King County Landmarks: Elliott Farm (1909), Maple Valley

  • By Heather MacIntosh
  • Posted 1/01/2000
  • HistoryLink.org Essay 2388
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Address: 14207 Maple Valley Highway, Maple Valley. The prominent farmhouse and barns at the Elliott Farm, located in the Cedar River Valley just east of Renton, reflect the development of small-scale dairy farming in the valley in the early 1900s. Homesteaders settled the Cedar River Valley in the 1870s, cleared land for crops and pastures, and established small subsistence farms. As transportation and refrigeration technologies improved, dairy farming became the main agricultural activity in the area. The milk barn on the farm, built by R. J. Elliott between 1909 and 1910 along with four ancillary farm buildings, reflected Elliott’s interest in the latest dairying practices. In 1911, he designed and built the 2.5-story, nine-room Craftsman-style home on the farm. Threatened today (2000) by neglect and encroaching urban development, the Elliott Farm is the last intact dairy farm in the valley.

 


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