Carbonado

History

Carbonado was one of several in the Carbon River valley to be settled during an economic boom in the region. The boom was brought on by the demand for raw material in nearby growing cities such as Seattle and Tacoma. Starting with the town of Wilkeson and moving on through Burnett, Carbonado, Montezuma, Fairfax, and finally Manley Moore, these settlements sprawled up the valley to the very boundary of Mount Rainier National Park. Most of these towns were company towns, meaning that they specialized in the harvest of raw materials on the plot of land on which the town was situated, which was owned by a commercial company. Often – and such was the case of Carbonado – the company owned the houses and energy resources as well. The energy resource in Carbonado was also the raw material that the citizens of the company town were harvesting, coal. More than 100 miners died in mining accidents in and around Carbonado, including 31 who were killed in an explosion in Carbon Hill Coal Company's Mine Number 7 on December 9, 1899. During the time of the initial boom in the valley, Carbonado grew to rival the size of Tacoma. The railroad, integral to the transportation of people, supplies and exported materials, extended all the way up the valley, servicing the towns and several homesteads. These were settled predominantly by Polish immigrants, and supplied the towns down the valley with fresh milk and eggs. Two survive today, one known as Carbon River Ranch (the main house is the old Fairfax school and can be seen from Washington State Route 165) and the other formerly known as Huckle-Chuck. At Huckle-Chuck, the original house and one of the barns are still used and functional. At the peak of the boom both of these homesteads and the towns which they supplied were quite…

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of , all of it land.

Race & ethnicity

Largest nearby schools

• Bonney Lake High School
  High · Bonney Lake · 1,636 students · 21.2:1 ratio
• Emerald Ridge High School
  High · Puyallup · 1,537 students · 24:1 ratio
• White River High School
  High · Buckley · 1,263 students · 22.6:1 ratio
• Glacier Middle School
  Middle · Buckley · 970 students · 21.1:1 ratio
• Orting High School
  High · Orting · 864 students · 22.2:1 ratio
• Mountain View Middle School
  Middle · Bonney Lake · 847 students · 19.7:1 ratio
• Glacier View Junior High
  Middle · Puyallup · 832 students · 21.9:1 ratio
• G W Edgerton Elementary
  Elementary · Puyallup · 758 students · 17.6:1 ratio