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| History of Roslyn, Washington |
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Roslyn Heritage - Digital Collection Ellensburg Public Library Local History Digital Collection Through Open Eyes: 95
Year's of Roslyn's Black History - Digital Collection |
The Roslyn
Heritage Collection Click
on the photo above or click here
to access the collection Images from the collection were taken during the early days of Roslyn. They were originally prints of photographs which were subsequently re-photographed and reprinted as slides. The slides were bought from the Roslyn Museum by a local resident in the 1970s, who then donated them to the Roslyn Library thirty years later. The seven lectures in the collection were presented at the Roslyn Library in 2001-2002 by Mr. David Browitt as a series on the history of coal mining in the Roslyn area from its discovery in the 1880s to the closing of the Number 9 Mine in December of 1963. The first lecture in the eight-part series was never recorded. These digital collections were first published online in June of 2009 with great help and support from the Washington State Library through the Washington Rural Heritage project. Washington Rural Heritage is a collection of historic materials documenting the early culture, industry, and community life of Washington State. top of page Roslyn's Physical Environment  Roslyn, Washington
April 2004 Photo courtesy of Roslyn Public Library Nestled in the heart of the eastern
foothills
of the Cascade Mountains, 2,222 feet above sea level, lies the town of
Roslyn. It has been said
that the name
Roslyn
was chosen because of the love a Mr. Bullitt had for his sweetheart in
a faraway town of Roslyn in Delaware. The Roslyn Sentinal of March 1, 1895, carried the following story about Roslyn's name: "On the far away shores of Delaware, midst the sand hills, peach orchards, and blue blooded 'skeeters', nestles the little hamlet, named Roslyn over a century ago. The high bred people were of primitive stock. The daughters of these householders were the special objects of the devotion of many enterprising young men in the neighborhood. Now, in this hamlet there lived a handsome, vivacious maiden, who was particularly dear to the heart of a brave and sturdy young man who was penetrating the wild northwest in 1886, in search of fame and fortune. This gentleman was one of our early pioneers, and it became his lot to name this new mining camp. After mature deliberation, he christened the town Roslyn on August 10, 1886, after the town in which his loved one lived. The event was duly celebrated and the name was placed on a board an inscribed with a pine cone. It was nailed to a large pine tree which stood near Patrick's business property. Whether Mr. Bullitt later realized his hopes in love, we do not know, but if his affairs of heart were as fickle as Roslyn's fortunes, he had an interesting time.top of page Where Coal Was King  Photo courtesy of the Ellensburg Public Library Local History Collection Roslyn was founded with the discovery of coal and the coming of the Northern Pacific Railroad in 1886. The town's population swelled dramatically in those first decades, from a few hundred in 1886 to about 4000 people in the 1920's. The Roslyn coal field attracted men from coal mining regions in other parts of the United States and from nations with well developed coal industries. Forty percent of the population in 1900 was foreign born, mostly Slavic, Italian and English immigrants. In fact, 24 nationalities have been recorded living in Roslyn at one time. Sprawling across wooded hills on the outskirts of town lie the 25 cemeteries, still segregated as to ethnic origin or lodge affiliation.  Schoolchildren in Roslyn, 1894 Photo courtesy of the Ellensburg Public Library Local History Collection The same census year of 1900 shows 22% of Roslyn's population was black at that time. The Knights of Labor had instituted a strike in 1888 which shut down the mines. The principal issue was the miners' demand for an eight hour day. The company recruited black miners from Virginia, North Carolina and Kentucky to take the place of the striking miners. Special trains brought in over 300 black miners and their families during 1888 and 1889. This migration represented the greatest increase in the black population of Washington Territory at that date. Once tension abated, white and black miners worked together peaceably amid the constant danger of the job.  Black pioneers of Roslyn Washington, circa 1890 Photo courtesy of the Ellensburg Public Library Local History Collection In 1963, the last of the working mines closed, and a way of life was gone. But it is not forgotten. A miner's memorial was erected in front of the old Company Store on September 2nd, 1996. The annual Coal Miners festival celebrates our town's history on Labor Day Weekend. Old shafts, slag piles, coal sheds and mining roads are everyday reminders. The Roslyn Historical Museum on Pennsylvania Avenue harbors mining memorabilia and historical photos along its cramped and narrow walls. Along with the "old-timers'" memories and stories passed on through the generations, these artifacts and landmarks give us all a sense of living history in Roslyn. top of page After the Coal Rush  Northern Exposure Film Crew Photo Courtesy of Roslyn Public Library It's been said that Roslyn became a ghost town soon after. Certainly, it was a town changed. The population dropped from a high of 4,000 in the early 20th century to 938 in 1999. Not much has been written or recorded about Roslyn in the past 50 years. Through the generations, Roslynites changed from miners to loggers to government employees working for the U.S. Forest Service or the Department of Transportation. The town's children moved on to Seattle, California, Alaska. Stores closed down, reopened as something new, then closed down again. Commuting became a way of life for many. In the 1970's, Roslyn
experienced
a new
influx. Drawn by the quiet, rural lifestyle and compelled to stay
here by the unique Roslyn charm, the town became a haven for young
people.
Some were looking for a good place to raise children. Others were
artists who found inspiration and freedom here. For a time,
hippies
and retired coal miners scraped together a living side by side (or with
several vacant houses between them). Then, in 1990, a
television
production
company came to town and shook everything up once again. Roslyn
became
the location site for the award winning television series Northern
Exposure.
Film crews filled the streets, along with the tourists who came to see
it all happening. For five years, Roslyn was known by millions of
TV viewers as Cicely, Alaska. New businesses sprouted, tourists
poured
in, and the town was booming all over again. Since 1995, when the series ended, Roslyn has quieted down some. There are still Northern Exposure gift shops, but the stream of tourists buying moose key chains and mugs has become more of a trickle. Locally driven small businesses are taking hold. Cottage industries are being cultivated. Art still flourishes. People flock here not so much to see Cicely, but to go mountain biking, fishing, backpacking and snowmobiling in the thousands of acres of wilderness and national forest surrounding the town. Roslyn is experiencing a "new age." The reasons why haven't changed. Roslyn and her surroundings are unique, special, beloved by many. One visit and it is easy to see why. An early description of Lake Cle Elum, located several miles northwest of Roslyn, appeared in the Kittitas Standard of September 1, 1883:"Sighting the magnificent waters of Lake Cle Elum, bounded upon one side by high, craggy, treeless peaks and upon the other by gently sloping, forest-covered hills, free from underbrush, one can readily understand what a magnificent sight must have been presented when in days agone, the lake was dotted with gaudily decked Indian canoes, or its ice-environed surface was illuminated by hundreds of torches of the piscatorially inclined children of the forest. Nor is any great stretch of the imagination required to enable one to see that at no distant day the waters of this beautiful lake must attract to its shores many persons upon health or pleasure bent."*Historical information provided by the following sources: "Through Open Eyes: Ninety Five Years of Black History in Roslyn, Washington" - an Ellensburg Public Library exhibit pamphlet top of page Ellensburg Public Library Local History Digital Collection  The Ellensburg Public Library's local history digital collection includes historic photographs of Roslyn and the surrounding area. To access the images, click here or on image above, then type "Roslyn" in the "Across all Fields" search box. Through Open Eyes: 95 Years of Roslyn's Black History Click on the photo above or click here to access the collectionA collection of 84 historic photographs dating from the late 1800s to the 1960s of African-American miners, settlers and residents of the coal mining community of Roslyn, Washington.top of page |
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©
2009 The Roslyn
Public Library 201 S. First Street, Roslyn, WA 98941
Last Update July
21, 2009
