HistoryLink Tours

If you want to learn something about Issaquah history, this is the place to go. Home to the one of the Issaquah History Museums, the building is one of the oldest still standing in what’s known as “Olde Town” Issaquah. Construction began in 1888, and in its earliest incarnation, the building served as a public meeting hall. In 1898 the Town of Gilman (later Issaquah) bought the building for use as a town hall. During the early twentieth century it served as a polling place, the local police station, fire department, and even as a reading room (a precursor to modern libraries) from 1918 to 1930.

During the 1930s the house became a private residence and subsequently passed through a number of different owners and renovations. The city reacquired the property in the early 1970s and leased the building to the Issaquah Historical Society. Over the next decade the building was extensively renovated and a false-front façade was added. The building is now recognized not only as an Issaquah Landmark but also as a King County Landmark.

Just behind the town hall building is a two-cell jail which served as the town jail from 1914 until 1930, and still retains its original iron bars in the windows.