The Ravensdale school district was created in 1892

The Ravensdale school district was created in 1892. The first one-room school was constructed in 1893 housing 16 students, but was designed for 36. A local sawmill provided jobs, as school enrollment ebbed and flowed with mill employment. However, the area wasn’t yet known as Ravensdale, it was just called District #109. In 1899 the number of pupils fell to just five, but this would change the following year with development of a new coal mine and the arrival of the Northern Pacific railroad. School enrollment skyrocketed in 1900 when the Leary coal mine started production. The number of students shot up to 57 that year, then 82 in 1901, 96 in 1903, and 134 by 1904. The old school was bursting at the seams and a new building (shown here) was built in 1904, likely incorporating the old building as the front wing. The school used steam heat provided by a boiler room, which can be glimpsed behind the main building. The school building cost $3,376 paid for by a construction bond for an estimated seating capacity of 150 pupils. A century and a decade later, the new Tahoma High School being built just west of Four Corners is projected to cost $156 million with a full capacity of 2,830 students. This image comes courtesy of the Black Diamond Historical Society with research for this caption provided by Michael Brathovde and JoAnne Matsumura. To learn more about the history of Ravensdale, consider walking the new Ravensdale Park History Trail located between the Post Office and the Gracie Hanson building. A series of 15 interpretive signs tell the story of Ravensdale as you walk along a pleasant, two-third mile long trail past ball fields and soccer pitches which now dominate the park. That pathway crosses over the grounds of the old school shown in this 1904 postcard photo. www.voiceofthevalley.com