Roslyn City Hall and Library

This one-and-a-half-story athletic club was built in 1903 to serve as a social club for management and senior officials of the Northwestern Improvement Company. The symmetrical facade features two entryways, a central bell tower on stilts (added when the building housed the Roslyn fire department), exposed rafters, and a hipped roof that lend it the appearance of an oversized bungalow. In 1910, the company transformed the club into a YMCA, expanded membership to all of its workers, and added a two-story extension at the rear that contained a swimming pool, gym, and bowling alley.

Declining coal production and lowered prices by 1918 forced the Northwestern Improvement Company to liquidate its community and residential structures. The city of Roslyn purchased the building for $2,880 in an effort to consolidate various city departments spread throughout the downtown. Since then the building has, at various times, housed or served as the city council chambers, library, jail, police offices, city clerk’s office, and fire hall. The building suffered structural damage in the 2001 Nisqually earthquake, and since 2010 has undergone repairs to its foundation, slab, facade, and ground floor interior. The building currently houses the Roslyn Public Library, accessible via the south entrance, and many of the city services.