It has come to my attention that people serving in their community are often involved with more than one organization.  It is also becoming very evident that organizations are collaborating with each other for the benefit of the general public.   SKCGS & KCLS For several years, South King County Genealogical Society has provided genealogical help at branches of the King County Library System.  As the Auburn Library Branch has re-opened after Covid closure, SKCGS volunteers are providing genealogical help once a month.  (We could do it  more often if we had more volunteers. Write to outreach@skcgs.org to volunteer.) SKCGS & GSMD and DAR Many of our society members are also involved with other heritage organizations such as  General Society of Mayflower Descendants , and  Daughters of the American Revolution .     "MFS is the Black Diamond 2022 Community Service Group Award recipient!!  The award ceremony will start at 12:00 p.m. on Sunday, September 4 th .  Please join us

Dr. Janice Lovelace was the featured speaker this afternoon, October 24, 2021, at a joint meeting hosted by the Black Diamond Historical Society and South King County Genealogical Society, on Black Miners in the West.   The event was well attended with people from all over the United States who have an interest in the heritage of the Black miners who came west in the late 1880s and early 1890s. Notes from the meeting:  https://skcgs.groups.io/g/Society/message/1934  . People who live in South King County, especially on the eastern side are familiar with the coal mining communities of Newcastle, Renton, and Black Diamond; some may even remember the names of Franklin, Cedar Mountain and other towns from long ago. Franklin WA ~ Cemetery ~Abandoned Mining Town by vikisuzan, (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0) I've had an interest in the mining operations at Franklin ever since I discovered the names of the 37 men who died in the mine fire of August 24, 1894.  That lead to other stories about Franklin i

Can you identify the men in this photo? This photograph was taken sometime in the 1920’s or 1930’s in Franklin, King County, Washington. It is of two men who are probably not miners, due to the style of their dress. The standing man is simply in trousers and no particular footwear, meaning he and probably the second man were visitors to the mine. Perhaps they were businessmen or engineers come to visit to see if the mine was worth keeping open. The mine entrance is to the “Gem Mine #3”, the third mine of this name. The first one was the biggest and was on the Green River. The second was a bit further down river and this one, the third, was the smallest and was above the river, between it and the railroad tracks, below the present-day track to the Franklin Cemetery. This photo is part of a larger photo, the rest of which is trees and background, and which hangs in the Black Diamond Historical Museum . The “gas” sign was often posted even if there was no danger of gas as it sc

  by Katie Hanzeli “If it wasn’t for coal, there never would have been a Black Diamond, Washington.” 1 About 1885, the Black Diamond Coal Company of California sent Morgan Morgan, their superintendent and Mr. P. B. Cornwall, the company’s president up North to check out the prospect of moving its entire operation from Nortonville to what is now Black Diamond, Washington. Coal, good quality coal, had been discovered in Newcastle, just North of there and explorations showed that even more was to be had. Morgan and Cornwall liked what they saw. The mostly Welsh and some Italian employees, their families and all the equipment were packed up, lock, stock and barrel, and moved to Washington. Even before coal became king, there were homesteaders nearby, who had to go to Seattle via Covington to get supplies. Everything else they grew themselves, including tobacco. 2 They had been settled in the area since the early 1870’s. Welsh, Italians, Slovenians, British and other nationalitie