Renton Beginnings: Black River Post Office opens on January 21, 1867.

  • By Greg Lange
  • Posted 12/06/1998
  • HistoryLink.org Essay 421
The Black River Post Office is established on January 21, 1867, the same day Slaughter (renamed Auburn) and White River Post Offices open. Christian C. Clymer is the first postmaster and he operates the post office from his house.

The post office did not operate from October 23, 1868 till December 28, 1869.

The name changed to Renton on February 21, 1876. Renton is located at the south end of Lake Washington about 12 miles from Seattle. It was located near extensive coal mines and also became a center of dairy farming and orchards.

Sources: Guy Reed Ramsey, "Postmarked Washington, 1850-1960," Microfilm (Olympia: Washington State Library, February, 1966), 559; Bureau of Statistics, Agriculture and Immigration, A Review of the Resources and Industries of Washington 1905 (Olympia: C. W. Gorham Public Printers, 1905), 138.
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