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 44

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 44
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 44

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

The great question just at that time seems to have been whether or not the Northern Pacific would build into Anacortes. A meeting was held on April 11, 1890, in the office of D. A. Mckenzie & Company, which seems to have been the first defi- nite move toward securing a subsidy to induce the Northern Pacific to build into the town and locate terminal buildings. The company proposed to carry out these plans if they could have a subsidy of five

hundred acres of land. The Progress of August 14, 1890, quoting from the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, states that the Northern Pacific had concluded a contract for the acquisition of the Seattle & Northern, and through the Seattle, Lake Shore & Eastern, which crossed the Seattle & Northern at Woolley, the Northern Pacific trains could at once enter Anacortes, and this established its position as the lower sound terminus of the Northern Pacific railroad. The Northern Pacific dock, depot and freight house were completed on the last day of October at a cost of about twenty-five thousand dollars. On November 25th the official consum- mation of making Anacortes a terminus of the Northern Pacific railroad was celebrated by a great excursion from Portland and points upon the upper sound. It is worthy of notice that the railroad company accomplished this work thirty-five days ahead of the time stipulated in the land subsidy donation of five hundred acres. Elijah Smith is quoted as saying at that time: "By this deal Ana- cortes at last becomes the sound terminus of the Northern Pacific. Anacortes was selected as the terminus by Jay Cooke and Engineer J. Milner Roberts, but the plans were defeated by Cooke's failure. Afterward, under the ascendency of Mr. Villard, the plan was again endorsed by General Thielson, but defeated by the Tacoma land syndi- cate element in the Northern Pacific management."

It is a matter worthy of preservation that an order was issued, dated Portland, Oregon, April 23, 1891, signed jointly by A. S. Dunham, president of the Seattle, Lake Shore & Eastern, and J. M. Hannaford, general manager of the Northern Pacific, providing that all transcontinental business destined for Anacortes should be subject to the same rates and regulations as that for Seattle and Ta- coma. This order might perhaps be considered the formal recognition of Anacortes as a terminal point.

While this vitally important work of securing transcontinental connections was in progress of con- summation, an electric railway was in progress from Anacortes to Fidalgo City. The articles of incor- poration for the Anacortes and Fidalgo City Elec- tric Railway were filed in June, 1890, providing for a capital stock of two hundred and fifty thousand dollars, and having the following officers: P'resi- dent, Joshua Pierce : vice-president. H. S. Colver ; secretary, C. B. Holman ; treasurer, Julius S. Potter. The company secured a land subsidy from interested property owners on condition that they should com- plete the road by January 1. 1891. There were some delays in securing rails, but nevertheless the work was completed and the first car run from Anacortes to Fidalgo City on March 29, 1891. The total expenditure for this road was two hundred thousand dollars, and the total length of road about thirteen miles. Although thus built under such favorable auspices, the reaction following the boom

THE NEW TOTY

YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY

ASTOR, LENOX ILYEN FOUNDATIONS

Fish Canning Plant Anacortes.

FISH CANNING PLANT, ANACORTES

Anacortes High School

HIGH SCHOOL BUILDING, ANACORTES

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so affected business that the road was abandoned as soon as the land subsidy had been safely secured. Another ambitious local line was projected by a company of which T. B. Childs was president. Frank W. Spear vice-president, C. R. Donnell sec- retary and Amos Bowman treasurer. This was to be known as the Anacortes Skagit motor line and was to include three lines north, east and south from Bayview and ultimately to reach La Conner. This project, however, never materialized.

While the work of railroad construction was thus absorbing a great part of the attention of the people at Anacortes, they were by no means indif- ferent to the fact that their steamboat connections were even more important. The Progress of March 15. 1890, gives an interesting item in respect to the arrival of the great ocean steamer, Umatilla, under Captain Holmes. The steamer arrived on March 11th and. being the first ocean steamship that had landed at the Anacortes wharf, about a thousand people were present to greet her. This event was looked upon as a great triumph for the reason that some jealous rivals had represented that large ships could not enter the bay. The regular sound steamers at that time making landings at Anacortes were the Idaho, Hassalo and Sehome, of the Union Pacific system ; the State of Washington, Fairhaven and Skagit Chief, of the Pacific Navigation Com- pany, and the Washington and Eliza Anderson, of the Puget sound and Alaska route.

