Wilkeson Mines Prepare for Revival
After five years of decline that left the town nearly deserted, the Wilkeson coal mines are hiring again, signaling a potential economic pulse.
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Preparations have been commenced in earnest toward reopening the Wilkeson coal mines. A number of mules have been ordered, and it is expected that a few men will be put at work immediately. A large order for the necessary iron work required about the mines has been sent to San Francisco, and is now being filled. It is not probable that a large force will be put on at once, but a start will be made with about twenty men, and the number gradually increased as the occasion may require. These mines are located at what was once the terminus of the Puyallup Valley road, which has since been extended to Carbonado. The quality of the coal is the same as that mined at Newcastle, but sufficient progress has not been made in working to make a fair comparison of it with the Carbonado coal. Wilkeson, five years ago, was a thriving mining village, but has gradually gone down until there are now only three families residing in the place. The reopening of the mines will put some life into the town, and is one reason to be congratulated upon the prospect of opening these mines, which, with the Green River coal field soon to be connected by rail with this place, will make four first class mines tributary to this city.
“Wilkeson, five years ago, was a thriving mining village, but has gradually gone down until there are now only three families residing in the place.”
Wilkeson's history as a 'boom and bust' coal town echoes the cyclical economic fortunes of many resource-dependent towns in Washington state. Its transformation from a bustling mine to nearly abandoned and back again serves as an early example of the volatility inherent in local extractive industries.
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