An illustrated history of Skagit and Snohomish Counties; their people, their commerce and their resources, with an outline of the early history of the state of Washington, Part 41

Author: Inter-state Publishing Company (Chicago, Ill.)
Publication date: 1906
Publisher: [Chicago] Interstate Publishing Company
Number of Pages: 1172

USA > Washington > Skagit County > An illustrated history of Skagit and Snohomish Counties; their people, their commerce and their resources, with an outline of the early history of the state of Washington > Part 41
USA > Washington > Snohomish County > An illustrated history of Skagit and Snohomish Counties; their people, their commerce and their resources, with an outline of the early history of the state of Washington > Part 41

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THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY

ASTOR, LENOX TILDEN FOUNDATIONS

MOUNT VERNON, 1880 AND 1905

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CITIES AND TOWNS

ing the town whose wages ranged from forty to one hundred and twenty-five dollars per month with board, and whose needs in business and social ways were beginning to constitute a great stock in trade for the town. As a result of this pressure for buildings Captain M. A. McCall, a pioneer of 1878, erected, in the summer of 1889, the first brick building in Mount Vernon or, in fact, in the county. This building cost about eight thousand dollars, and is occupied at the present time by the First National bank. During the next year Clothier & English. J. F. St. John, Jasper Gates and Mrs. McCall entered upon the construction of brick buildings. All of this new building led to such a demand for materials as greatly to increase the steamboating trade of the river, so that in 1889 there were no less than fifteen steamboats plying upon the river between Mount Vernon and the sound.

The next natural stage in the development of our town was incorporation. By the time that the city had reached a population of one thousand there had become a general demand that it should lay aside the bib and tucker of infancy and put on the grown clothes of cityhood. But when application was made to the district court for incorporation, Judge Hanford, being of the opinion that the gen- eral incorporation law was unconstitutional, de- clined to grant the petition. However, the matter did not rest and at a meeting of the citizens held on March 25, 1889, a board of trustees, E. G. English, C. D. Kimball, J. B. Moody, Jasper Gates and G. E. Hartson, were designated by vote of the meeting for the proposed city. Judge Hanford still refusing to sign the articles, the matter was obliged to rest until the inauguration of the state of Wash- ington and the revision of the incorporation law. Accordingly, on February 11, 1890, a public meet- ing was held for resuming the work of incorpora- tion. Of this meeting H. P. Downs was elected chairman and G. E. Hartson secretary. The senti- ment of the meeting was in favor of incorporation under the old law, but it appears that this was subsequently reconsidered and changed. Jasper Gates, E. G. English. Otto Klement, Captain Deca- tur and J. B. Moody were then chosen trustees to define the boundaries of the proposed incorpora- tion, circulate petitions for signatures and present the matter in due form to Judge Winn at the next session of court.

In April a petition was presented to the board of county commissioners asking that all necessary steps be taken to organize the city under the act of the state of Washington of 1890. This petition was headed by D. F. Decatur, Mrs. Ida Priest. J. L. Anable, J. F. St. John and V. E. Campbell, and contained one hundred and one additional signa- tures. When presented to the commissioners a flaw was discovered, in that no notice had been filed stating the time when the petition was to be pre-

sented to the board. At a special meeting of the commissioners the amended petition was favorably acted upon. and it having likewise received the approval of the court. June 21. 1890, was desig- nated as the date for the first city election in Mount Vernon.

At this election the proposition for incorpora- tion carried by a vote of eighty-seven to twenty- five, and the following city officers were chosen : Mayor, C. D. Kimball ; councilmen, J. B. Moody, G. E. Hartson, L. R. Martin, M. McNamara and William Murdock ; treasurer, V. E. Campbell. This first council met on July 7th-all being present, the members were duly inducted into their offices- and appointed the following additional officers of the city government: F. E. Pape, police judge ; E. H. Vaughn, marshal, and F. G. Pickering. clerk.