With the rapid growth of Anacortes came the important question of municipal incorporation. The first steps in this direction were taken February 8. 1890, when a mass meeting was held to consider the advisability of incorporating. J. L. Romer was elected president and J. B. Fithian secretary of the meeting. A unanimous resolution was adopted in favor of immediate incorporation. In November a petition was prepared by E. G. Caldwell and W. E. Jones, which was signed by a large number of residents and presented to the county commissioners. The corporate limits as proposed in this petition included all that part of Fidalgo island north of the southern line of section 22. township 35 north. range 1 cast, extending from Burrow's bay cast to Padilla bay. The commissioners accepted this petition and the first city election was held Jannary 28. 1891. The total vote cast was 555 and resulted in the election of the following officers: Mayor, George F. Kyle ; councilmen, W. W. Bailey, Ben- jamin Goodwin, Thomas A. Long, Cicero C. Park- man, Rienzi E. Whitney and F. V. Hogan ; treas- urer, Austin Lathrop: assessor, Henry C. Howard : health officer, Dr. R. Armstrong. There were 353 votes in favor of incorporation and 39 against.

Anacortes did not become a city, however, with- out some difficulty. In February an injunction against incorporation was filed by Elijah Smith. the chief grounds being lack of legal procedure. This injunction was granted by Judge Hanford, and con-

sequently entirely new proceedings were necessary. They resulted in final success.

May 21st another election was held. The results of this election were as follows: Mayor, F. V. Hogan ; councilmen, W. W. Bailey, R. E. Whit- ney, A. P. Sharpstein, John Semar, T. H. Ander- son, W. H. Johnson ; treasurer, John Platt ; assessor, W. G. Beard; health officer, J. M. Mettler; city clerk, Paul W. Law; attorney, Wiley E. Jones : marshal, Richard Trafton ; chief of police, W. V. Wells; engineer, J. C. Otis ; street commissioner, John McCracken. Another injunction was averted only by all the candidates for councilmen signing an agreement not to tax that portion of the city west of sections 23 and 26 for five years. A grand, though rather impromptu display and celebration was held on May 28th in commemoration of the successful incorporation of the city. Several of the newly elected officers inaugurated their term in a brilliant manner by making speeches.

A very important organization established about this time was the chamber of commerce, the first meeting of which was held on June 11, 1890. The capital stock of the organization was twenty- five thousand dollars. The men who signed them- selves as incorporators and trustees at this mcet- ing were R. E. Whitney, E. II. Morrison, H. M. Benedict, J. M. Platt. A. Bowman and .A. Taylor. Captain F. V. Hogan and J. L. Romer added their names a few days later. The officers elected were : President. F. V. Hogan; vice-president, R. E. Whitney : secretary, B. Goodwin; treasurer, John M. Platt.

The school facilities of Anacortes were at first naturally somewhat limited. The first school build- ing was erected in the summer of 1883, the money being raised by a special tax. This school became known as the Nelson school, and is still in use. On March 10, 1890, as the number of children had become vastly increased, a school was organized under Mrs. S. F. Griffith. The finest school build- ing in the city is the high school building, known as the Columbian school, which was built in 1891 at a cost of something over sixty thousand dollars. It is a fine three-story building with a basement. dimensions one hundred and five by one hundred and twenty-six feet. The school board consisted of Noah Nelson. H. C. Hutton and C. R. Donnell. with W. J. Hagadorn clerk. More recently a third school-house has been added, known as the Robert- son school, erected four years ago. There are four teachers in the high school at the present time, Fred D). Cartwright being the superintendent, seven in the Columbian school, two in the Nelson school and one in the Robertson school.

