Enumclaw’s City Hall celebrated its 100th birthday last week, as the first ever council meeting to ever be held in its chambers was on Nov. 1, 1921.

During the week-long celebration, citizens could walk into the council chambers to see a history of how the building was constructed, as well as enjoy drawings of City Hall made by Southward Elementary, Byron Kibler Elementary, and Enumclaw Middle School students.

The idea to have a public meeting place for city business was first approached by Enumclaw Mayor Samuel Lafromboise during a July 1919 council meeting; “The need of a building is obvious for housing the fire apparatus, for holding public meetings and various other uses,” the Enumclaw Courier reported.

Two years later, though, the dream had yet to be realized; Mayor Aton Johansen reported to the council in a March 1921 meeting that he had secured “more suitable quarters for the council to meet” in the basement of a new church building — though the Enumclaw Courier article failed to specify which new church this was.

The council’s new digs didn’t pan out.

“The community building recently proposed has been found impracticable for the time being,” the Enumclaw Courier reported in April 1921, “but there must be a place provided for the new fire apparatus, for council and other meetings, and a court room as well as several other purposes.”

To raise the money for the building, however, the council would need to go out to the voters to approve a bond measure; the council decided to call a July election for the measure during a May 1921 meeting, estimating the cost of the project to be around $15,000 — or nearly $230,000 today, according to the U.S. Inflation Calculator.

A notice of the July 7, 1921 special election for the bond measure was posted on the May 13, 1921 edition of the Enumclaw Courier.

It was announced a week later that four officials were appointed for the election: Mrs. John W. Blake and Mrs. J. C. Jensen to represent the North Ward, and R. T. Montgomery, H. A. Smith, and Arthur Lafromboise to represent the South Ward. Their compensation for being election officials at the time was $5 — roughly $76 today.

The Enumclaw Courier announced the election results in the June 10, 1921 edition — only 193 people voted, with 137 for the bond measure, and 56 people against. With public approval now official, the Enumclaw council engaged Harlan Thomas as the architect for the building, as he was also the architect for the new high school.

Still, some people were not happy, as the new building was to be constructed on a city park.

“Several townspeople were present (at town council) to enter protest against the erection of the building on the park,” the Enumclaw Courier reported in June 1921. “Mayor Johansen stated that the town has no other site for a building, and there is no money in the treasury for purchasing grounds for the purpose. He said that these facts were known when the recent election was held for voting on the bond issue.”

The council unanimously approved an ordinance to proceed with the building as planned after all arguments were heard.

The council met again July 19, 1921, to go through fourteen bids submitted for the project — the council approved a bid for $12,000 for the building, $1,330 for plumbing, and $212 for electrical work. No action was taken on a contract for heating.

It was estimated the building would take three months to construct — the estimate was pretty much on the money.

“This handsome structure is one of which Enumclaw may well be proud,” the Enumclaw Courier reported in its Nov. 4 edition. “The architecture is of a pleasing type and the appointments are modern and convenient. An imposing row of pillars flank the entrance, which faces Griffin Avenue. The interior is finely finished, and comprises two suits of office rooms, an office for the city engineer, the council chamber, and headquarters for the fire department apparatus. There are also some cute little rooms for the incarceration of such persons as may come under penalty of law.

“The building is well plumbed, and toilets are installed at the Porter street end for public convenience,” the report continues. “The grounds about the building will soon be leveled up and parked, and when the heating plant is installed, the town council is to name a day for public inspection, when everybody will be invited to come and view Enumclaw’s new headquarters.”

That opening day was scheduled for March 11, 1922.

It would be many years before the building would be improved upon; according to city officials, a new west wing was added in the 1940s, and the council chambers were upgraded again in the 1980s.

Most recently, the front of City Hall was restored by replacing the broken paver stairs that lead up to the front door.

These aren’t the original blueprints for Enumclaw’s city hall, but the 1947 blueprints for expanding the building, which happened a year later. They were on display in City Hall for the centennial celebration. Photo by Ray Miller-Still