 In the late 1880s, a group of Puget Sound businessmen founded and started building the Seattle, Lake Shore and Eastern Railway, including a line up into the upper Snoqualmie Valley, in an attempt to build a line over the Cascade Range.The land claim holder at the time, Jeremiah "Jerry" Borst, had Fall City surveyed and platted in anticipation of the people the railroad would bring, but was disappointed in 1889 when the railroad line was built a mile (1.6 km) away from the community.However, even a mile away the railroad, combined with the first bridge over the Snoqualmie River, greatly improved the business of the local lumber mills and farmers, and made the area and its scenic features (such as Snoqualmie Falls) accessible to tourists.