|
Each year the King County Landmarks Commission holds public hearings to review nominations of landmark properties to the King County Landmark Registry. The following is a summary of recently designated landmarks.
Wiley House, aka The Stone House, 1914-1916
Cleveland Street, Redmond
Designated city of Redmond Landmark: 2007
Platt Dairy Farm
NE 138th Street, Duvall
Designated King County Landmark: 2007
Snoqualmie Falls Lumber Co. Power Plant, 1917-1929
SE Mill Pond Road
Designated King County Landmark: 2005
Des Moines Beach Park, 1917-1931
Cliff Avenue, Des Moines
Designated city of Des Moines Landmark: 2005
Foss River Bridge, 1951
Foss River Road Skykomish Vicinity
Designated King County Landmark: 2004
Green River Gorge Bridge, 1915
Green River Gorge Road, Black Diamond Vicinity
Designated King County Landmark: 2004
Judd Creek Bridge, 1953
Vashon Highway, Burton Vicinity
Designated King County Landmark: 2004
Patton Bridge, 1950
Upper Green River Road, Auburn Vicinity
Designated King County Landmark: 2004
The Wiley House was built between 1914 and 1916 and is an exceptionally well-preserved and architecturally distinctive example of the Craftsman-Bungalow style in the city of Redmond. It was constructed by Orson Wiley, who with his wife, Emma, was one of Redmond’s early settlers. They operated an adjacent livery stable and the Eagle Bar Saloon. Wiley collected the stones for the house from the surrounding countryside. The Wiley’s fanciful Craftsman home is the elaborate legacy of their involvement in the settlement and commercial development of Redmond. As Redmond’s initial settlement period was drawing to an end, and it was maturing into an established community, the built environment increasingly reflected the area’s economic prosperity. The Craftsman style of architecture expressed a level of formal comfort which appealed to the growing American middle class, which the Wiley’s had successfully joined. Their house remains as a rare and wonderful example of Craftsman architecture in Redmond, and a reminder of one of Redmond’s pioneer families. The Wiley House was designated a Redmond City Landmark in 2007.
The Platt Dairy Farm was built over many years beginning in 1906 along the banks of the Snoqualmie River near Duvall. It is significant because it is an excellent example of an historic farm that illustrates the evolution of Washington State dairy regulations from the early 1900s to the late 1960s. It also illustrates the evolution of construction technologies used on local dairy farms during this time. As an example, the hay barn with its combination of hand-hewn timbers on a post and pier foundation coupled with milled lumber siding and manufactured nails, illustrates the beginning evolution from very primitive structures and dairies to the streamlined and more efficient construction of later dairy barns. Other transitions are illustrated in the physical adaptation of this and other structures to the fluid milk law of 1949, which mandated sanitary upgrades to barns and milk cooling facilities. The farmstead’s orientation towards the Snoqualmie River is a reminder of the important role that river transportation played in the early years of Valley history. Finally, the property is socially unique as a farmstead, as it was run by a woman for nearly three decades. Platt Dairy Farm was designated a King County Landmark in 2007.
The Snoqualmie Falls Lumber Co. Powerhouse and Brick Stack are key surviving components of an innovative, early 20th century milling operation that was the most expansive of its kind ever to operate in King County. The brick powerhouse and 211-foot brick stack functioned as the heart of the all-electric plant. According to the Weyerhaeuser Co., the Snoqualmie Falls Lumber Co. (SFLCo) mill was only the second such all-electric mill operation in the nation, and the first of its kind to employ electrical powered cutting operations in the woods. Today, the mill complex itself has all but disappeared. A large open space remains on the level valley floor previously crowded with buildings and structures containing machinery and operations for log cutting, planing, processing, and lumber sorting. Today the power plant serves as the last tangible symbol of the community of Snoqualmie Falls and its social and economic legacy. The Snoqualmie Falls Lumber Company Powerhouse was designated a King County Landmark in 2005.
