After Twin Peaks Day 2026 was acknowledged by the Mayors of Snoqualmie and North Bend, Washington, long-time Valley resident Karl Reinsch and I set out for downtown Seattle. During the Metropolitan King County Council meeting on February 24, District 3 Councilmember Sarah Perry recognized the day with a special proclamation drafted by Karl.
METROPOLITAN KING COUNTY COUNCIL

The Metropolitan King County Council oversees the second largest government and the most populous county in Washington State. With more than 2.3 million residents, King County is the 12th largest county in the U.S. As the legislative branch of county government, the Council sets policies, enacts laws, and adopts budgets that guide an array of services for county residents. The Council’s nine councilmembers are elected on a non-partisan basis and serve four-year terms. Each councilmember represents a geographical district of over 260,000 residents.
The council meeting was held in the King County Courthouse, located at 516 Third Avenue in downtown Seattle.

Karl parked nearby in a lot next to the historic Arctic Building which was lined with spectacular walrus reliefs. In the early 1900s, the Alaska Club merged with the Arctic Club which prompted the construction of this building. In 1917, architect A. Warren Gould “pioneered the use of lightweight glazed molded terra cotta over a reinforced concrete frame” to create these ornamentations. The club would remain in the building until 1971. It was owned privately, occupied by the city of Seattle and became a boutique hotel. It’s listed on the Washington and National Registers of Historic Places. More information about how these walrus reliefs were restored is found on this website.

In the distance, I spotted Smith Tower which was once the tallest building in Seattle. This skyscraper with a great view of the city is found near Pioneer Square. Once you visit the top, head down to 240 Second Avenue South to find the exterior of Horne’s Department Store from Twin Peaks.

The council meeting was held on the 10th floor of the courthouse building which was accessible via elevator.

I was fascinated by the decorative murals that lined the hall. We didn’t have time before the meeting to examine them.
TWIN PEAKS DAY PROCLAMATION IN KING COUNTY, WA

Upon entering the council chambers, we found staff had reserved seats for us with a paper stating “Twin Peaks Guest.” What a delightful surprise! This trip was my eleventh visit to Washington state since 1996. I’ve always felt welcomed with every visit and this small gesture was yet another sign of what makes Washington state so special.
Here is a slightly edited video from the Twin Peaks Day proclamation made by District 3 Councilmember Sarah Perry. The entire council meeting was broadcast on King County TV. The proclamation was made just after the Pledge of Allegiance and roll call of councilmembers.

King County Councilmember Sarah Perry has been a champion of behavioral health and has more than three decades of experience working in the non-profit and small business sectors. Today, she works at her consulting business called Perry Consulting and has previously held roles as Chief Development Officer at Social Venture Partners International; Executive Director at Eastside Housing (now Springboard Alliance); Senior Director of University Initiatives at Seattle University; Senior Director at Encompass (formerly Children’s Services of Sno-Valley. Councilmember Perry also co-founded the Si View Indoor Playground (North Bend) and started the Fall City Neighbors newsletter.
She represents District 3, which includes the cities and/or surrounding areas of Issaquah, Sammamish, Redmond, Woodinville, Bothell, Carnation, Duvall, Fall City, Preston, Snoqualmie, North Bend, Snoqualmie Pass, and Skykomish.
Councilmember Perry shared some prepared remarks about Twin Peaks Day and why it was important to the region for both tourism and film production.

She then called up Karl and me to stand near the podium while she read the official proclamation. I love Karl’s “Sub Pop” inspired t-shirt design while I chose the Real Twin Peaks Blue Rose design created by Snoqualmie Trading Company last year.
This is a copy of the official proclamation thanks to a high-resolution scan by Karl.

During the reading, she paused when saying “fine coffee” as we all know the line is “damn, fine coffee.” This is a Councilmember who understand us nerdy fans!

Karl was then invited to share a few remarks. He mentioned how we both were at the Welcome to Twin Peaks sign spot earlier that morning when the Mayors proclaimed Twin Peaks Day for Snoqualmie and North Bend. He also thanked Councilmembers for recognizing this important day in the region.

