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Overview

This wood-frame station for the Seattle, Lake Shore and Eastern Railway opened in 1889, in what was known then as Gilman, WA. The townsite was named "Gilman" for one of the founders of the railroad, Daniel H. Gilman (1845-1913). The city was rechristened "Issaquah" in 1899.

Building History

The Seattle Lake Shore and Eastern (S. LS and E) Railway incorporated on 04/29/1885, soon after the Northern Pacific Railway chose Tacoma over Seattle as its western terminus. Seattle boosters pooled their money to erect a rail line to the East, a transportation connection deemed vital to the city's continued growth. Capitalization for the line took some time, with construction beginning in 02/1887. Construction of the 63-mile line occurred between 1887 until 12/1889, when tracks reached Sallal Prairie, the line's eastern terminus. The station in Gilman was complete by 1889. By 1890, the S, LS and E route would contain 19 stations, including Boulevard (the Downtown Seattle Depot at Columbia Street and Western Avenue), Fremont, Latona, Ravenna Park, Yesler Junction, Keith, Lake Wayne, Bothell, Woodinville, Derby, York, Redmond, Adelaide, Inglewood, Monohon, Gilman (Issaquah), Preston, Fall City and Snoqualmie Falls. The S, LS and E did not remain an independent entity for long. The Northern Pacfiic Railroad, the line that spurned Seattle for Tacoma in 1883, obtained a majority of its stock on 05/23/1890, and integrated the S, LS and E line with its own by 05/1892. (See Issaquah History Museums, "Issaquah's Northern Pacific Depot," accessed 07/06/2018.)