Miller Hull

As the Cedar River flows serenely through downtown Renton, it’s a scene out of Venice or Amsterdam: The water has been trained into a straight line, like a planned canal, with at least six bridges spanning it if you include I-405. Most were designed for cars to cross the river, and some allow pedestrians too. But only one of them is engineered for library carts as well.

Constructed in 1966, the Renton Library’s journey to existence was perhaps less plumbed and perfect than this stretch of the Cedar. In fact, it’s got quite a few twists and turns. The story starts in 1903.

At the turn of the century, Renton was a thriving coal-mining town with a population of 1,176. The town was incorporated the following year, and a small book-lending library was put together in 1903 by the Renton Coal Miners Association in a space above the general store. The collection later moved to the second floor of Brendel’s Drug Store on Wells Avenue South and South Third Street—a building that’s currently the home of Common Ground Coffee. The librarian was Blanche Pritchard Hughes, who received a salary of $35.

Read the full story at Seattle Met