The Kos family
Around the turn of the century, Paul Kos left his wife and family behind in Yugoslavia (then Austria-Hungary) to find a better life in America. He came to the coal mines in Ravensdale, south of Issaquah. The first words Kos learned in English were “hurry up!” Working 10-hour days for $2.50 a day, it took him five years to save up enough to bring Rose and the two oldest children over.
In 1912, the family moved to Issaquah to take advantage of the town’s coal boom. Single miners lived in rooing houses or in the tent city along the creek, but the Kos family bought the “horseshoe” house at First Avenue NW and Bush Street. Life wasn’t alwasy kind. The oldest son, Frank, died when he was 14, and Kos’ coal-mining days were ended when a rockslide in the mines crippled him.
But the family thrived. They moved east on Bush Street to a larger house that they still occupy 70 years later. Children Rose and Paul went on to high school. Rose married into the Croston family, and seven of her grandchildren and great-grandchildren still live in the area. Paul married Florence Howe of Fall City, and they had three children who all have successful professional careers.
The immigrant coal miner’s dream of a better life for his family has been realized.
