Pacific Coast Company House No. 75

Pacific Coast Company House No. 75, also known as Baima House, is a private residence in Newcastle, Washington. Built in 1880 or earlier, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1979. The house is the only surviving structure associated with the early development of coal mining at Newcastle[2] and is an example of the type of housing in which miners lived.[3]

Pacific Coast Company House No. 75
Pacific Coast company house
Location7210 138th Avenue SE, Newcastle, Washington
Coordinates47°32′17″N 122°09′21″W
Area1.5 acres (0.61 ha)
Built1880 (1880)
Architectural stylePioneer Style
NRHP reference No.79002534[1]
Added to NRHPDecember 21, 1979

Description

The house is a 24 by 25 feet (7.3 m × 7.6 m) one-story wood frame building that is situated on a 1.5 acres (0.61 ha) rural lot. The interior is sectioned into four rooms. Front and back porches were added in 1928.[3] Additional outbuildings were added in the early 1900s.[4]

The original cedar shingles on the roof have been replaced with corrugated sheet metal and composition roofing. The original wood post foundation has been replaced with concrete blocks.[3]

History

Newcastle was home to hundreds of mining families during the latter half of the 1800s, many of whom were first and second generation immigrants. The mining town had more than 600 miners' dwellings, both two-story boarding homes and one-story cottages for bachelors and families.[5] The Baima house was built in 1880 or earlier on land owned by the Seattle Coal and Transfer Company.[3] In 1891, during a coal strike, the Oregon Improvement Company brought in black miners from Oregon to work the mines for lower wages, and some of those miners resided in the house.[6]

When the land was sold to the Pacific Coast Company in 1898, the house was designated Company House No. 75.[3] In 1907, an immigrant from Italy, Bernard Baima, and his family rented Company House No. 75. Bernard Baima died in 1916, and his widow purchased the house in 1920.[3] The other houses and buildings in that mining community were demolished after mining ceased,[7] but because members of the Baima family owned No. 75 and continued to live there through 1977, it is the sole remaining structure of the old mining town.[5]

Later owners restored the house to good condition.[5] In 2018, the property owners were working with the city on the possibility of establishing a small public park to preserve the house,[8] and the city approved a non-binding memorandum of understanding[9] in June, 2018.[10]

References
  1. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. November 2, 2013.
  2. Washington Office of Archaeology and Historic Preservation. (1989). Built in Washington: 12,000 years of Pacific Northwest archaeological sites and historic buildings. Pullman, Wash.: Washington State University Press. p. 86. ISBN 0874220653. OCLC 20421846.
  3. King County Sites Survey Staff (April 1979). National Register of Historic Places Inventory/Nomination: Pacific Coast Company House No. 75. National Park Service. Retrieved July 16, 2019. With 2 accompanying pictures
  4. "» Baima House (Pacific Coast Coal Company House #75)". RICHAVEN Architecture & Preservation. Retrieved 2019-07-16.
  5. Lentz, Florence K. (1991). Centennial snapshots: historic places around King County from the first twenty-five years of statehood. [Seattle, Wash.]: National Park Service, Pacific Northwest Region. pp. 24–25. ISBN 0914019287. OCLC 24657168.
  6. Kombol, Bill (2017-03-28). "John Baima stands on the porch of Newcastle House #75, in this May 1983 photo by Vic Condiotty". VOICE of the Valley. Retrieved 2019-07-16.
  7. "King County Landmarks: Pacific Coast Coal Company House No. 75 (Baima House) (ca. 1880), Newcastle". www.historylink.org. Retrieved 2019-07-16.
  8. "Jan 26, 2018 meeting minutes". City of Newcastle.
  9. "Resolution No. 2018 - 738". City of Newcastle. Retrieved 18 July 2019.
  10. "June 5, 2018 meeting minutes". City of Newcastle.
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