Roslyn, Washington - aka Cicely, Alaska

How about Roslyn, Washington, famed movie site of Cicely, Alaska's popular television program, "Northern Exposure"? This is the place! But it's the site of a lot more than television fame. Roslyn's mired in a history of coal mining that still leaves a historical legacy in this small town that's represented in the town museum, below left.

Step back in time to the 1893 Chicago Columbian Exposition. The 25-ton piece of coal, the supposed largest piece ever cut at the time, was displayed by Northern Pacific's Roslyn Coal Mine. This, a tribute to the railroad's presence in the coal mining industry when coal mining was big business, defined a section of Roslyn's history.

Coal was discovered in upper Kittitas County in 1882. Railroad-owned coal mining began in Roslyn in 1886 by approximately 550 laborers hired by Northern Pacific. When the Knights of Labor went on strike in 1888, two trainloads of black workers were brought to Roslyn to work in the mine.

Mining was a bloody occupation; tragic disasters such as a mine explosion in May, 1892, that killed 45 men helped define the difficult lifstyle of the miner. This was shortly before legislation denied railroads the right to work mines in 1898.

The Northwestern Improvement Mine which took over the Roslyn claims after the new legislation was adopted was the largest mine in production in Roslyn. They actively recruited miners from other countries. Life went on for Roslyn's mining families.

Then there was another horrendous explosion.

In 1909, ten miners died in another mine tragedy. View the recently erected Roslyn Miner's Memorial honoring local miners. Learn about the losses firsthand Sculptor Mike Maiden built the statue which was unveiled along with the buriel of a time capsule, scheduled to be opened in 2096.

(Here's one of my favorite houses still standing.)
Devastation did not keep the miners from living life. On a normal day folks took advantage of the town accoutrements to get a little pleasure when they could. They had picnics under "Castle Rock" in town, a turreted formation on Pennsylvania Avenue. They climbed under this cave to eat their wares.

Some folks not into having picnics liked to cavort on down to The Brick Tavern, built by Peter Giovanni in 1889. It still has a running water spittoon under the bar. If it could talk! This century-plus-old establishment is the oldest operating saloon in the state of Washington. It's still open for your pleasure. The back bar is from England, and has weathered times you and I will never know.

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