Editing Roslyn, Washington (section)

==History==
===Early history===
[[Coal]] deposits were first noted in the Roslyn area in 1883, with a large vein discovered at the upper Smith Creek canyon in 1885 by C.P. Brosious, Walter J. Reed, and Ignatius A. Navarre.<ref name="majors">{{cite book| last = Majors| first = Harry M.| title = Exploring Washington| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=CoWrPQAACAAJ| date = November 1, 1975| publisher = Van Winkle Publishing Co| isbn = 978-0-918664-00-6| pages = 89–90 }}</ref>  Roslyn was [[plat]]ted in 1886 by Logan M. Bullet, vice president of the Northern Pacific Coal Company, at the time that the company initiated the first commercial coal mining operations there, to support railway operations.<ref name="BlackPast">Goodloe, Trevor. "[http://www.blackpast.org/aaw/roslyn-washington Roslyn, Washington (1886-- )]". [[BlackPast.org]]. Retrieved January 19, 2018.</ref>

Throughout the mid-1880s, the [[Northern Pacific Railway]], the parent of Northern Pacific Coal Company, pushed from the east to reach [[Puget Sound]] across the [[Cascade Mountains]]. The Northern Pacific began building across [[Stampede Pass]] just west of Roslyn, approaching from [[Wallula, Washington|Wallula]] in the east and [[Tacoma, Washington|Tacoma]] in the west. A 77-mile (124-km) gap remained in 1886. In January of that year, Nelson Bennett was given a contract to construct a 9,850&nbsp;foot (3,002&nbsp;m) tunnel under Stampede Pass, completing it in 1888. Roslyn, which lies on the route to Stampede Pass, provided the coal for the railway construction work as well as the continuing railroad operations.

Between 1886 and 1929, immigrant workers from countries such as [[Italy]], [[Poland]], [[Slovakia]], [[Germany]], [[Lithuania]], [[Slovenia]], [[Serbia]] and [[Croatia]] as well as from [[England]], [[Ireland]], [[Scotland]] and [[Wales]] came to work in the mines.<ref>{{Cite web |title=City of Roslyn |url=https://www.ci.roslyn.wa.us/ |access-date=2025-03-13 |website=www.ci.roslyn.wa.us}}</ref>

In 1892, 45 miners were killed in an explosion at Mine No. 1 near Roslyn, the deadliest mining accident in [[Washington (state)|Washington]] history.<ref>{{cite news| last=Meyers | first=Donald W. | title=It Happened Here: Explosion kills 45 miners in Roslyn | newspaper=Yakima Herald-Republic | date=May 5, 2019 | url=https://www.yakimaherald.com/news/local/happened/it-happened-here-explosion-kills-45-miners-in-roslyn/article_670c38e7-dba6-574e-bc06-03f4c4231abf.html | access-date=June 7, 2024}}</ref>

Roslyn's [[peak coal]] mine production of nearly 2 million tons was reached in 1910. As coal-fired steam trains were being replaced by [[diesel locomotive|diesel]] power, the last mine in the area closed in 1963 as business became unprofitable.

As Roslyn was a "[[company town]]", life in the early years was centered around the production of coal. Most of the citizens of the town worked either for the Northern Pacific Coal Company or in one of the smaller businesses monopolized by the company, or were family members of someone who did. A hub of life in the town was the [[Northwestern Improvement Company Store]], now listed on the [[National Register of Historic Places]]; it still stands at the corner of First Street and Pennsylvania Avenue.<ref name=nris-2>{{NRISref|2013a|dateform=mdy|access-date=September 9, 2017|refnum=73001881|name=Northwestern Improvement Company Store}}</ref>

Most of the town's 500 homes were built in the 1920s on land owned by the railroad. The 1920s-era commercial district consisted of four square blocks, of which about one dozen buildings remain as representatives of western frontier commercial architecture. Roslyn has many examples of [[Victorian architecture|Victorian]] elegance in its surviving buildings, as well as simple miner's shacks. The town of Roslyn was listed on the [[National Register of Historic Places]] in 1978.<ref name=nris-1>{{NRISref|2013a|dateform=mdy|access-date=September 9, 2017|refnum=78002760|name=Roslyn Historic District}}</ref>

===Knights of Labor Strike of 1888 and African American migration===
[[File:Roslyn-2.jpg|thumb|right|The Brick Tavern is the oldest continuously operating tavern in the state, and was featured prominently in ''[[Northern Exposure]]'' (1990 to 1995). Roslyn was used as the site for filming the fictitious town of Cicely, Alaska, in the hit CBS television series.]]
Tensions between management and labor in the Roslyn mines began spilling over in the summer of 1888, when management laid off a number of [[labor union]] workers who were petitioning for eight-hour work days and higher wages. These layoffs led to a [[labor strike]] by the [[Knights of Labor]], which shut down the mines. [[Northwest Coal Company]], which conducted mining operations at Mine No. 3, a few miles away in nearby [[Ronald, Washington|Ronald]], responded by recruiting [[strikebreaker]]s. This included 50 black laborers from the East and Midwest who were transported by train with almost 40 private armed guards. The recruitment of these armed forces raised the interest of Territorial Governor [[Eugene Semple]] when he heard that they harassed area residents calling themselves [[United States Marshals Service|U.S. Marshals]]. This was considered a [[paramilitary]] challenge to Washington Territory authority and Semple ordered the local sheriff to disperse the unit.<ref name=":0">{{cite web|url=http://www.historylink.org/File/9240|title=Roslyn coalminers strike, precipitating the importation of black miners, on August 17, 1888.|website=www.historylink.org|access-date=February 14, 2019}}</ref>

Semple visited Roslyn to investigate Northwest Coal Company's practices and condemned the company for hiring a private militia on suppositions that the white strikers would attack black laborers and overpower police forces. Semple's report describes the residents as "intelligent" and "law-abiding," and the company's suppositions as erroneous. He did not intervene on the labor disputes, and strikers continued to lose ground in negotiations.<ref name=":0" />
[[File:Roslyn-miner-memorial-and-KBHR.JPG|thumb|right|upright|The Coal Miners' Memorial in Roslyn. The radio station film set from the ''Northern Exposure'' television series is in the background.]]