As all the people of the state of Washington are aware, some of them painfully so, the years 1890 and 1891 were boom years. Mount Vernon, however, went through less of the wildcat specula- tion than almost any other of the towns of Puget sound. The solid and substantial nature of her resources caused less dependence on speculative excitement, and therefore during the boom years she soared less and fell less than any other town in the county, with the possible exception of La Conner. Those two eventful years were marked by several most important advances. Among other important enterprises we may note the establish- ment of the Mount Vernon Electric Light and Motor Company, with a capital stock of one hun- dred thousand dollars. Its board of directors was composed of A. Behrens and Harrison Clothier of Mount Vernon, and G. E. Brand, J. R. McKinley and H. B. Thistle of Fairhaven. The company put in an excellent plant and operated it to the advantage of both themselves and the city until the present owners bought them out.

Additional enterprises inaugurated at the same period may be summarized as follows: First National bank of Mount Vernon, with a capital stock of $50,000 ; The Skagit Saw-mill and Mant- facturing Company, with a plant costing $30,000 and a capacity of forty thousand feet of lumber a day : the planing mill of J. A. Hammack, at a cost of $3,000; Stephenson's grist mill, the first in the county, at a cost of $4,000; the Cascade steam laundry, owned by Jash & Head, at a cost of $2,500 : the cigar and confectionery store of C. G. High- tower, $600; grocery store of Frank Ashcroft, $5,000 ; dry goods store of A. Kristoferson, $4,000; clothing store of E. Galb & Company, $6,000; Grand Central hotel of S. Bacon, furnished at a cost of $3,000; the Great Northern hotel of G. N. Smiley, with furniture of an equal value ; the hard- ware store of R. A. Drake, $3,000 : Hotel Brooklyn, in charge of Blanche Lorenzy, with furniture worth $3,000; the Cash grocery company of John Gray.

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$1,000; dry goods and grocery store, in charge of Mrs. M. McDowell: Jacob Hayton's dry goods and grocery store, $6,000; A. S. Bailey's furniture store. $3,000; the new newspaper, the Mount Ver- non Chronicle. $2,000; R. K. Dunham, tailoring establishment, $1,000; J. E. Longfellow, harness and saddlery store. $1,500; C. L. Sweeney, bakery. $1,000; Cook & Miller, bakery. $600; Cassel & Sheehy, Washington restaurant, $500: Harry Vine, restaurant. $500: Ilottel & Zwinden, Castle saloon, $3,500; Ward & Hurley, saloon. $2,000. The fol- lowing new business buildings also were erected during that period: The Behrens & Moody block at a cost of $6,000: the St. John block, at a cost of 84,000, with a one-story business building adjoin- ing. at a cost of $1.000 ; the block of Captain M. D. McCall. at a cost of $1,000, with the Cash grocery store adjoining. at a cost of $1,000; the two-story building of V. E. Campbell. at a cost of $2,500: the two-story building of A. S. Bailey, at a cost of $1.600; E. H. Vaughn's two-story building, at a cost of $2.000 ; the remodeling of the Grand Cen- tral hotel, owned by Carpenter & Pickens, at a cost of $1,000; the Great Northern hotel. erected by 1. M. Smilev. at a cost of $3,000; the two-story building of G. F. Hartson. at a cost of $2,500: the postoffice building of C. D. Kimball, at a cost of $4.000 ; the two-story block of A. M. Elkins, at a cost of $3,000. During the same year a hundred and one residences were erected at a cost of about $85,000.

While private enterprise was doing so much for the advancement of the city, the city govern- ment was improving a number of the streets by grading and sidewalking, at a total expenditure of about twenty-five thousand dollars. As may well be supposed the result of this period of great activ- ity was to transform the raw and somewhat ragged town into one of comfort and beauty.

