If you thought black diamonds led to the name of the city; you would be right.In the late nineteenth century it was a company town for the Black Diamond Coal Company. The coal mines are no longer there, but the name lives on. Most of the families who came here to work the mines were first-generation Americans of mainly Welsh or Italian descent. Black Diamond was isolated in the mountains, and the train was the primary link to the outside world. The train depot has since been turned into a museum, and oral histories have mined a wealth of information from older residents. the population today is about 2,000.

Hon. Steven Rosen