Preston

In 1890, August Lovegren along with his family moved from Seattle and began a lumber mill near the Northern Pacific mainline where it meets the Raging River. The sawmill became very successful and town began to prosper in the 1900's. At it's peak, there was a hotel, railroad depot, community hall and a general store, plus many other homes and buildings. The mill operated until 1990 when it caught fire. Today the mill is now a county park.

Because of the difficult terrain that the town was built, there was an upper and lower Preston. The railroad depot, school and cemetery plus many residential homes were at Upper Preston. The hotel, general store, community center, sawmill and more residential homes were located in Lower Preston.

The first wagon road from Issaquah to Preston was the 1886 County Road No. 186 or the O. P. Stephenson Road. This wagon road continued east over the Raging River and climbed the hill to Snoqualmie Ridge. This was used by travelers going between the pass and Seattle. By 1889, the road from the Raging River to Snoqualmie Ridge was abandoned due to the extreme steepness.

At the Preston Cemetery, Road 186 ran along the north end of the cemetery and continued down the hill on a steep grade. This was before the town was built. From Preston to Fall City, the first wagon road was the 1889 County Road No. 205 or the H. H. Ludvigson Road. This rough road followed close to the the river on it's way to Fall City.

In 1912 Road 186 between the cemetery and Lower Preston was improved. At the cemetery, the new road ran south to connect to 307th Ave S. The old road then continued directly across the tracks and made a left curve to continue downhill to Lower Preston. The 1915 Sunset Highway from Issaquah came into Upper Preston from the west instead of fro the North on 307th Ave S. In 1925, the new Sunset Highway improvements changed this intersection with 307th Ave S. at Upper Preston to what we see today.

In 1936, the Sunset Highway was improved again and Preston was bypassed by the new "Echo Lake Cutoff". This new alignment is now Interstate 90 between Preston and the Snoqualmie Casino.