Renton - Then & Now

Before the coming of the white settlers, in the early in the 1850s, the area that would later grow into what is now the City of Renton, was largely inhabited by the Duwamish Indians who maintained hunting and fishing camps for man generations.

One of Renton's founding fathers, Erasmus Smithers laid claim to to a large plat of land as his homestead.  Smithers was a prominent land owner in the Renton area during the mid to latter 1800s.  Having a farm on the banks of the Black River, west of what would later become Renton, Smithers had a vision of establishing a township.

Having vision, he later filed this township plat for Renton in 1875.  Surveying a portion of his landholdings he established the boundaries of the township of Renton.

Seen here in this image is the southeast quarter of the present day downtown district of Renton.   

This is a 1992 U.S. Geological Survey satellite photograph of Renton.  Lake Washington (with the southern end of Mercer Island) is at the top center.  On the southern shore of Lake Washington is the Boeing's Renton commercial airplane production facility where the 737 and 757 commercial airliners are currently manufactured.

To the upper left corner (not shown here) is Seattle.  Seattle's Boeing Field and Boeing's Plant 2 can be seen in the upper left of this image.  In the lower left corner is the Seattle-Tacoma (SeaTac) International airport.  To the upper right is Bellevue.

If the image were extended, I presently live quite a ways to the southeast in the lower right of the image.

Since the early days of Renton and the region, Lake Washington has been a popular recreation area.  For its size, the lake can quite calm and as smooth as glass - permitting small boating throughout most of the year. 

It has been a popular swimming destination for many generations as well as an excellent lake for fishing.  Before efforts to reclaim land, during the early 1900s, the southern end of Lake Washington was a marshland that supported the best sport fishing in the region.

This picture was taken from an unknown location along the lake around 1892.

Here is an early view looking northwest over north Renton from above Cedar River.  The train trestle in the foreground is either the same or similar to currently seen along Renton's Houser Way.  In the center top left of the image is Lake Washington. 

Now a growing community, Renton grew north towards Lake Washington and annexed land north of the original township plat.

The vacant field just beyond the train trestle and trees is now Renton's Liberty Park.

This photograph appears to have been taken at or around the same time as the image above, but from a different vantage point(?).

This photograph, taken by W. M. Horton appears to be a part of collection.  In my research, I have discovered a number of images that are numbered and enclosed in a box, but had no other notations.

This is an early view of Renton looking to the northwest (toward Seattle) back when Renton was a bustling coal mining community.  Looking at this image, and based on my knowledge, this photograph was taken on lower "Renton Hill" (southeast of the city) very near the site of an old Renton Coal Mining Company site.

In the center of the image (and slightly to the right) is the old Central School stands prominently.  Later, in 1922, Henry Ford Elementary was constructed on the site, slightly behind and to the right of the old Central schoolhouse shown here.

To the right center, Lake Washington is seen in the distance.  The hill shown in the center and to the left is now what is called "Skyway" (to the left) and "Bryn Mar" (to the right).

This is another early view of Renton looking to the northwest (toward Seattle).  It appears that this picture was taken from nearly the same vantage point as the image above.  In this image, the Renton Coal Mine operation is clearly seen at the bottom of the picture.  The photographer noted the location of the old Central School (at the far right).

By the 1930s, Renton had grown to an impressive size.  Renton Hill was a popular vantage point for photographers wanting panoramic shots of Renton.  It's steep slope offered such scenic vistas.  Seen here is Lake Washington and Cedar River as it turns north to the lake.

Note the small home in the foreground.  I seem to recall this home from my memories.  I would guess that this photograph was taken on Renton Avenue South, just south of South 7th Street.  Small homes like this were common on Renton Hill.

Renton Hill looked very much different today than it did before the construction of Interstate 405.  This view looks northeast.  Much of what you see here is now long gone (obviously) - especially the hillside itself.  During the I-405 construction project, in the early 1960s, the infamous "S-Curves" cut deeply into the hillside.  The S-Curves quickly became recognized as being dangerous. A later construction project attempted to slightly straighten this stretch of freeway.  This required deeper cuts into the side of the hill.

Early Renton looked very much like many other growing communities in the area during the late 1800s and early 1900s.  This image may be more recent due to the telephone poles seen standing in the foreground.  However, it would be safe to assume that this image was taken around the turn of the century.  The skyline of this photograph (and the shadows) makes it difficult to place a general location.  The early township plat of Renton was situated in the southeast corner of present day downtown Renton.

Here is an early scene of downtown Renton.  Note the automobiles parked along the street.  It is hard to tell just when and where this image was taken.   The photographer signed and numbered this image (as with the one below).

Note the telephone poles and number of "cross members".  There are not only more, but it looks as if the number of wires each cross member carries has increased.

The faint outline of railroad tracks can be seen just above and to the left of the photographer's caption to the lower right of the image.

Early Renton
(another view sometime later?) 

Here is another view of the same street scene (apparently looking in the same direction as was photographed above).  Here, the photographer moved back several hundred feet and to the center of the street.  Careful comparison of the buildings shows that the scene photographed are one and the same.  The railroad tracks are more clearly seen.

