Krain Corner can’t be a bridge casualty

My partner and I saw a report a couple of days ago on the impact of the Green River Bridge closure at Black Diamond on the Krain Corner Inn on the corner of Southeast 400th Street and Black Diamond-Enumclaw Road in the outskirts of Enumclaw. KING 5 TV reported that Krain Corner Inn is struggling to survive, as their customers have dropped to a quarter of normal. We live in Maple Valley and had the idea for our community to put together a morning “Save the Inn” breakfast adventure to Krain Corner Inn. Twenty-five people from our community caravanned over the Black Diamond detour (a beautiful drive going past Flaming Geyser Park) and had a wonderful time socializing and enjoying the wonderful breakfasts at the Inn. We will make it a regular outing now and would like to suggest to the people of Covington and Maple Valley that the detours set up to go around the bridge outtage take you right past the Inn, and it is a great way to help save the Inn.

December 11, 2008 1:00 am

My partner and I saw a report a couple of days ago on the impact of the Green River Bridge closure at Black Diamond on the Krain Corner Inn on the corner of Southeast 400th Street and Black Diamond-Enumclaw Road in the outskirts of Enumclaw. KING 5 TV reported that Krain Corner Inn is struggling to survive, as their customers have dropped to a quarter of normal. We live in Maple Valley and had the idea for our community to put together a morning “Save the Inn” breakfast adventure to Krain Corner Inn. Twenty-five people from our community caravanned over the Black Diamond detour (a beautiful drive going past Flaming Geyser Park) and had a wonderful time socializing and enjoying the wonderful breakfasts at the Inn. We will make it a regular outing now and would like to suggest to the people of Covington and Maple Valley that the detours set up to go around the bridge outtage take you right past the Inn, and it is a great way to help save the Inn.

Anyone who has ever had breakfast (or dinner) there knows what a treasure it is to the community and how tragic it would be to see it fail. They are facing the double whammy of a declining economy and the six-month bridge closure. I spoke with Karen Hatch, the historian and owner (who has a masters degree in history and is a member of the White River Valley Historical Society), and the place is steeped in the history of Enumclaw. It was built in the late 1890s and has served many generations in the community in one capacity or another ever since.