Many of us have never seen a lump of coal, nor have we ever been in a building which was heated by a coal furnace. Coal is a sedimentary rock used primarily as fuel.

In Seattle’s early years, coal was considered to be so important that railroads were constructed to retrieve it and carry it into the city. As a rock-like substance, coal is heavy — a five-gallon bucket of coal weighs about forty pounds. In the 1880s in Seattle, cars and trucks had not yet been invented and so the best way to carry coal, was via railroad. The original purpose of the Seattle, Lake Shore & Eastern Railroad was to reach resources such as the coal mines east of Seattle. This rail route is now commemorated as the Burke-Gilman Trail.

Coal was a common fuel source in Seattle up until about 1950, when most houses had converted to oil or electric furnaces. Pictured here as of 1938, was Fremont’s own coal seller, the Hocking Fuel & Lumber Company at 3616 Stone Way.

Thomas James Hocking was born in Cornwall, England, in 1885 and came to Seattle in 1914. He networked with other coal & lumber dealers in Seattle and he joined Fremont’s Doric Lodge, which was a place for businessmen to network and share concerns. In 1934 he was one of a consortium of coal dealers who complained that the City Board of Public Works did not have a fair and open process for bids for coal contracts, for heating City buildings.

The economic depression of the 1930s was hard on businesses. Mr. Hocking found a way to derive more income by allowing another business to build a shop at one end of his property and pay rent to him. The Stoneway Millwork Company at 3620 Stone Way bought lumber from Mr. Hocking to make wood components such as window sashes, railings, doors and cabinets.

Today the smaller building at 3620 Stone Way still stands. It is surrounded by the large Public Storage building at 3616 Stone Way which replaced the former fuel & lumber yard.