The Des Moines Beach Park Historic District is a complex of buildings that exhibits rustic, vernacular camp architecture. These elements reflect its association with events and activities during its use as a recreational park known as Draper Park from 1917 until 1931; and as Covenant Beach Camp, a conference center and camp operated by a council of local and regional churches between 1931 and 1986. Covenant Beach Camp was one of the longest operating examples of numerous private recreational facilities of this type, which were established at waterfront locations throughout King County during the early 20th century. The Des Moines Beach Park Historic District is now a unique 18-acre City-owned waterfront park on Puget Sound. Des Moines Creek runs through the District, which is set within a steep forested valley and includes a broad rocky saltwater beach. Today, one historic building remains from the Draper Park era, the Picnic/Kitchen Shelter that was constructed in the 1920s. Eight historic buildings remain today from the Covenant Beach Camp era and two cabins (Roadside Cabin One and Sports Cabin, both ca. 1931), the Dining Hall (1934 with additions), Sun Home Lodge (ca. 1934), the Carlson Cottage (ca.1935), the Woodshop (1945), and the Auditorium (1957). Des Moines Beach Park was designated a Des Moines City Landmark in 2005.
The Foss River Bridge was built in 1951 over a tributary to the Skykomish River in northeast King County . The bridge is significant for its role in the development of local transportation in the mid-twentieth century, and for its unique structural design, a Warren Pony truss. Commonly used for railroad and road bridge construction from the mid-nineteenth until the mid-twentieth century, the truss design eventually fell out of favor because it was limited to short spans and narrow decks. The Foss River Bridge is the only extant and intact bridge of this type dating from the late period of Warren Pony truss use; three others dating from this era have been significantly altered or moved from their original locations. The Foss River Bridge was designated as a King County Landmark in 2004.
Top of Page | HPP Home | BRED Home
The Green River Gorge Bridge was constructed in 1915 in southeast King County , and is significant for its association with the development of an early roadway transportation network in rural King County , and as a rare and intact example of Baltimore Petit deck truss structural design. The Green River Gorge Bridge is the only Baltimore Petit deck truss bridge owned and maintained by King County . It was part of an early network of local bridges and road systems developed in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries and served a crucial role in the earliest highway transportation route from Renton via Maple Valley , through Black Diamond, Franklin , Cumberland , Enumclaw and on to the planned Naches Pass Highway and Mount Rainier . The establishment and expansion of this transportation link occurred due to the growth of local timber and mining activity and expanded recreational opportunities. The Baltimore Petit deck truss is a structural system that evolved during the nineteenth century with the construction of railroad bridges that had to span greater distances. The Green River Gorge Bridge was designated as a King County Landmark in 2004.
Top of Page | HPP Home | BRED Home
The Judd Creek Bridge was built in 1953 on Vashon Island, and is significant for its association with the development of local transportation systems in the mid-twentieth century, and for its association with noted Washington State bridge engineer and designer, Homer M. Hadley, whose concept for the Lake Washington floating bridge in 1921 is frequently cited as the first of its kind proposed for civic use. The Judd Creek Bridge is also significant as an early example of the concrete hollow-box (box girder) type of bridge construction. Various factors precipitated the expanded use of concrete, including World War II and post-war era steel shortages, and advances in methods of calculating structural loads which simplified the design process and ultimately lead to the construction of large-scale, complex continuous concrete structures. The Judd Creek Bridge is the best-preserved of three extant examples of the earliest concrete box girder bridge design built in King County between the years 1951-53. By the late 1950s, concrete box girder type bridge design was widely used throughout Washington State . The Judd Creek Bridge was designated as a King County Landmark in 2004.
Top of Page | HPP Home | BRED Home
The Patton Bridge was built in 1950 over the Green River in the vicinity of Auburn , and is significant as a rare and early example of innovative structural design, and for its association with noted Washington State bridge engineer and designer Homer M. Hadley. In 1994 the Patton Bridge was listed in the National Register of Historic Places as part of the Washington State Highway Bridges, 1941-1950 Multiple Property Documentation. The Patton Bridge was designated as a King County Landmark in 2004.
|
