Historic Taylor

The older I get the more fascinated I am by local history. A few weeks ago My parents, sister Marlea, Bob and I went on a tour of the historic town of Taylor Washington. Taylor is now off limits to the public most of the time it is part of the watershed that Seattle gets its water from. But at the turn of the century it was a booming coal, clay company town. My Father was born nearby and his family spent his early years in the company town of Taylor. He remembers it as a wonderful place to grow up. It was pretty progressive for its time with meeting halls and a swimming pool all provided by the company, while they lived there it was Gladding McBean. On this tour my Dad was one of a select few who were with us who had actually lived and had knowledge of the town of Taylor, the younger guides seemed genuinely interested in what they could learn from these old timers. It was hard to imagine how things must have been. Here are some photos from our recent visit, you can see bits of the clay pipes and roof tiles that they manufactured.