Japanese Community
Background
You may view two slide presentations regarding the Japanese community at the mill site here (2021 Northwest Nikkei Museum Speaker Series) and here (created in 2017 by James Szubski - some links in the presentation might not still work.)
From 1917 to 1942, the Snoqualmie Mill site housed a community of Japanese workers and their families, who lived on a specific section of the site, attended local schools and participated as active members of the community. These Japanese laborers played a key role in turning the Snoqualmie Falls Lumber Co. into the legendarily productive mill that it became in its prime during World War I.
Above - just some of many artifacts found near/at the site.
Japanese Archaeological History
During World War II, hundreds of thousands of Japanese-Americans were forcefully removed from their homes and interned by the U.S. government, including the Japanese workers living at the Snoqualmie Mill site. Pending their internment, some Japanese residents recall throwing their belongings down the pits of the outhouses to hide them during their absence*. Historians and archeologists involved in the investigation of the Mill site property feel that there is reason to believe that the Mill site may contain artifacts critical to Japanese-American history.
Preservation
In July 2017, the Japanese American Citizens League (JACL) sent an emergency resolution to the City of Snoqualmie declaring its position that the Snoqualmie Mill site is a significant archeological site and that it should be placed on the National Register of Historic Places. The JACL also declared its position that an investigation should be conducted by the City of Snoqualmie to determine which specific sections of the Mill site should be preserved due to their significance to Japanese-American history and the contribution of Japanese workers to the history of the U.S. timber and railway industries.
As a group, we are highly invested in seeing the City of Snoqualmie honor the requests of the Japanese American Citizens League and look forward to seeing how these expectations will be met moving forward.
To read the JACL’s emergency resolution in full, please click here.
*Interview available via Densho of former Japanese resident of the Mill site. You can see the interview here.