In the midst of this period of animation and prosperity a great disaster befell the city in the form of a fire. This was Mount Vernon's first big fire. This occurred in the early morning of July 13. 1891. The fire originated in the north wing of the Washington hotel. The hotel was entirely consumed, together with fifteen business buildings and two residences, representing a total loss of about forty thousand dollars, with compar- atively little insurance. The part of the city cov- ered by the fire was the oldest business portion. Unfortunately the fire engine had been broken a few days before and hence the fire company was powerless. The steamer Bailey, which most fortu- nately was lying at the wharf, saved the city from almost entire destruction. One of the deck hands of the Bailey, whose name was Herbert Combs is mentioned most gratefully by the people of Mount Vernon for his heroism in climbing to the top of the warehouse with the fire hose and retain- ing his position within twelve feet of the fire. which

was so intense that his clothing caught fire, yet he still retained his post until the crisis was past and the fire had been checked at the dangerous point. Jack McGraw, G. B. Allen and Purser Fox seem to have been equally deserving of praise for their bravery in fighting successfully to a stand- still a fire which threatened to obliterate entirely the county-seat city.

The great expectations of the people of Mount Vernon as to the completion of the Great Northern railroad were realized August 12, 1891. The track- laying machine had entered the city limits the night before and at ten o'clock of that day the rails were laid across Kincaid street, the principal thorough- fare of the city. Just as the first rail crossed the street a signal was given, the fire alarm turned on. the church bells rang and thirty steam whistles added their wild toots to the general burst of sound. From the throats of the assembled and excited hundreds there went up a general shout of jubilation at the long-expected fulfillment of the dream of railway connection with the world.

The same active year of 1891 witnessed also the construction of the present school building. It was built upon a lot purchased by the city from John P. Millett for the sum of six hundred dollars. The contract price of the building was twelve thou- sand dollars, and the contract was awarded to W. J. Henry.

In connection with the construction of build- ings it is very fitting to notice briefly the erection of the present Mount Vernon opera-house. This was built during the summer of 1892. Messrs. Peacock & Dalton being the architects and build- ers. This opera-house would be a credit to a very much larger city than Mount Vernon. The andi- torium is fifty by sixty feet in floor space, and thirty feet in height. The seating capacity of the theater is eight hundred and fifty, while the stage covers an area, twenty-three by fifty feet.

Among the various organizations of public ben- efit which marked the period of progress was the Board of Trade or. as it became ultimately known. the Chamber of Commerce. Various preliminary efforts during the years 1890 and 1891 finally event- nated in 1892 in a formal organization. At the first regular meeting of the Chamber of Commerce a membership of forty-four was duly recorded and the following officers chosen: President. H. P. Downs : vice-presidents. J. N. Turner. G. E. Hart- son. J. P. Millett. M. D. McCall. The executive committee chosen consisted of Otto Klement. J. N. Turner. G. E. Hartson, C. F. Moody and Jacob Hayton.

There is little to record of the dark vear of 1893. To all appearance in Mount Vernon, as in other towns of our state, people have little satis- faction in recalling the events of that down-hill time.

One abortive and samewhat comical event is

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recalled by the citizens of the time, and that is a mass meeting on April 24, 1894, in accordance with dodgers distributed throughout the day which were as follows:

"MASS MEETING!

"A meeting of the citizens of Mount Vernon is hereby called to meet to-morrow, Tuesday even- ing, April 24th, at half past eight o'clock at the court-house for the purpose of considering the present depressed financial and commercial condi- tion of the land.

"Free seats reserved for the ladies.

"Speeches by leading business men.

"This meeting is for all, regardless of party."

This meeting was not open to the charge of be- ing a packed meeting, for no chairman or committee of organization or, in fact, any one at all to run it had been provided. The court-house was crowded almost to suffocation and after vain attempts to elect a chairman and frame some plan of discussion the meeting broke up amid tumultuous laughter and general disorder. The question of who called that meeting became one of the stock conundrums in the city of Mount Vernon.

During the same summer an enterprise was undertaken, as the result of the popular need and a popular demand, which was of much interest and much importance in the growth of the city. This was the construction of the new dike. The great flood of 1894 had inundated the lower parts of the town and had also caused much damage to the farmers on the flats. A part of the money neces- sary for this essential work was raised by public subscription. The dike as finally constructed extends from Ledger hill to a connection with other dikes which now make a continuous levee to 1 the mouth of the Skagit river. The work was com- pleted in November. 1894, and it is estimated that it added a hundred per cent. to the value of the farms protected by it.

