And the newest Snoqualmie Landmark is . . .

The newest and perhaps most unusual City of Snoqualmie Landmark is a wooden electric interurban car. Built by St. Louis Car in 1907, it entered service between Seattle and Tacoma in February 1908.

The City of Snoqualmie Landmark Commission met on Thursday, January 25, 2018 to consider the nomination of car 523 to the Register.  Car 523 was donated to the The Northwest Railway Museum in September 2017 and a $11,000 grant from 4Culture funded its move from Petaluma, California to Snoqualmie, Washington.  The Museum prepared and submitted a nomination in fall 2017; this was the Commission's first meeting since.  A Commission staff report was made, the Museum gave a presentation, and then the public was invited to comment.

Historic Preservation architect Todd Scott is staff support for the King County Landmarks Commission (who sits as the Snoqualmie Commission when acting for Snoqualmie).  He presented the staff report and called out more than a dozen communities in South King County once served by the Puget Sound Electric Railway and car 523.  His report concluded with a recommendation to list car 523 on the Landmarks Register.

Museum Executive Director Richard R. Anderson gave a short presentation on the 523 and commented on the car's role in the settlement and development of the White River valley.  He went on to describe the extra-fare service offered using the parlor in the 523, and its popularity during the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition in 1909.  (Check out this excellent University of Washington online exhibit too.)  He also mentioned the important role of the Georgetown Steam Plant in powering a portion of the electric railway's third rail and overhead.  And he introduced noted artist J. Craig Thorpe who has been commissioned to create an original artwork of car 523 departing the Auburn Depot.  Mr. Thorpe unveiled the pencil sketch that was created to develop the concept and help finalize the exacting research that is being performed to create an accurate representation of a scene from the fall of 1915.

The City of Snoqualmie's Community Development Director Mark Hofman presented a letter from Mayor Matt Larson who wrote, "This artifact is highly relevant to one of the most compelling chapters in Snoqualmie's History . . . (among) the first customers of the electricity generated from the Snoqualmie Falls Power Plant was the Puget Sound Electric Railway cars . . . I believe the Puget Sound Electric Railway Car 523 will prove to be the most valued and popular artifact in the Northwest Railway Museum's collection.  I support this effort without reservation."

Following the close of the public hearing, the Snoqualmie Landmarks Commission voted to approve the listing of car 523.  It is a fitting tribute to a rare and representative object that retains a high degree of original integrity, and the listing will support the car's preservation. Stay tuned for progress as the Museum prepares to undertake significant rehabilitation and restoration of this unique resource.

Special thanks to the Landmarks and Heritage Commission, Historic Preservation Officer Jennifer Meisner, Historic Preservation architect Todd Scott, Snoqualmie Mayor Matt Larson, and artist J. Craig Thorpe for helping bring this nomination all together and making it a reality.

Locomotive 924 Landmarked

Snoqualmie Landmarks Commission,

key Landmarks staff, and Museum

Executive Director Richard Anderson

pose for a post-vote photo in the

Snoqualmie council chambers.

The Northern Pacific Railway steam locomotive 924 has been successfully nominated to the City of Snoqualmie and King County Landmarks Register.  The Snoqualmie Landmarks Commission met in Snoqualmie on November 19, 2015 and voted to designate the 1899-built locomotive.  Officially, the commission considered the nomination that was submitted by the Northwest Railway Museum earlier this fall.  Commissioners toured locomotive 924 now undergoing rehabilitation in the Conservation and Restoration Center, and asked a variety of informed questions.  Commissioners later convened in Snoqualmie’s Council Chambers to vote on the staff recommendation to place the object on the Snoqualmie and King County Landmark Registers.

The staff report made a number of interesting observations about locomotive 924:

Catalog cut from the Rogers Locomotive

Company catalog of 1900.

• The NPR Locomotive 924 is significant under (King County Landmarks) Criterion A1 for its association with the growth and development of King County.  Locomotives were the engine of the industrial revolution and western expansion, and the Northern Pacific Railway (NPR) was instrumental in setting broad patterns of settlement and development in King County and across the northern portion of the country from Minnesota to Washington.  NPR 924 served this railway for twenty-five years.


