 The first challenge that the city council faced was lowering lot prices and migrating these buildings off the public right-of way, establishing the basic layout of the town that exists to this day.In 1917, a new all-electric lumber mill (the second in the U.S.) opened across the river from Snoqualmie, along with the company town associated with it, Snoqualmie Falls.For the first half of the century, the timber industry provided the city and valley with a stable source of income and employment, even as World War I drew away workers and the Great Depression took its toll across the nation.