The History of Highpoint: A Forgotten Mill Town on Issaquah Creek
By Curt Cunningham

The town of Highpoint emerged from the thick forests and industrious ambitions of early settlers in King County, Washington, on the northern edge of Issaquah Creek. Roughly three miles east of the town of Issaquah, Highpoint flourished at the top of a demanding railroad grade on the North Bend branch of the Northern Pacific Railroad. Founded on the promise of lumber, it became a small but vibrant community that encapsulated the logging-driven growth typical of early 20th-century towns in the Pacific Northwest.

1. Beginnings: The Founding of Lovegren's Sawmill (1905)

Highpoint’s origins date back to 1905, when John Lovegren—a prominent logger in the area—chose the location to establish his sawmill. The sawmill was strategically located atop a steep railroad grade to facilitate the transport of cut timber down to Issaquah and further on to other markets. The North Bend branch of the Northern Pacific Railroad provided a crucial transportation route, making Highpoint ideal for logging operations that required access to a rail line for shipping lumber out of the rugged Issaquah foothills.

Lovegren's sawmill quickly attracted workers and their families. The need for steady labor drew in both immigrants and locals, all looking to take part in the logging economy. As demand for housing grew, loggers and their families began to construct modest homes near the sawmill. This small settlement gradually coalesced into a budding community known as Highpoint.

2. Growth and Community Development

By the late 1900s, Highpoint had grown into more than just a workplace for loggers. The addition of essential amenities like a school, a hotel, a store with a post office, and a railroad depot transformed Highpoint into a functioning town. Children from the surrounding areas attended the schoolhouse, and the hotel provided accommodations for travelers, particularly those who worked seasonally or intermittently in the lumber industry.

The store and post office were central to life in Highpoint, acting as social hubs where residents could gather, exchange news, and purchase necessary supplies. This social infrastructure created a sense of community in Highpoint, giving it the look and feel of a fully realized town rather than just a transient logging camp.

3. The Highpoint Mill Company Era (1922–1930)

In 1922, the Highpoint Mill Company took over Lovegren’s operations. This transition marked a new chapter in Highpoint’s history, as the mill’s expansion increased both employment and economic activity in the area. The company invested in machinery and enhanced the mill's capabilities, supporting a higher output of processed lumber. The logging business remained the town’s lifeblood, and the community continued to grow as long as demand for timber remained strong.

However, the boom did not last. By the end of the 1920s, both the local timber resources and demand began to dwindle. As the Great Depression approached, lumber prices plummeted, making the mill’s operations increasingly unsustainable. In 1930, after nearly three decades of logging and sawmilling, the Highpoint Mill Company ceased operations, marking the end of the community's industrial base.

4. The Decline and Disappearance of Highpoint

The closing of the sawmill spelled the end for Highpoint as a bustling community. Many residents, whose livelihoods had depended on the mill, left to seek work in other areas. Without its primary employer, Highpoint’s population dwindled rapidly, and many of its structures—including the hotel, depot, and school—were eventually abandoned. With each passing year, Highpoint faded further into the wilderness, becoming a ghost town and then, ultimately, a relic of memory.

Today, the freeway removed most of the towns footprint and very few physical traces of Highpoint remain, though its legacy lives on as part of the rich logging history that shaped communities across the Pacific Northwest. The site of the school is now occupied by the I-90 Community Church and the once busy sawmill located on the south side of the freeway at Lovegren Road is a small opening in the forest which has regrown around the site.

The town of Highpoint, once a beacon of opportunity for lumber workers and their families, serves as a historical reminder of the rise and fall of mill towns that dotted the landscape of Washington during the early 20th century.