Issaquah
The sawmills and logging trucks disappeared long ago from this Sammamish Valley city 15 miles east of Seattle.
But the eviction of Linn Emrick's Parachute Center and Skyport from its home along Interstate 90 signaled the real beginning of the end for Issaquah as a quaint and cozy place at the south end of Lake Sammamish.
Emrick's little airfield specialized in hauling up parachutists and sailplanes. Sunday drivers often watched, some using the highway shoulder to park and gawk.
No gawking now.
In its place since 1986 have come shopping centers and parking lots and enough daily traffic to clog the 10-lane freeway that now splits the valley.
At the same time, Issaquah has been experiencing a population explosion that has more than doubled its size since 1980. The 12,900 mark was reached in 2001 and more people appear to be on the way.
Just 20 years ago, Issaquah was a community that barely covered the flood plain along Issaquah Creek. Today it spans parts of Cougar Mountain, much of Squak Mountain and the side of the Sammamish Plateau known as Grand Ridge and now called Issaquah Highlands.
With the median value of homes edging toward $300,000, median family incomes have risen accordingly.
But deep roots remain in a city that was incorporated 110 years ago as Gilman, the train stop at Squak Mountain. (Gilman Boulevard and the cluster of small shops called Gilman Village carry that historic name.)
With its October Salmon Days, the city still celebrates the return of salmon into Lake Sammamish and Issaquah Creek.
And it has kept electing mayors since 1892, when Frank W. Harrell became the first, of Gilman. Even after the city became Issaquah in 1899, he was returned to office every two years until 1918, according to Issaquah History On-Line.