Author: Leslie (Page 3 of 5)

The small farming community of Vincent was located on the western side of the Snoqualmie Valley, south of Carnation. In 1905, residents built a schoolhouse so their children could attend school close to their homes.

The school housed all grade levels and included students from many pioneer families in the Snoqualmie Valley. About 20 students at a time attended the school. Teachers were typically hired for two- or three-month terms in the fall and spring, seasons when parents could release the children from their farming duties to attend school. The milder weather also eased travel for the students from outlying farms.

The school closed in 1942, but the Vincent Community Club still used the building for social and community events.

This is an Ames Lake community newsletter from 1997. Some issues (road cleanliness, beach keys) are still with us today.

In July of 1973, the Department of Ecology landed a helicopter on the lake to test the depth and quality of the water. It was quite an event!

On February 8, 1954, power finally came to Ames Lake. People put away their kerosene lamps, hand-winding alarm clocks, and battery radios. They brought in refrigerators, televisions, electric stoves, power tools, and vacuum cleaners.

Mutual Power and Light

A one-man cooperative, Mutual Power and Light, was able to do the job in this sparsely settled area. The “one man” was A. Cone Hunter, manager, lineman, foreman, groundman, and public relations expert.

There was a direct hookup with Puget Sound Power and Light, who completed the process and installed transformers. Their crews went to the homes of each permanent resident, fastened service wires to the wires running into the house, and installed a meter.

With the power in, Ames Lake was brought up to date, and people were looking into a future of real estate booms. They hoped for two other services that were not yet available: a rural mail route and a telephone line.

Ames Lake was first logged in 1927 by Siler Logging. The lake had been used as a holding pond. Logs were kept there until they were loaded onto railroad flatcars and sent to the mills.

In 1946, railroad pilings were still left in the lake, as well as hundreds of lost and discarded logs. That year, a man named Jim Jackson, along with a friend, used a hand-winch to get the derelict logs to shore. They cut them up and sold them to a nearby mill.