WHEN COAL WAS KING: Lodge 1940

Voice of the Valley explores the history of early 20th-century tourism in southeast King County, tracing how the affordable automobile and five-day workweek sparked a resort boom in the 1920s. The article focuses on the Green River Gorge area near Franklin and Black Diamond, documenting several resorts built after coal mining declined, including Ye Olde Green River Lodge (1920-1924) and Rudge’s Green River Gorge Resort (built 1925), which still stands today.