Downtown Renton may be in for a facelift, with the city's purchase of five acres and plans to market the land on South Third Street for a piazza, speciality market and 150 new condos or apartments. Visitors to downtown in 1922, however, would have found tractors belonging to the Conyes Logging Co. lined up on Burnett Avenue between Third and Fourth streets.

A century ago, Renton's sawmills, coal mines and brick factory produced the materials that built the region. In the 1920s, a group of loggers gathered for a photo around the cookhouse at a logging camp. Renton's manufacturing base attracted hard-working, often poor immigrants from Belgium, China, Wales and Italy. A century ago, Renton's sawmills, coal mines and brick factory produced the materials that built the region. In the 1920s, a group of loggers gathered for a photo around the cookhouse at a logging camp. Renton's manufacturing base attracted hard-working, often poor immigrants from Belgium, China, Wales and Italy.

In the 1930s, above, members of Renton's Italian American community gathered at clubs such as the Erlington Bocci Club for fun and socializing. In the 1930s, above, members of Renton's Italian American community gathered at clubs such as the Erlington Bocci Club for fun and socializing.