Councilmember Perry invited other Councilmembers to join Karl and me for a photo with the proclamation. Before we posed, District 5 Councilmember Steffani Fain spoke at the podium.Fain is the first Korean American – and the first Asian American in nearly four decades – to serve on the King County Council.
She represents the cities and areas of Kent, Renton, SeaTac, Des Moines, Normandy Park, and Tukwila (the latter is home to the building used as the exterior of Calhoun Memorial Hospital in Twin Peaks).

Councilmember Fain had visited Snoqualmie Pass with her family over the weekend and stopped by the North Bend Trading Co. in North Bend on the way home. She picked up several Twin Peaks-themed buttons and called out the on-screen locations with their real locations (i.e.; The Great Northern Hotel as Salish Lodge, Double R Diner as Twede’s Cafe, etc.).
She then presented the buttons to other Councilmembers including an “I am the F.B.I.” button for District 9 Councilmember Reagan Dunn, a former Department of Justice employee.

We then posed for a photo and departed the meeting.

Later that afternoon, the King County Council posted about Twin Peaks Day on their Instagram account.
TWIN PEAKS DAY ON SOCIAL MEDIA

The made a similar post on their Facebook page.

The even included a font similar to the opening credits from the first two seasons – nice touch!

Councilmember Perry posted about the proclamation moment on her Facebook account. It was totally geeked out by her including a link to Twin Peaks Blog. She also included the group photo I sent in her post.


“FROM THESE HILLS, FROM THESE WATERS” BY DOUGLAS COOPER

Before departing the courthouse, Karl and I took a closer look at the black and white murals that lined the hallways. The murals, titled “From These Hills, From These Waters,” are part of an installation created by Douglas Cooper in 2005.
This mural overlooks Pioneer Square in downtown Seattle. You can see Smith Tower and another building that says “City Lights.” I think that building is a nod to the Baker Building on Second Avenue. Charles Baker created the first underground generating station in the world at Snoqualmie Falls. This two-story building was an electrical substation that would “receive the power generated at the falls and distribute it to the growing fleet of street cars in Seattle and Tacoma and ultimately to businesses and homes.” It would later become the exterior of Horne’s Department Store.

Cooper (how fitting of a name!) is Andrew Mellon Professor of Architecture at Carnegie Mellon Architecture, where he teaches drawing and architectural design. He developed his first mural in 1992. Now at Pittsburgh’s Heinz History Center, the mural was completed in collaboration with Vintage, a Pittsburgh senior center. In 1994, he completed another mural with the elderly for the Philadelphia Courthouse. His mural series for Seattle’s King County Courthouse (2005) depicts the geography, history and land-use patterns of that region.
Doug has authored three books on drawing: “Drawing and Perceiving” (Wiley, 1997), now in its fourth edition, provides an in-depth study of his drawing pedagogy; “Steel Shadows” (University of Pittsburgh, 2000) is a memoir of his years drawing the city of Pittsburgh; and “Knowing and Seeing” (University of Pittsburgh, 2019) addresses the intellectual foundation of his approach to drawing the urban landscape.

My favorite part of his mural looks at Snoqualmie Valley, particularly Mount Si and Snoqualmie. It’s found close to the security screening area inside the building.

The river pictured is the Snoqualmie River that winds throughout the Valley

The center part of this image shows Snoqualmie Falls along with a member of the Snoqualmie Tribe who are also know as People of the Moon.

Perched above the falls is a stylized Salish Lodge and Spa. You can also see the former covered observation deck at Snoqualmie Falls Park. Parts of this deck are seen in establishing shots of The Great Northern Hotel in Twin Peaks. The entire area was redesigned in 2009.

You can also see a stylized Snoqualmie Depot of the Northwest Railway Museum in downtown Snoqualmie.

In the shadow of Mount Si, you can see the former Snoqualmie Lumber Company mill that served as the Packard Sawmill in Twin Peaks.
Thank you to Karl for inviting me to join him at this special proclamation reading, and thank you to Councilmember Perry for you dedication and service to Snoqualmie Valley. Happy Twin Peaks Day!
Download high-resolution images from the Real Twin Peaks event in Snoqualmie Valley, Washington on my Flickr page: https://www.flickr.com/photos/aloha75/albums/72177720332251282
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