Selleck (founded in 1908) is a former

company town A company town is a place where all or most of the stores and housing in the town are owned by the same company that is also the main employer. Company towns are often planned with a suite of amenities such as stores, houses of worship, schoo ...

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

, located at . As the sole surviving company mill town in King County, it is listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

and as a King County landmark.

Origins

Located on the plain abutting the mountains of southeast King County, Selleck was the company town of Pacific States Lumber, under the direction of lumberman Frank Selleck. It was completed in 1916,George Foster
County's Ethnic Pioneers: Some Towns They Built Have Died
''Seattle Post-Intelligencer'', August 4, 1988. Accessed May 8, 2009. accessed by the world's highest railway trestle, 204 feet above the Cedar River. The mill played a role in the rebuilding of

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

after the

1923 Great Kantō earthquake The 1923 Great Kantō earthquake (, or ) was a major earthquake that struck the Kantō Plain on the main Japanese island of Honshu at 11:58:32 JST (02:58:32 UTC) on Saturday, 1 September 1923. It had an approximate magnitude of 8.0 on the mom ...

. At that time many Japanese workers and their families came to Selleck. This was not the first time Japanese workmen were brought to the mill.

Japanese immigrant community

The Japanese area outside the main town was officially known as Lavender Town (after the owner of a local saloon and

general store A general merchant store (also known as general merchandise store, general dealer, village shop, or country store) is a rural or small-town store that carries a general line of merchandise. It carries a broad selection of merchandise, someti ...

), but was better known as Jap Town. Children of the Japanese workers attended the Selleck School, and also attended a Japanese-language school on Wednesday and Saturday mornings. However, few traces remain of Lavender Town today, not even grave markers (which are believed to have been made of wood). The only visible indication of the former Japanese presence is a pond landscaped with

bamboo Bamboos are a diverse group of mostly evergreen perennial plant, perennial flowering plants making up the subfamily (biology), subfamily Bambusoideae of the grass family Poaceae. Giant bamboos are the largest members of the grass family, in th ...

. Hence, Selleck's landmark designations do not include the former Lavender Town, because so few traces remain. It is possible that future archaeological excavations might lead to such a designation.

Decline

At its peak, Selleck had a population of 900 and had a hospital, two hotels, a community hall with weekly dances, a school, a number of stores and several mill buildings. Pacific States Lumber declared

bankruptcy Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the deb ...

in 1939, bringing an end to Selleck's prosperity. The town of Selleck went through a series of owners—the first purchased it for a mere $3,000—before Robert Schaefer, a general contractor from

Renton, Washington Renton is a city in King County, Washington, United States, and an inner-ring suburb of Seattle. Situated southeast of downtown Seattle, Renton straddles the southeast shore of Lake Washington, at the mouth of the Cedar River. As of the 202 ...

, formed an investor group to buy the town in 1971. Schaefer's vision for the town was not fully achieved. He hoped to restore the

millpond A mill pond (or millpond) is a body of water used as a reservoir for a water-powered mill. Description Mill ponds were often created through the construction of a mill dam or weir (and mill stream) across a waterway. In many places, the co ...

, with paddleboats, a train around the pond, and a logging

theme park An amusement park is a park that features various attractions, such as rides and games, and events for entertainment purposes. A theme park is a type of amusement park that bases its structures and attractions around a central theme, often fea ...

. However, this proved impossible due to a combination of

wetlands A wetland is a distinct semi-aquatic ecosystem whose groundcovers are flooded or saturated in water, either permanently, for years or decades, or only seasonally. Flooding results in oxygen-poor ( anoxic) processes taking place, especially ...

regulation and lack of sufficient funding. There were serious problems with the town's water system in the 1990s.

Selleck today

As of 2007, the town is owned by Robert Schaefer's son Tim Schaefer. The former two-story schoolhouse and former community hall remains. About half of the original single-story company houses remain, and people live in 50

bungalow A bungalow is a small house or cottage that is typically single or one and a half storey, if a smaller upper storey exists it is frequently set in the roof and Roof window, windows that come out from the roof, and may be surrounded by wide ve ...

s. A four-bedroom house in Selleck rents for about what a two-bedroom apartment costs in more accessible parts of the county.

References

External links

History of Selleck (Black Diamond History)
{{authority control History of King County, Washington Unincorporated communities in King County, Washington Landmarks in King County, Washington National Register of Historic Places in King County, Washington Company towns in Washington (state) Japanese-American culture in Washington (state) Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Washington (state) Unincorporated communities in Washington (state)