I met Marie Sciacqua sort of by accident.

Tucked away in one of the dimly-lit back rooms of the Federal Way Historical Society's old house on Fishers Pond, Marie sat quietly, her fingers working swiftly through catalogs of old photographs documenting the city's past. I hadn't noticed her when I walked into the room to photograph the old newspaper archives the Historical Society has on file, and she startled me when she spoke.

I remember having to ask her to repeat the pronunciation of her peculiar last name. She, like most of us that live here, grew up somewhere outside Federal Way.

Our somewhat happenstance encounter took place in March 2007, and on that day Marie told me she had teamed up with the Federal Way Historical Society to help them produce a printed book of the city's history. The day I met her, her work had essentially just begun.

Publishing a book that documented Federal Way's past seemed like a fantastic idea, I thought. And I can't envision a community that needs to know where it came from more than this one; where so many of its residents have set shallow roots inside the city limits, and so much of Federal Way's rural past lies buried under concrete.

"I'm a good example of why someone from Federal Way should read this book," Marie said.

"I've lived here since 1976," she explained, "and I had no idea where our beginnings were."

"By putting this book together and getting it published," she said, "we can help people understand more about where we live and where we came from."

Now, more than 18 months later, we met again, this time with her work completed and a shiny new paperback to show for it.

"When I first met you I had just started my research," Marie said. "But after sorting through all of the photographs and reading so much about Federal Way's past, I got really excited about learning about the city's history."

I sat down with Marie and fellow volunteer historian Dick Caster to ask them about their reaction to the project's completion and the book making process.

Caster confirmed what I had suspected, that the concept of book of Federal Way history had floated around as long-if not longer-than the Historical Society itself.

"Before (the Historical Society was) in existence," Caster said, "we had talked about a book."

"We had some starts," he said, "but they just didn't go anywhere."

Then along came Arcadia, the small-town-history-book-producing megamachine that had the financial resources and a proven formula for publishing and distribution. Federal Way's book stands among 5,000 others the company has produced.

With Arcadia's guidance Marie, Dick and others produced Federal Way-Images of America Series, which compiles images and written history to give the community a concise resource for researching its past.

Arcadia specializes in handling the printing, along with some of the local and national promotion and distribution, which allowed the Historical Society to free its resources for research and writing instead of fundraising and marketing its book.

"Using Arcadia was about the only way we would have been (financially) able to put a book out," said Marie. Through previous grants she had written to fund the book project, she estimated the project would have cost the Historical Society $22,000, with $5,000 of that amount going directly to printing costs.

"Arcadia takes care of all of that," Caster said.

Presented nicely in the form of an unimposing and modest, sepia-toned paperback, the book represents a mountain of work and countless hours from Historical Society volunteers like Marie and Dick. The group spent the better part of a year compiling photographs and writing chapters to fill the book's 128 pages.

"I worked on the book basically by myself for sixth months just doing research," Marie said.

The book writing process did not come without its share of setbacks, said Marie, who added that the organization had originally scheduled its released for last summer. But with her work done and hundreds of copies now in print, the feedback alone has made her effort worthwhile.

"Everyone we've talked to has been really excited about it," Marie said. Sales of the book have exceeded expectations so much that, "In fact, we're going to have to place another order," Marie added.

"It's a great feeling to finally get it done," said Caster, one of the chapter writers and volunteer historian for the Society, when I asked him his reaction to witnessing his labor come to fruition. Readers can find his handiwork in the book's introduction and within four of its chapters.

"It's a fairly broad overview of the history of Federal Way," Caster said of the book. "It covers Federal Way's history from the late 1800s to the 1960s.

Like many history buffs in Federal Way, Caster wanted to see the vast archives of the city's past put together in a format easily digestible by the general public.

"We had these photos around for a long time," Caster said, "but we never really put them together in any sort of organized way."

Fortunately for us all, they now have.

"Federal Way gives the appearance of being a new city," Caster said. "To the casual observer, there's just not a lot of old history that jumps out at you."

For readers who think Federal Way's history began with the creation of Federal Shopping Way, or those who have heard the community's humble origins as a shoreline logging town near Redondo that spread inland, the Society's new book definitely offers plenty of archeological tidbits to satisfy its audience.

Even a historian like Caster admits he learned a lot about Federal Way's past when he began compiling the chapters.

"Most people that visit Federal Way now," Caster said, "have no feel of that early history."

As we chatted about his favorite parts of the book, Caster recounted some of the city's more intriguing historical facts. He enjoys sharing the history of St. George's Indian School, which called Federal Way home from 1888 to 1935. Founded by Father Hylebos, the school once held classes near the present day cemetery along Highway 99 at the Milton border.

"Most people don't have any idea that (the school) was even there," Caster said. "Luckily, we've got photos of it in the new book."

Marie said the organization sold all of its initial order of 450 copies. But if your holiday shopping list still has as many holes as mine, don't worry. The Historical Society has a new shipment in for sale.

Federal Way retails for $23.00 and may be purchased by calling the Federal Way Historical Society at (253) 945-7842, or by logging on to www.federalwayhistory.org.

Several Federal Way area booksellers also carry copies of the book.