Commercial Club say’s let’s be Snoqualmie Falls

Published 2:52 pm Thursday, October 2, 2008

The Snoqualmie Commercial Club formally proposed last week that the Town of Snoqualmie change

its name to Snoqualmie Falls.

In a letter to the Town Council and Mayor, Don Moller, president of the Commercial Club, asked

that the club be advised of the steps necessary in having

the name changed and set forth the club’s reasons for

seeking the change.

The council had already discussed the proposal

informally, and sentiment among its members had

been against any change. Moller took that into

consideration in his letter.

“Though there has, apparently, been some

reluctance on the part of the Town Council to consider a change

in name, it is a matter in which the Commercial Club has

a deep and serious interest,” Moller said.

“We do not deprecate in any way the title that

has long been used and respected for our town,” Moller said.

“We do seek, however, to complete what to us is

the logical name for the town by adding to it the word `Falls.’

“Thus, it is not a change in the designation for

our town we seek, so much as it is simply the fulfillment

of it.”

There was apparent historic purpose in

distinguishing the areas of Snoqualmie and Snoqualmie Falls,

and applying the name Snoqualmie to the present

town, Moller said.

“The decrease in residency in the area known

as Snoqualmie Falls, however, and the continuing

growth of Snoqualmie has nearly eliminated any need for

this delineation between areas,” Moller said.

“This being the case,” he said, “we sincerely

believe that a great deal of state-wide, and perhaps

nation-wide, confusion over where the Town of Snoqualmie is,

could be eliminated by the simple expedient of making

the town’s name Snoqualmie Falls.”

Anyone who doesn’t happen to live in or near Snoqualmie nearly always has difficulty placing

the Town of Snoqualmie, and very often winds up

identifying it as being somewhere near North Bend,

Moller pointed out.

“But hardly anyone who reads the newspapers,

travel brochures or history books has any trouble

identifying the locale of the Falls that are our major tourist

attraction,” he continued.

“By becoming Snoqualmie Falls, the town of Snoqualmie would be doing a service to itself and

its residents, and to every potential visitor,” Moller’s

letter said.

Moller pointed out that the reactivated

Snoqualmie Commercial Club has a deep interest in seeing the

town develop as best it can to remain a good community

to live in, and one that adequately serves it residents

and its surrounding area.

“It seems to us inevitable that more and more

tourists will come to the Valley, and that the town must

be better prepared to serve and care for them, if we are

to have any kind of orderly commerce,” Moller said.

“To that end, having the town named

Snoqualmie Falls would erase a thousand potential points of

confusion, and make the dissemination of information

about our area far, far easier and more effective,” he said.

“We do not seek a sudden or groundless change

in the name,” Moller concluded. “We ask neither the

Mayor or Council or the people of Snoqualmie to act hastily.

“We do believe, however, that deliberation will

convince a majority, as we are convinced, that

making Snoqualmie Falls the name of our town would

have advantages that would in no way detract from the

town’s respected history, but would add measurably to its

advantages in the future.”

Moller asked for a place on the agenda at a

future Council meeting to discuss the proposal in more detail.