Another public enterprise of the same period was the effort for the establishment of a city water system. A special election was held on November 30th upon the proposition of issuing bonds for the establishment of such a system. This proposi- tion was carried by a vote of ninety-six against fifty-nine, only two votes, more than the required three-fifths majority. But though thus approved. the attempt at a city water system failed, on account

of the inability to float bonds during those hard

times. After an unsatisfactory experience of sev- eral years an excellent ,water system was estab- lished in 1902 by the Mount Vernon Water and Power Company, of which N. M. Hill is the local manager. Water is obtained from springs issuing from the hills east of town and is stored in a concrete reservoir at an elevation of about one hundred and forty feet above the river. It affords

a plentiful supply of pure water and furnishes excellent fire protection.

Mount Vernon occupies an unfortunate pre- eminence in respect to the number and destructive- ness of the fires that have occurred. We have already narrated the first of these. It was followed by a number of others. On April 20. 1895, the shingle mill owned by the Mount Vernon Shingle and Lumber Company was destroyed with a loss of twenty-one thousand dollars, with an insurance of six thousand and eight hundred dol- lars. The loss of this mill was a heavy blow to the productive interests of the town. On August 12th of the same year the Pioneer shingle mill was wiped out, representing a loss above the insurance of about three thousand and five hundred dollars. Pursuing the fire history of the town to the present. we find that on April 2. 1898. there was a destruc- tive fire in the Cloud & Hufty block, from which the St. John block and adjoining buildings were also reached by the flames. There was a total loss in this fire of fifteen thousand seven hundred and fifty dollars, partially covered by insurance. On September 28, 1900, the old original town of Mount Vernon was entirely destroyed. The historic Clothier & English store, the Ruby house and the Mount Vernon house were the victims of this fire. It was attributed by the public either to drunken Indians or hoboes. Still again a visitation of what writers with lurid imaginations often refer to as the "fire fiend" destroyed a business block occu- pied by the New York Racket store. The Mount Vernon Mercantile Company's store and the Davis Hardware store on the opposite side of the street ignited before the fire engine had gotten into working order and caused a loss to its various occupants of nearly twenty thousand dollars, par- tially covered by insurance. Still again on Novem- ber 25, 1903, a fire raged in Mount Vernon, destroy- ing the Golden Rule department store, the Salva- tion Army barracks, and the second-hand store of J. L. Hayes. A high wind caused this to threaten the entire town, but the exercise of prompt and skilful work by the fire department checked the fire in the midst and saved the city from any large loss.

The first years of the new century have wit- nessed a steady and substantial. though not rapid gain on the part of the capital city of Skagit county. The vast timber and mineral resources of the county, as elsewhere narrated, have offered opportunities for both capitalists and laborers and Mount Vernon has received its full share of the influx of both classes. All lines of activity have met with substantial rewards and especially it may be noted that the public and social life of the city has steadily progressed. A more perfectly organ- ized Commercial club was inaugurated in Novem- ber of 1903. This took the place of the old Board of Trade and has been a success from its start. The officers chosen at its first regular meeting

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were : Colonel B. Huity, president ; Dr. F. B. West. vice-president : E. W. Ferris, secretary ; D. H. Moss, Jr., treasurer. The governing board consisted of Doctor Cassel, J. A. Munch, N. J. Moldstad, E. P. Barker and M. P. Hunt. This club now occupies a home in the business part of the city which contains reading room, library. card room, reception parlors, billiard room and bowling alley. This is one of the most influential organizations in the city of Mount Vernon.

