As thoughts turn to summer fun, many will follow familiar footsteps and visit Lake Wilderness. Now a 117-acre Maple Valley park with swimming facilities and playgrounds, nearly a century ago the same lakefront supported three private resorts each with competing attractions. By 1939, the McKinney and Diekman resorts were merged into Gaffney’s Lake Wilderness Resort as seen in this circa 1942 photo of their popular swimming area. A version of this photo appeared in the May 20, 1942 Seattle Times under the headline ‘Gaffney Grove Playground.’ It is believed this location was at the southern end of today’s park in a small cove due east of the tennis courts, and about 750 feet south of the current swimming area.
The combined resorts were managed by Thomas and Kain Gaffney, pioneers in the development of the lake’s attractions. A news article about Gaffney’s purchase of the adjoining resort noted, “Addition of twenty-two cabins in the McKinney park area will make available a total of sixty-seven cabins making it the largest single fresh-water outing park development in the Pacific Northwest.” The combined facility boasted a dance hall, roller skating rink, bowling alley, tennis courts, and later a 9-hole golf course. Dancing was a particular attraction with an orchestra typically playing Thursday through Sunday nights. By 1950, the Gaffney brothers invested another $250,000 in building their new Lake Wilderness Lodge serviced by its own air strip. The Lodge boasted 12 overnight rooms, a dining room seating 140, and ground floor banquet facilities accommodating 400. Today the Lodge is an architectural jewel and popular gathering place for weddings, community events, and meetings. This photo and newspaper research comes courtesy of JoAnne Matsumura, an Issaquah historian.
