing Company (now Darigold).

The next 10 years saw even more growth as the coal mining and lumbering industries grew in size and number. Larger mines were developed including one in the Tibbetts Valley (new State Route 900, south of Newport Way; developed by the Superior Coal and Improvement Co.) and another mine southwest of the fish hatchery on Mine Hill Road. Other notable openings included Central Coal Co.'s Grand Ridge Mine on the east fork of Issaquah Creek, the Vaughn Mine (also known as the King Coal Mine) on Black Nugget road on Grand Ridge, and the Tiger Mountain Mine (also known as the Caroline Mine) on Tiger Mountain Road east of the Issaquah-Hobart Road.

Lumbering also expanded with the construction of the Neukirchen Brothers Planing Mill and Lumber Yard a half mile south of town (located at what is now Front Street South and 2nd Avenue South), the addition of a large sawmill to the shingle mill at High Point two miles east of town, the expansion of the Allen and Nelson sawmill, and the expansion of the company town at Monohon north of town (now the Waverly Hills Community Beach on Lake Sammamish and the adjoining uphill housing development).

Additional buildings were constructed in Issaquah to provide services and entertainment for the growing work force and their families. These included the Glen Theatre (now the old Village Theatre) at 120 Front St. N., the Grange Mercantile Building at 495 Front St. N., the Coutts Building at 99 Front St. N. and the Masonic Hall at 55 W. Sunset Way.

The roaring '20s

During the 1920s, with the growth of the automobile, the first major state highway was constructed through Issaquah along what is now Newport Way Northwest and East and West Sunset Way. It was designated Primary State Highway No. 2 and was more commonly called the Sunset Highway.

Automobile-related business expanded with local dealers such as Hepler Ford and Powell Motors selling and servicing automobiles, trucks and farm tractors for the growing number of small dairies. Coal mining declined during this period and the lumber business peaked with Arl "Red" Hall's new mill being constructed near where the new fish hatchery viewing tanks are now located on the west bank of Issaquah Creek.

The end of the 1920s brought the start of the Great Depression. This caused the close of many area sawmills and the beginning of harder economic times for residents and businesses.

Digging out in the '30s

January of 1930 saw the completion of the new Town Hall (located where the new police building is now under construction on the northeast corner of East Sunset Way and Rainier Boulevard North).

Because the building was not within the city limits at the time the first council meeting was held, a lawsuit was filed trying to invalidate all council actions taken in the building. The suit was overturned because the area was in the process of being annexed to the city.

Numerous other public works projects were undertaken during the 1930s as a result of the federal government W.P.A. funding program to put local people to work during the depression years. These projects included replacement of the Issaquah sewer and water systems, the building of the fish hatchery, Gibson Hall and the Issaquah Sportsmen's Clubhouse.

New highway in the 40's

The 1940s began with the opening of the second major highway through Issaquah, U.S. 10. Part of this highway, which was to become four lanes, is now known as Gilman Boulevard. This started the next growth cycle for the area as it became possible to drive directly to Seattle across the new floating bridge to Mercer Island. It eliminated the long drive around the south or north ends of Lake Washington.

World War II slowed the initial growth spurt, but increased the industrial output of the local sawmills, most of which started operating two shifts. Due to the shortage of men, women started performing work that traditionally had been done by men in both the mills and other local business.

Issaquah area residents supported the war effort by donating enough funds to purchase a fighter plane, and many now traveled every day to Renton or Seattle to work in the Boeing and Pacific Car and Foundry Co. defense plants producing airplanes, tanks, rail cars and other materials.

At the end of the war, returning soldiers needed cars, homes, families and other goods. This again brought about growth in the Issaquah area. It was reported that building permits were issued for three new homes at one time on Front Street South, a major event for Issaquah.

A major earthquake in 1949 damaged the brick grade school on Schoolhouse Hill and many downtown businesses.

'50s: Slow and steady

The 1950s saw slow but steady growth in the Issaquah area, but the former big industries of coal mining and logging ended. Numerous small dairy farms continued to supply milk to the Alpine Dairy (now Darigold). More and more residents sought employment in Seattle and the migration of Seattle residents to the suburbs started to grow as Seattle's population declined from 700,000 to 550,000. The Eastside -- the towns and neighborhoods east of Lake Washington -- was becoming the choice for families to raise their children.

'60s: It ends with a boom

The 1960s brought the start of a new and larger highway (Interstate 90) toward Issaquah, replacing parts of the former U.S. 10. Issaquah renamed most of its streets, discarding many previous names such as Mill Street (now East and West Sunset Way) and Mine Street (now Clark Street).

An earthquake in 1965 damaged the former Issaquah High School building built in 1931 on the site of the current swimming pool on Clark Street.

Annexations began with a large one in the southeast area adding the Sycamore area to the city. The boom had started. The battle continued over changing Issaquah's first traffic light (a blinking yellow in both directions on Sunset Way and blinking red in both directions on Front Street) to a red-green traffic signal.

During the 1970s, I-90 construction brought about the removal of the Northern Pacific Railway's Issaquah trestle and the end of freight train service beyond Issaquah to North Bend. Although gravel pits had been in operation since 1910 and before, the expanding need for construction materials for roads and buildings started the operation of several large mining operations on the edges of Vaughn's Hill and Grand Ridge.

Where we are now

Through the 1980s and 1990s, the boom continued with former small dairy farm sites converted to retail, commercial, and office space on both sides of I-90. The closest operating dairy farm is now about six miles south of Issaquah.

Housing developments now line the hills around Issaquah, with many more in the pipeline. The higher elevations of Squak and Tiger mountains are again covered with forests after having been logged clear by the mid 1930s.

Traffic, construction and environmental preservation are now major concerns for Issaquah and its residents.