A mining town, then and now

By JACK HOPKINS
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER

Black Diamond is, indeed, steeped in history -- coal-mining history.

The town took its name from the "black diamonds" ripped out of the earth when coal mining first began here in the 1880s.

Black Diamond was King County's top coal producer by 1895 and held that position for many years. Among the major customers was the University of Washington, which heated campus buildings with the town's coal.

The mines went into decline after World War I and shut down when they were no longer profitable. An old coal-filled mine car was placed along the side of Route 169 at the north end of town as a memorial to the miners.

Pacific Coast Coal Co. opened the John Henry open pit mine here in 1986 when the economic picture changed. The coal-mining operation has continued since then with little noticeable impact on the community.

"We have had very little difficulty with the neighbors," said Bruno Ridolfi, general manager of Pacific Coast Coal, which has permits to mine a 465-acre area. The company is digging down more than 300 feet.

Pacific Coast is the Black Diamond area's only major employer, with 46 workers. Only six are town residents, but most live within 20 miles of town, Ridolfi said.

Seventy-five percent of the coal is hauled to a cement plant in South Seattle, and most of the rest is exported to power plants in South Korea.

Palmer Coking Coal and Pacific Coast Coal are separate companies. Palmer owns the land and mineral rights at the John Henry site, and Pacific Coast leases the mine property from Palmer Coking.

The open pit mine is hardly a thing of beauty, but most town residents don't even think about the coal-mining operation unless they are driving past it, Botts said. There have been a few complaints about noise and silt in the water running off the property, but most residents have grown accustomed to the presence of the mining operation.

The town still has many of the old houses built during the years when coal was king. And a large number of the newer homes have been built on heavily wooded lots surrounded by blackberry thickets, or are located near lakes. They do little to disturb the sense of tranquillity.

Continued:

• Historical coal town is getting ready to grow up
• A quiet town that likes it that way
• Yielding to the inevitable
• Face of the city changes with the times