Preston becomes a place to escape city life

The Raging River gave birth to the town of Preston and ever since it has been doing its best to reverse that decision. Floods washing down from Tiger Mountain have washed out bridges, roads and an occasional home too close to its banks.

"During the summer people used to say 'What's raging about it?' " said longtime resident Pearl Moore. "In the winter you can hear five-ton boulders being washed away."

Preston's story has been one of survival.

Situated between Issaquah and North Bend, the unincorporated community is often overlooked or unknown, unless a commuter is trying to take a shortcut down the Preston-Fall City Road. A bit of notoriety has been gained of late with the Washington State Patrol setting up speed traps on nearby Interstate 90 to catch lead-footed motorists winding out their vehicles on the Preston Dip.

Preston was predominately a Swedish immigrant community in its early days, with close ties to Seattle's large Scandinavian community. August Lovegren founded a mill on the Raging River in the 1890s.

In the 1950s Preston enjoyed an economic renaissance. Fueled by postwar prosperity, lumber shipped by rail along the Northern Pacific Railroad was used to sustain a building boom in Seattle's suburbs.

Twenty years later the boom came to an end. In 1974, mill owners laid off the entire work force with a week's notice. In 1990, fire claimed the building.

Unlike many small communities in the Northwest that folded after their mill shut down, Preston managed to find a way to get by. Randall Nelson, a longtime resident and shipping manager at the Preston Mill took a job with the Issaquah School District.

"When I got back from World War II in the Marines, I just wanted to go back to someplace quiet," Nelson said. "My earliest memories are from here."

Its proximity to Seattle and the close-knit nature of its people have kept the community together. And it is these attributes that have attracted newcomers looking to escape the big city to live some place small and quiet.

Lumber barons left the community when the last old-growth cedar was skidded from nearby forests. Their place has been taken by "Microsoft Millionaires" and an occasional professional athlete.

Old mill houses that sold for $15,000 three decades ago are snapped up at $400,000. Development has not been a major factor. A dozen pricy homes are on nearby Mitchell Hill. To the west are several acres of industrial buildings and warehouses.

Some of the buildings are gone and the railroad line is now a bike and walking path. For all of that the community hasn't changed much.

There's work to get a park built on the site of the old mill with hopes that some historic logging equipment can be brought in as a tribute to the past. Social activities still centers around the historic, log-built Preston Community Center and the nearby Preston Baptist Church.

"We like the laid-back character of the town," said Guy Bennett President of the Preston Community Club. "When we have a community get-together, you can almost bet it's going to be a square dance."