Once a familiar landmark on the east shore of Lake Sammamish, this house was built by Thomas and Caroline Alexander in 1902. The house was later moved to its current location, and restoration by local volunteers was completed in 1989, creating the new headquarters for the Issaquah Chamber of Commerce, and the Issaquah Visitor Information Center.

This rare Ginkgo tree was planted by Dr. W.E. Gibson (a physician) at the start of the twentieth century.  Dr. Gibson became Issaquah’s mayor in 1900 and served several additional terms as mayor and in the state legislature over the next 25 years. His family home was located on this site until it was torn down in 1970. Fortunately, through the efforts of Issaquah High School Students, a petition was drawn up and the tree was saved.

Issaquah’s train depot was built in 1889. The City purchased the building in 1984, and it now holds a museum with exhibits that explore the industrial revolution, travel, communication, and the early economic development of Issaquah. Many of the displays include interactive elements such as a telegraph. The Depot hosts the Issaquah Valley Trolley, which runs seasonally.

The Issaquah History Museums’ research center at the Gilman Town Hall has a broad range of resources about local and regional history. There, you can peruse research files and other resources available in the center (books, videos, articles). You can also access the community family tree and genealogy information for the Issaquah area and browse editions of the Issaquah Press, either through digitized versions or on microfilm.

The feed store building, located on the east side of Front Street, may have been constructed as a residence in the late 1890s. In 1941, Frank Hailstone and his sister, Nell Hailstone Falkenstein, purchased the building. It reopened in 1942 as the Hailstone Feed Store and Shell Gasoline Station. Family members operated the business until 1966. The feed store remained in operation under various owners until 1990. It is currently the headquarters of the Downtown Issaquah Association (DIA).

Starting at the Visitor Information Center on Gilman Boulevard and ending at the Historic Depot Museum, this tour will give you the opportunity to take in over a century of Issaquah history.

Gibson Hall began life in 1936 as a three-sided picnic shelter constructed by the Works Progress Administration.In 1952, the Kiwanis Club leased the building from the Town of Issaquah and agreed to expand, maintain and manage the building for the benefit of the community. The club renamed the building in memory of John H. Gibson, a club member who had served at different times as Issaquah’s mayor and postmaster.

Pickering Barn was the center of Issaquah’s largest dairy farm for years.  The land around the barn was purchased from earlier homesteaders by Washington territorial governor William Pickering in 1867. Today the barn is on the National Register of Historic Places. Though the barn is adjacent to the large Pickering Place commercial and retail center, the land to the immediate south and east is an undeveloped wetlands area, and includes one of widest and most pristine sections of Issaquah Creek.