Ravensdale Park to welcome new historical signs

Volunteer spends more than 1,200 hours researching the history of Ravensdale

September 17, 2015 3:30 pm
Ravensdale Park will soon welcome 15 new interpretive signs along the new trail that leads walkers through the community meadow and into the active recreation part of the park.
Ravensdale Park will soon welcome 15 new interpretive signs along the new trail that leads walkers through the community meadow and into the active recreation part of the park.

A petrified clam is one of the last things you’d expect to find in Ravensdale. The town sits more than 100 miles off the coast, but 50 million years ago, this area was just feet from the salty shores of the Pacific Ocean.

This and other tidbits about the history of Ravensdale are part of a new project at the Ravensdale Park.

Michael Brathovde, with help from his wife, Donna, said he has logged more than 1,200 hours of volunteer research on the town of Ravensdale to curate content for 15 interpretive signs that will be installed along the walking trail in the park.

The signs will be similar to the ones displayed around Lake Wilderness Park, about 3 feet by 2 feet and full of historical information. Th e project is a partnership between King County and Ravensdale Park Foundation. In order to fund the signs andthe design work, grants were secured from 4Culture, the cultural services agency for King County, the King County Community Partnership and Grants program and Ravensdale Park Foundation.

Sandra Noel of Noel Design did the design work on the signs with information and photos from Brathovde’s research.

Brathovde will be giving a presentation at 1 p.m., Saturday, Sept. 19 at the Maple Valley Fire Engine Museum. He will discuss the signs and summarize much of the content on them.

The Ravensdale Park sign project comes on the heels of the 100th anniversary of the Ravensdale mine explosion that occurred Nov. 16, 1915.

The explosion not only killed 31 miners and injured three others, it also economically leveled the then-bustling town of Ravensdale. Without the mine, the town would nearly cease to exist.

As expected, a lot of the research dug up by Brathovde pertained to the coal mining industry in the area, but some also focused on the other industries and oddities Ravensdale attracted.

The building that is now the Gracie Hansen Community Center was used during the 1962 Seattle World’s Fair for Gracie Hansen’s “Seattle’s Queen of Glitter” burlesque show. After the fair and much prodding from the Ravensdale Community Club, King County moved the building to Ravensdale for its present use.

Brathovde’s presentation is open to the public and free to attend.