Reinig Road sycamore trees getting ready to change colors
Each fall, one of my favorite Snoqualmie Valley roads is Reinig Road, which runs along the Snoqualmie River just over the Meadowbrook Bridge. For new residents, this is across the river from Mount Si High School and Snoqualmie Elementary – if you follow Meadowbrook Way over the bridge and head toward North Bend.
This is one of my favorite roads, in part, because of the century-old sycamore trees that line Reinig Road, especially when they get their fall color. Once the leaves are gone, this road is also one of my favorite “creepy-kind-of-roads,” as my kids would call it. The trees actually create their own tunnel and there are no streetlights.
It turns out this road is rich in history, having once been a neighborhood for the booming Snoqualmie Falls mill town. Snoqualmie Valley Historian, Dave Battey, shared with me some of Reining Road’s (and its sycamore trees) history.
Next time you drive through the Reinig Road sycamore corridor, remember this was once a bustling family neighborhood. Those giant sycamore trees were once front yard trees. Then realize how many homes on Snoqualmie Ridge have front yard trees today, possibly connecting the new with the old.
There is history everywhere in the Snoqualmie Valley. You just have to look for it…
THE REINIG ROAD SYCAMORE CORRIDOR, by Dave Battey
The sycamore trees were donated by the Snoqualmie Falls Lumber Company (Weyerhaeuser) and planted about 1925; one tree in front of each mill house along Reinig Road and part way up what is now 396th Drive.
This area was known as the Riverside Neighborhood in the mill town. The houses by the sycamores were moved in the 1950s and almost every one of the approximately 250 single-family homes from the mill town of Snoqualmie Falls, Washington are in use today, somewhere in the Valley. The corridor is now designated as a living King County landmark.
Six of the boys from the mill town who were killed on active-duty in World War II were from the same Boy Scout troop. That troop met in the Snoqualmie Falls YMCA Community Hall – the largest YMCA this side of Seattle (1924-1971).
When the Snoqualmie Valley Veteran’s Memorial, across River Street from the new Snoqualmie City Hall, was being planned, the architect suggested a central Legacy Tree and a sycamore was chosen to honor those who served in the U. S. Armed Services from the mill town, but especially to honor the six Boy Scouts.
A new flag pole was installed at the recently opened Snoqualmie YMCA Community Center to honor the Valley’s first YMCA director, George Borden and his son, Army Air Corps pilot William (Bill) Borden, one of those six Boy Scouts. Bill was lost in the Pacific Theater early in the war.
Look for future stories from Dave and the Snoqualmie Valley Historical Museum, as we try and share Snoqualmie Valley history with you. Whether you are new to the valley or a long-timer, you may learn something new.
Reinig Road’s Riverside Neighborhood, part of old Snoqualmie Falls mill town, photo courtesy of The Snoqualmie Valley Historical Museum
The same spot on Reinig Road today, with mill town houses moved.
Thanks for working with Dave to bring a bit of our rich history to life. I was born and raised here and think that as a longtime citizen, sharing the history of our valley is a great thing. Maybe once a month or so you could feature a bit of valley history and maybe some of its longtime residents. Just an idea – I think things like that help bridge the gap too between the newer residents that the ridge has brought to us verse us Historic Snoqualmie folks.
Keep up the great work – love reading your blog lately.
That is the goal, Janelle. Hopefully once a month Dave will be sharing via Living Snoqualmie! Thanks so much for reading:) ~ Danna
I remember seeing those houses being low-boyed down the road past N.Bend grade school way back when. One of my uncles made one into an ‘addition’ to his existing place.
I’m glad to see our history out there and it gives me a chance to share with others who are aren’t aware of all the stories and “how things were.” There is always more to learn even though we’re native valley folk. (born and raised) Dave does an excellent job in sharing his knowledge! Sure look forward to more! Keep it up, love it ;o)
Ask Dave about the names of the streets up here! A lot of them have a valley history story behind them.
To me, another interesting part of the story of these trees is their heroic rescue by Earl Palmeter in the mid-1980′s. A company moving a house down the road was planning to cut all the trees on one side of the road to make room for the house to pass, and had already cut some branches making ready to cut the first tree. Earl, driving down the road, realized what was happening, and stopped his car where the first tree would fall, blocking the work. No cell phones available! After discussion with the work crew, Earl left his car in place and flagged down the next car to pass, directing them to get help from the City of Snoqualmie. A flurry of phone discussion involving (I believe) the Snoqualmie mayor and district congressional representative as well as county officials stopped the work that day, and very soon resulted in the trees being declared King County’s only living historic landmark. Thank you, Earl, for saving something so many people appreciate and enjoy!
Thanks for sharing that history, Mary. This is the fun part of sharing history… someone else can add something new.
I also was born and raised in Snoqualmie! (Nelm’s Hospital, delivered by Dr. Whitaker as were my brother and sister). My whole family, including grandparents, are still here. My parents are still in the same house they moved into when I was 4 (I’m 43 now ). I’m so glad you are working with Dave to get our history out there! As Janelle says, it’s so important for newer people living here to know where we came from. Great post! Will continue reading!
Thank you for reading! Nelms Road and Dr. whitaker? Amazing! I served on parks board when we named a park for the family. I just love learning more about our history… ~ Danna
I was raised on Highland Drive, but our family lived in the Orchard for a while. My siblings and myself attended the Snoqualmie Falls School and spent many hours at the old YMCA. It was a wonderful place for kids to spend their weekends; learning to dance, boxing, wrestling, Halloween parties, Christmas parties and so many more activities. Our family drove the Reing Rd. many times to go visit relatives and also when needed to get around the flood waters before Meadowbrook. I am so glad they were able to save those trees. And Dave, yyou do an awesome job of presenting our Valley History.
Love this, I was born in Snoqualmie and still live in North Bend. I was raised out on the North Fork an traveled this road pretty much everyday.
Lived on the Reinig Road when I was little. When traveling back from Idaho I take all the back roads from North Bend including the Reinig. My girls and I take pics and swim under the trestle and they patiently wait while I cry and say hello and goodbye to my mountain and childhood home