Attempted arson at historic Snoqualmie Depot

July 12, 11:50 PMSeattle History ExaminerBenjamin Lukoff

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Fire damage at the Snoqualmie Depot. Photo courtesy of the
Northwest Railway Museum, used by permission.

In the early morning hours of June 30, an arsonist set three fires in downtown Snoqualmie. According to the SnoValley Star, one was set behind Snoqualmie City Hall, another at Bella Vita Spa and Salon a few doors down. Both were set around 4 in the morning. The first to be set, around 2, was across the street at the historic Snoqualmie Depot of the Northwest Railway Museum.

Built in 1890 by the Seattle, Lake Shore and Eastern Railway, it was in use as a working station until 1975, when the SLS&E's successor, the Burlington Northern, abandoned the line. It was restored between 1979 and 1983 by the Northwest Railway Museum and now houses the main operations of the organization, which was founded in 1957 as the Puget Sound Railway Historical Association. The building is on the National Register of Historic Places.

"Spike" of the museum's blog had this to say about why vandalism against cultural properties such as the depot is particularly deplorable:

A broken window on a new building or graffiti on a wall is frustrating, ugly and demoralizing, but, for a price, it can usually be repaired. However, vandalism and other destruction directed at unique objects such as museum collections and historic buildings means a portion of our collective past gets erased and can never be fully replaced... So powerful is cultural property that through the ages despotic leaders and repressive regimes have sought to destroy these symbols in the (usually) mistaken belief that they can erase the ideas by erasing the images.

No, the depot is no Buddhas of Bamyan, but

While damaging or destroying one unique and historic building in of itself does not eliminate our local history, the story is certainly richer and more compelling with a complete and functional Snoqualmie Depot.

Amen. Many thanks to whoever invented sprinkler systems, and to the Snoqualmie Fire Department.