In a span of two years, the company recruited more than 300 black laborers from [[Virginia]], [[North Carolina]], and [[Kentucky]]. Many relocated with families, and this migration was the largest increase in the African-American population of Washington Territory up until that time. Sheriff Packwood of Kittitas County reported to Semple that relations between out-of-work white workers and the black population were strained with potential to turn violent. However, after the strike broke tensions reduced, and whites reconciled with working along black miners. As the regional coal industry boomed, competition for employment reduced, and eventually workers organized as equals with [[United Mine Workers]].<ref name=":1">{{cite web|url=https://www.blackpast.org/aaw/vignette_aahw/roslyn-washington/|title=Roslyn, Washington (1886-- ) • BlackPast|date=March 15, 2008|website=BlackPast|language=en-US|access-date=February 14, 2019}}</ref>

=== African American population ===
In 1890, Roslyn's African American population was 22%, one of the highest in the state.<ref name=":0" /> Black fraternal organization lodges and civic institutions were established, including [[Prince Hall Freemasonry|Prince Hall Masons]], [[Knights of Pythias of North America, South America, Europe, Asia, Africa and Australia]], [[Prince Hall Order of the Eastern Star]], [[International Order of Twelve Knights and Daughters of Tabor|Daughters of Tabernacle]], and [[African Methodist Episcopal Church]]. The Black population began to decline after the mines closed in 1963, and by the early 1970s only the Craven family remained. William Craven was elected mayor of Roslyn in 1976, and was the first African American mayor in the state of Washington.<ref name=":1" />

The [[Roslyn Black Pioneers]] was established by [[Ethel Florence Craven]] to preserve and promote black history in Washington. The organization received a grant from [[Humanities Washington]] to build educational floats for Washington parades.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.humanities.org/blog/roslyn-black-pioneers-used-parade-floats-to-educate-and-entertain/|title=Roslyn Black Pioneers Used Parade Floats to Educate and Entertain|date=November 14, 2013|website=Humanities Washington|language=en-US|access-date=February 14, 2019}}</ref> In 2021, Governor [[Jay Inslee]] declared February 20 to be "William Craven Day."<ref>{{Cite web |date=August 2021 |title=Will Craven Honored – Roslyn Downtown Association |url=https://roslyndowntown.org/roslyn-events/will-craven-honored/ |access-date=2025-03-13 |website=roslyndowntown.org}}</ref>

===Roslyn's ethnic cemeteries===
[[File:Roslyn-Slovak-Cemetery-P5270062.jpg|thumb|upright|Roslyn's historic cemetery is divided into 26 ethnic plots like the one depicted here.]]
The Roslyn Cemetery is composed of 26 separate but adjacent cemetery plots, reflecting the diversity of early immigrant society. It was placed on the [[National Register of Historic Places]] in 1978.

===Post mining era===
[[File:Cle Elum Lake (533523210).jpg|thumb|left|upright|Lake Cle Elum near Roslyn is a year-round recreational destination.]] 
Although Roslyn clings to its coal mining and timber harvesting past, it has become a tourist and recreation destination. Tourism to the town received a boost when it was featured as the filming location for ''[[The Runner Stumbles]]'' and ''[[Northern Exposure]]''. 

Development companies, including [[Suncadia]], purchased forests once owned and managed by [[Plum Creek Timber Company]] for an extensive [[golf course community]] with houses and condominiums on the boundary of Roslyn.<ref>''The Economist,'' Volume 379, Number 8481, pp. 30-31, June 10, 2006</ref>

However, some community members in Roslyn were concerned about the impacts of a Master Planned Resort<ref>[https://apps.leg.wa.gov/RCW/default.aspx?cite=36.70A.360 Master Planned Resort, Revised Code of Washington]</ref> on the community's economy and ecology. A Roslyn-based citizen group called [[Ridge Association|RIDGE]] engaged Suncadia's owners in litigation to mitigate the effects of the resort. RIDGE and MountainStar Resort Development—who owned the land at the time—negotiated and signed the RIDGE Settlement Agreement in 2001. Though Kittitas County Judge Scott R. Sparks terminated the Agreement and all remaining claims in 2013,<ref>Johnston, Mike. "Suncadia Pact Ended by Ruling". Daily Record, May 30, 2013</ref> the Settlement Agreement was successful in some mitigations, such as Suncadia's donation of the Roslyn Urban Forest to the city of Roslyn and the Suncadia Resort development's adherence to Washington state's prevailing wage.<ref>[https://archiveswest.orbiscascade.org/ark:/80444/xv987578 RIDGE Records.] 1923-2015. 9.31 cubic feet (9 boxes). At the [http://lib.washington.edu/specialcollections/laws Labor Archives of Washington, University of Washington Libraries Special Collections.]</ref>