Last week’s column featured Belleman’s lunch counter at Four Corners. The building was located next to Belleman’s gas station on the southeast corner of what was then a five-cornered intersection formed by Kent-Kangley, Maple Valley highway, and the Danville Road, now called Summit-Landsburg. Both the gas station and café were built in 1945 according to Assessor tax records. The site is now occupied by a Shop Fast gas station stretching south to Starbucks in front of Safeway.
Ray Spurgeon purchased the lunch counter in 1949, enlarged the building, and operated the business as Four Corners Café and Tavern. The Spurgeons moved to Ravensdale about the same time. Pictured from left to right are Coral Spurgeon, Irene Lapinski, and Luella Spurgeon. Coral was daughter of Ray and Luella Spurgeon and a recent graduate of Tahoma High School at the time of this 1955 photo. Coral soon married Del Fardig and moved to Lake Retreat where the couple operated several successful businesses. Some years later the Spurgeon family sold their café and tavern which then became the Four Corners Tavern. This photo #P17.19.10 comes courtesy of the Maple Valley Historical Society with additional information from Dick Peacock and Teresa (Belleman) Reese. Next week, a view of Belleman’s Union 76 gas station during a winter storm in 1948
