Life in the slow lane
June 29th, 2010 | By: Jane Garrison
From agriculture to the suburban community, Issaquah’s roads tell the story of our changing town.
Say you’re from Issaquah and you’ll get a positive reaction from everybody. Not only is Issaquah’s setting beautiful, but the location is a prominent one. Our town has the distinction of being a historic safe haven, the last civilized place before travelers headed east across the wild and dangerous mountains. Coming west, it was the first refuge with a hot meal and a warm bed.
Issaquah’s beginnings date from the mid-1800s, when its economy was based on agriculture, lumber, and coal mining. Eventually the coal was gone, the trees were logged, and agriculture required more acreage, but Issaquah managed to stay vibrant. How? To answer this question, look back to when our roads were first built.
In 1895 there was no east–west route through Issaquah. The main road came down the east side of Lake Sammamish from Woodinville, Redmond, and Monohon, a long gone lumber town on the lake. It continued south down Front Street, where a few buildings from that era survive: The Odd Fellows Hall, the recently closed Lewis Hardware, and the old Village Theatre still grace Front Street.
The Sunset Highway opened in 1915, coming from Seattle through Renton around Lake Washington. The alignment followed the Renton–Issaquah Road, now SR-900. When it reached Issaquah it took a sharp right around Goode’s Corner and Pickering Hill, and then headed south on Newport Way to our very own Sunset Way. The Masonic Building, the Grand Central Hotel, and the Rolling Log Tavern, all built in the early 1900s, have lasted into the first decade of the 21st century. The last building on Sunset Way, the ‘roadside inn’, is still standing in remodeled condition today. From there the Sunset Highway wound up through the hills toward Preston and continued over the pass.
Just think about the circuitous routes and weak connections to other places at this time. The rough, muddy roads snaked up and down through narrow valleys and around hills, each one an adventure and all-day trip to most destinations.
In 1940 Issaquah went into fast forward when the Lacey V. Murrow floating bridge across Lake Washington opened, bringing our town into the metro area. Highway 10 was realigned to come directly from Eastgate. In Issaquah it became what we know today as Gilman Boulevard.
See road culture artifacts at the Hailstone Feed Store Museum
Driving down Gilman you can still see remnants of the old highway culture. Many of the structures survive near the intersection of Gilman and Front Street. The low, gray building with the “ANTIQUES” sign was originally a motel. The restaurant next to it, now Pogacha, was a roadhouse breakfast and dinner place. The Triple XXX Rootbeer Drive-In is one of only two still in operation in the country. The Grange Supply was built in the 1930s on the outskirts of town to serve the farmers. Boehm’s Candies was an appealing tourist stop on the highway.
Then came another big change. In 1970, Interstate 90 was completed; the massive, elevated roadway was built alongside but just north of Highway 10 to preserve the businesses.
Issaquah kept changing its economic base as it grew from agriculture, to lumber and coal, to safe haven and tourism, and finally to the suburban community it is today. Many early towns specializing in one commodity have disappeared. Our town’s important position in relation to the mountains and the crossroads ensured its survival.
Those little remnants of history seen today among the parking lots and strip malls are important reminders of the early days and more peaceful times. We are lucky to have them. They are the visible signs of Issaquah’s mystique and part of the reason our town makes people smile.