The fraternities of Mount Vernon, of whose inception we gave a brief mention on an earlier page, have gone on increasing to the present day until there are now the following orders: The Mount Vernon lodge, No. 23. of the Odd Fellows ; Skagit Valley lodge of Odd Fellows. recently con- solidated with the former: the Mount Vernon Masonic lodge: the Skagit lodge. No. 18, of the Knights of Pythias; Lodge 21 of the Rathbone Sisters: the D. A. Russell Post, No. 35, of the IV. R. C .; Mount Baker lodge, No. 36, A. F. & A. M .: Mount Vernon chapter, No. 12. R. A. M .; Woodmen of the World. Mount Vernon camp. No. 374; Brotherhood of American Yeomen, Home- stead No. 298: Fraternal Order of Eagles, Moun- tain Aerie No. 261; Mount Vernon union of IV. C. T. U .; M. W. A., camp 6,307 ; A. O. U. W .. lodge No. 64 ; Order of Washington, Success union 136: Lodge of Rebekahs.

We gave earlier in this sketch a narration of the building of the pioncer churches of the city. Those were the Methodist, Baptist and Christian. Other churches have been added from time to time until the city is now well supplied with churches. These, with their pastors, are at the present time as follows: Episcopal, Rev. F. C. Eldred : Meth- odist, Rev. A. W. Brown: Baptist. Rev. Harry Ferguson: Catholic. Rev. Father M. J. Woods; Swedish Baptist, Rev. Andrew Swartz : Free Meth- odist. Rev. S. P. Westfield : United Presbyterian. Rev. G. E. Henderson : Christian, without settled pastor at present: Salvation Army. All of these churches have buildings except the Free Meth- odist.

We have made frequent reference to the news- papers of Mount Vernon. These at the present time are the Skagit News-Herald, issued each Monday, Ralph C. Hartson editor and manager : the Argus, issued Fridays by Frederick C. Ornes. publisher and editor : and the Puget Sound Post. a semi-weekly established in the fall of 1905. Charles A. Taylor editor. All are Republican.

From the vitally important aspect of its educa- tional developments Mount Vernon may well be a source of pride to its inhabitants. It has an excellent school building of the value of fourteen thousand dollars, and rents three buildings for the maintenance of the additional schools demanded by the rapidly growing population. There is an excellent high school under the management of

Professor G. A. Russell. This high school main- tains a regular four-year. up-to-date course, which entitles its pupils to admission to the best colleges in the state. The total number of pupils enrolled during the year closed was five hundred and fifty- four. In addition to the public schools there is an excellent business college, known as the Mount Vernon business college, under the management I of Professor F. S. Wolfe.

Of the six banks now in existence in Skagit county the only national bank is situated in Mount Vernon. This is the First National bank of Mount Vernon and it was established on March 3, 1891. being the successor of the Skagit River bank, started three years earlier by J. A. Cloud and Colonel B. Hufty. The officers of the bank at the present time are D. H. Moss, Jr., president : R. G. Hanna- ford, cashier. and W. S. Packard, assistant cashier. It gives one some conception of the substantial nature of business in Mount Vernon to learn that the deposits of this bank amounted to three hun- dred and twenty-three thousand two hundred and thirteen dollars in May, 1905.

As a matter of permanent interest we present herewith a summary of the business houses and industries of Mount Vernon at the present date, 1905. Mills: Siwash Shingle : Little Mountain Shingle Company (lumber also) : Cedardale Lum- ber Company (lumber only). (It may be said in connection with the Siwash Shingle mill that it is one of the largest in the state, cutting nearly two hundred thousand shingles per day.) Cement stone block factory. W. S. Anable; wood-working factory, Maris & Bowron; undertaking parlors, F. H. Stackpole : house movers. Kimble & Elkins ; wood yard. E. D. Kimble ; fish market, Lewis Hat- ter : musical instruments: Sam Berger: William Evans: abstract offices: Skagit County Abstract Company. F. G. Pickering, manager : Dale & Shea ; insurance and real estate: C. P. Whitney ; G. W. Marble; J. Haddock Smith: shoe repairing shop. L. Kempf ; harness and saddle store. John Neigh- barger : boat-building establishment, P. J. Pritch- ard ; bicycles and repairing stores: F. T. Schoon- over : L. L. Luce ; crockery store, William McAllis- ter : books, stationery and sundries: Postoffice Book store. G. E. Hartson. proprietor : Kimball & Son ; W. B. Ropes : paints, oils and wall paper. Hooper & Decker Company : bank, First National ; jewelry : J. Petzelberger: A. J. Schirrmann ; photographers : Stephens & Whitney: Mrs. L. R. Martin: W. F. Robertson : cigar factory, Mrs. Henry Lange : bot- tling works. William Harbert; livery stables : Frank Esser : The River Front. by Robert HI. John- son ; veterinary hospital. Dr. C. S. Phillips, D. V. S. : feed store and wharf. W. E. Harbert : blacksmiths : C. W. Crawford: J. W. Norton: W. F. Storie : machine shop and foundry. Walter McNicol: farm implements. W. F. Storie: gentlemen's furnishing store. F. E. Hunt: hardware: Davis Hardware

THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY

ASTOM, LENOX TILDEN FOUNDATIONS

LA CONNER, 1873 AND 1905

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CITIES AND TOWNS

Company; T. R. Hayton; shoes, Jacob Anderson ; Racket store, L. L. Cotton ; restaurants : Popular. J. S. Anderson; Olympia Café, Joinville; Louvre Café. W. T. Johnston ; Miller Café, Frank Monda- han; drug stores : Mount Vernon, J. A. Munch, proprietor ; the Owl, Union Drug Company, D. B. Hall, manager; pool and billiard room, W. H. Perry; lunch counter, Frank Bellaire; furniture and second-hand goods : D. F. Orcutt ; J. B. Laugh- lin: J. L. Hayes ; W. H. Wilgus; meat markets : Patterson. Parker & Company; West Brothers ; Joseph Quandt; groceries and bakeries: N. B. Johnson & Sons: P. J. Pedersen ; groceries: B. D. Moody; Mount Vernon Trading Union (co-opera- tive) : groceries and shelf hardware. E. Branch- flower : general merchandise : Golden Rule Depart- ment store : Mount Vernon Mercantile Company : F. H. Thorne; barber shops: James Kean; L. R. Martin : Bailey & Cook; confectioneries: A. B. Pierce: A. H. Montgomery : Mrs. M. S. Frizell : Larry Parkinson : Charles Anable: tailor shops : C. R. Rings : Karl Schoeffle : A. C. Malcolm : John Kendall : dry goods: N. J. Moldstad ; G. W. More- lan : transfer companies : Merchants': Mount Ver- non : express agency, George Lassley ; laundries : Skagit Steam Laundry; Lee Yan; Mount Vernon Electric Light Company, W. H. Franklin, man- ager : Mount Vernon Water and Power Company, Norman Hill, manager : Sunset Telephone and Tel- egraph Company, D. L. Savidge, manager ; Postal Telegraph Company. I. D. Miller, manager : Inde- pendent Farmers' Telephone Company, D. B. Hall. manager (this Independent Telephone Company is one of the most interesting and successful enter- prises in the county) ; boarding houses: Mrs. Etta Ford; Mrs. John Carfield; Mrs. F. S. Spooner : Mrs. Anna Nelson ; lodging houses: Mrs. Sophie Claussen : Mrs. N. E. Pickens: George Moran ; hotels : Miller hotel : Costello & Wood ; The Louvre, William Patterson : The Kimball, Mrs. C. D. Kim- ball : The Mount Vernon, George Sidney: Spring- brook Gardens, H. R. Hutchinson & Son ; Shetland Pony Farm, Fred Blumberg.

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An illustrated history of Skagit and Snohomish Counties; their people, their commerce and their resources, with an outline of the early history of the state of Washington, Part 41

Author: Inter-state Publishing Company (Chicago, Ill.) Publication date: 1906 Publisher: [Chicago] Interstate Publishing Company Number of Pages: 1172

Author: Inter-state Publishing Company (Chicago, Ill.)
Publication date: 1906
Publisher: [Chicago] Interstate Publishing Company
Number of Pages: 1172