Eagle Gorge Beginnings: Ferndale (later Eagle Gorge) Post Office opens on March 2, 1891.

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The Ferndale Post Office (later Eagle Gorge) opens on March 2, 1891. James M. Henderson is the first postmaster. Eagle Gorge is located in east King County, eight miles east of Black Diamond, 35 miles southeast of Seattle along the Green River.

On December 3, 1891, the Ferndale Post Office changed its name to Eagle Gorge. The post office closed on January 21, 1902, and remained closed for four years.

The Eagle Gorge Post Office reopened on December 18, 1905. The new postmaster was Eva B. O'Conner. The post office continued operating until April 15, 1932, except for a brief period from August 31, 1925 until April 30, 1926.

On April 15, 1932, the Eagle Gorge Post Office was renamed Baldi and moved to the former Baldi site.

Eagle Gorge is located eight miles east of Black Diamond, 35 miles southeast of Seattle as the crow flies (70 rail miles), along the Green River.

Ferndale (Eagle Gorge) grew potatoes, hops, fruit, and produce. It was located one mile from Cascade Division of the Northern Pacific Railroad, whose station there was called Eagle Gorge. The federal land survey had just been completed at the time the post office opened, and land could be purchased or homesteaded.

Sources:
Guy Reed Ramsey, "Postmarked Washington, 1850-1960," Microfilm (Olympia: Washington State Library, February, 1966), 636-637; R. L. Polk & Co., Oregon Washington and Idaho Gazetteer and Business Directory, 1891-92, Vol.5 (Portland, OR: Published by R. L. Polk, 1889), 771, 794.

By Greg Lange, December 13, 1998

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