• NPR 924 is significant under Criterion A3 as an excellent and rare example of a classic late 19th century steam locomotive. It features many of the common elements of both larger and smaller locomotives, and in many respects was “state of the art” for the era. There are very few locomotives originally owned by mainline railroads that survived beyond WW II.


• NPR 924 is also significant under Criterion A5 as an outstanding and rare example of a switching locomotive constructed by Rogers Locomotive Company in Paterson, New Jersey, the second largest builder of steam locomotives in America.  Rogers was an innovative manufacturer who developed many features that became common – or even standard – on nearly all steam locomotives.  Rogers produced more than 6,000 locomotives.  Only 20 known examples remain world-wide; 11 of those are in the United States.

 

924 at Millwood, WA, after retirement

from the Northern Pacific.

The Landmarks Register listing for locomotive 924 is important for the Northwest Railway Museum and its mission.  A listing on the Landmarks Register conveys certain legal protections for the object regardless of who owns it.  It provides additional public recognition of its historical importance, and its role in the interpretation of King County’s railroad history.  City and County landmarks are eligible to apply to certain grant programs, and for technical assistance.

The Landmark Register is an important initiative of King County, which is one of the largest counties in the United States.  A King County Historic Preservation Officer – Jennifer Meisner - is appointed by the King County Executive.  Under her direction is a full time staff in the King County Historic Preservation Program that provides technical advice, project impact reviews for public agencies, and Interlocal landmark programs for suburban cities including Snoqualmie and North Bend.  Other objects on the Landmarks Register at the Northwest Railway Museum include Chapel Car 5 Messenger of Peace, Northern Pacific Railway rotary snowplow 10, and the Northern Pacific Railway/Seattle Lake Shore and Eastern Snoqualmie Depot.

Landmarks Listing

The Chapel Car Messenger of Peace earned City of Snoqualmie landmark status by a unanimous vote Thursday night. The King County Landmarks and Heritage Commission sitting as the City of Snoqualmie Landmarks Commission met on March 26 at the Conservation and Restoration Center to consider the Chapel Car nomination. [[Pictured at left are members of the King County Landmarks Commission: In the first row, from left to right, are Lauren McCroskey, Lynette Weber and Tom Hitzroth. Rick Chouinard is in the middle. On the platform of the 001 Caboose are Steve Day and Brian Rich. Not pictured are Bob Weaver, Susan Ranf and Kathryn Merlino.]] Landmarks staff outlined the history and significance of the car and the public had an opportunity to testify. One speaker was noted railcar expert Glenn Guerra who was in town conducting a 4Culture-funded (from the Collections Care Program) condition assessment of the Chapel Car. Landmark status bestows recognition for the object’s significance and raises its public profile. A benefit of landmark status is eligibility for support from the Landmarks Rehabilitation program administered by 4Culture.

Built to bring religion to communities in a self-contained mobile church with living quarters, the chapel car did that and more. This church on wheels – and twelve others similar in design operated by the American Baptists, Catholics, and Episcopalians - brought modern evangelism and civility to disparate communities that sprung up across the West. Frontier towns were far apart and roads were almost nonexistent. There were very few of today’s transportation alternatives and for most communities the only viable access was by rail. (The chapel car concept appears to have been adapted from the chapel cars developed in the 1880s by the Russian Orthodox Church to serve remote communities across Siberia. Click here to see some images of Russian chapel cars from the 1880s through modern times.)

Culturally significant to the City of Snoqualmie, the Snoqualmie Valley, King County, Washington State and the entire United States as a Nationally-significant property, the Messenger of Peace ran on the Museum’s track right by the Snoqualmie Depot on a visit to North Bend over 92 years ago. It played a critical role in the settlement and development of this area by fostering the formation of religious congregations, renewing those that waned, and promoting religion (Christianity) in far flung communities across the west.