To my recollection, on one set of rails ran through Renton.   A rail line ran from Maple Valley into Renton (from the east), up the middle of Houser Way through Renton, and meeting up with rail lines into Seattle through the Duwamish Corridor.  Judging by the shadows, this view could well be looking east.

This 1925 image shows the Clarke Brothers' Ford dealership (left) and Mac's Service Station (right) near an intersection along the Sunset Highway (SR900) in Renton.  By the mid-1920s, the Sunset Highway had been paved from Seattle through Renton on its way across Snoqualmie Pass.

The Alki Saloon, one of many drinking establishments that gave Renton an unsavory reputation during its early days, is shown here.  Posed on the porch of the saloon are seven patrons.

This saloon was located near the intersection of South 3rd Street and Main Avenue South.

The Eagle Saloon was one of nine saloons in Renton.  By 1885, the young men that worked in the nearby coal mines, lumber mills and logging camps came into town to shop for goods, catch up on the news and share a few drinks with their friends at the local saloons.  However, Saturday nights at the saloons were often very noisy and violent when a friendly "round of drinks" turned into street drunken brawls.

As Renton began to clean up its civic image, after incorporation in 1901, all saloons were closed in 1916 when Washington State passed laws making the sale and drinking of alcohol illegal.

Located on Wells Avenue South, just north of South 2nd Street, the Renton City Jail was sometimes the destination of saloon patrons who could not mind their manners.  This structure was originally used as a jail, but later converted into the city's dog pound.

Dry goods, supplies and hardware were essentials during the early days of Renton.  C. S. Custer's' Store offered everything anyone would need (as seen on the signboard above the store).  Here, everything from A to Z was offered - or at least could be ordered.

It was "General" stores like this one that supplied a growing community.

The Square Deal Grocery Store was one of many "Mom & Pop" grocery stores that flourished in Renton long before the coming of supermarkets and grocery store chains.  In this image the front of the store is seen with several unknown people posing.

In later years, The Square Deal Grocery was my grandfather's preferred grocery store.  As a child, in the early 1960s, I remember going with my grandfather to this business.

In this photograph, the interior of The Square Deal Grocery is seen.  At the far left is David Mitchell, the brother in law of store owner, James Martin (in the apron at the far right).  As seen, the store was well stocked with fresh fruits and vegetables, as well as a complete selection of canned and dry goods.

As Renton grew, businesses diversified and specialized.  The US Junk Company was Renton's first hardware store.  After changing ownership, the business later became McLendon's Hardware.  Over the years, this family business earned a reputation of having anything anyone needs.

Over the years, McLendon's Hardware was the first choice of tradesmen and "Do It Yourself" people.

This building was one of the first brick buildings in Renton.  Located at the base of Renton Hill on South 3rd Street, electrical power was distributed throughout the city.  In 1946, the building was sold to the Holmes Electric Company, electrical contractors.  As a child, I remember catching the school bus in front of this building.

The arrow at the right side of the image shows the location of the First Presbyterian Church on South 3rd Street.

This image is of one of the two "movie houses" in downtown Renton.  Judging by the marquee, this is an early photograph of the familiar Renton Theater.  The photographer would be standing just outside of the Renton Roxy Theater.

For years, both movie houses competed for patrons.  The Rainier/Renton Theater was the more Spartan of the two while the Roxy was the more elegant.  Nevertheless, movie goers were always treated to rich surroundings.  The large screens were set on large stages and the walls of the auditorium were lavishly sculpted with ornate woodwork and heavy tapestries.

Shown here in a late 1940's image, the Renton Hospital was fairly unique in design.  It's "Hub & Spoke" design remained one of the city's most notable buildings (when its doors first opened in 1945) for decades. In 1969, the old Renton Hospital closed and moved to the new Valley General Hospital facilities.

Today, the site of the old Renton Hospital is occupied by K-Mart.

The image looks east with Rainier Avenue cutting across the lower right corner.

Years after the lowering of Lake Washington in the fall of 1916, the southern shore of this lake remained pretty much unproductive wetlands.  In this image the beginnings of the Renton Boeing plant is underway.  Under a government contract to build sea planes to support the war effort, Boeing leased and developed these wetlands.

Across the middle of this image is the Cedar River waterway.   Below is the land reclamation efforts to fill in the wetlands to construct the new Renton Boeing Plant.  Just above (to the west) of Cedar River is a sawmill with log pond.   It is guessed that the log pond is or was what was left of Lake Washington's outflow into the Black River.  Just above is the Skyway/Bryn Mar hill with Rainier Road (now Avenue) skirting the bottom of the hill.

This view looks west over the southern shore of Lake Washington.

This view looks south from over Lake Washington into Renton.  In the foreground and to the left, you can see the world famous Boeing Plant.  Though not widely known, Boeing called this facility as "Plant 3".  To the center right, the waterway is the Cedar River.  Just to the right is the Renton Municipal Airport.

The large, 3-section building in the foreground was once one of the major production facilities for the famous B-17 bomber.  This building housed six production lines (from start to finish)  At the height of production, new B-17s were coming off the assembly line hourly.

Today, this building supports the production of the popular 737 and and 757 commercial airliners.  Yet, in retrospect, signs of wartime production remain throughout the building.  From right to left, each section of this building still bears "Line 1", Line 2" though "Line 6" on the north facing doors.