There were two newspapers in operation during the boom times, the Progress and the American, the latter of which is still a potent factor in the life of the community. The former was a daily owned by Amos Bowman and was the successor of his

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former paper, the Northwest Enterprise. The Progress was established in 1890, and the American also appeared that year, its first issue coming out on May 15th. The proprietors were Douglass Allmond and Fred 11. Boynton.

The two banks of Anacortes did a rushing busi- ness during 1891 and 1892. The first one was the private bank of John M. Platt, the pioneer banker of the city. On the 4th of September, 1891, this bank was organized as a state bank, with a capital of fifty thousand dollars, under the name of Bank of Anacortes. J. M. Platt was appointed president and manager ; F. A. Ilill, vice-president, and Il. I .. Merritt, cashier. The First National bank of Anacortes was organized in November, 1890, with a paid up capital of fifty thousand dollars. The officers were: President, Fred Ward; cashier, H. E. Perrin ; assistant cashier, V. J. Knapp. The directors were Fred Ward, Henry J. White. Geo. F. Kyle, E. L. Shannon and H. E. Perrin. During the hard times of 1893 and following both these banks failed, the Bank of Anacortes first, with practically a total loss.

The great boom broke almost as suddenly as it had begun. Times were very quiet in the latter part of 1891, and the following year the town was sus- tained chiefly by a fight for the county seat. This fight has been described at greater length else- where. In 1893 the hard times struck Anacortes with full force and many were the ruined fortunes and hopeless failures scattered along the shores of Fidalgo bay. Business was completely paralyzed and the spark of life left in Anacortes was feeble indeed. However, a spark did remain, which was fanned by a few devoted souls who had confidence in the future of the place. Its excellent harbor and manufacturing facilities were such that a re- vival of a more substantial nature was almost certain.

In the late nineties a number of fish canneries were established at Anacortes, the Fidalgo, Bell Irving owner and Frank Lord manager, being the pioneer institution. These were followed a little later by saw-mills and shingle mills. These enter- prises stimulated others and gradually Anacortes again entered upon the road to substantial pros- perity. In 1900 the population was given as one thousand four hundred and seventy-six. At the present time it is about four thousand. A great part of the recovery and recent developments are due to the energetic and faithful work of the Com- mercial club, whose present officers are : President, W. T. Odlin; secretary, C. W. Brandon ; assistant secretary, Lee E. Dodge ; treasurer, R. J. Petersen ; executive committee, R. Lee Bradley, H. H. Soule, Charles Templer. The city's two codfish plants are yearly curing and shipping one-half the Bering sea codfish used in the United States. Anacortes has nine large fisheries, six salmon canneries, two

codfish plants and one cold storage plant. The salmon canneries consist of the Alaska Packers Association, with a capacity of 100,000 cases yearly ; the Fidalgo Island Packing Company, the pioneer in this line, with a capacity of 100,000 cases yearly ; the Northern Fisheries Company with a capacity of 100,000 cases yearly ; the Apex Canning Company with a capacity of 25,000 cases yearly ; the White Crest Canning Company with a capacity of 30,000 cases yearly, and the Porter Fish Company with a capacity of 15,000 cases yearly. The Pacific Cold Storage is of large capacity and ships every year many thousands of pounds of fresh salmon which are put in mild cure and prepared for the German market. There are seven shingle mills which cut 1,200,000 shingles daily ; three large box factories and three saw-mills, one with a capacity of 115,000 feet daily, another with a capacity of 100,000 feet daily and a third with a capacity of 50,000 feet daily. Two of the box factories are among the largest on the coast and the third is of average size. The city has one planing mill of modern capacity, also a fine creamery, a fruit cannery and cider vinegar factory.

Anacortes has two banks, the Citizens' bank, established in 1899 by W. T. Odlin & Company, the present managers and owners, and the Bank of Commerce, established in June, 1904, by Messrs. E. S. Martin and W. G. Smith, with a capital of twenty-five thousand dollars. The officers of this bank are: President, J. H. Mason ; vice-president, John Ball; cashier, E. S. Martin ; assistant cashier, IV. F. Coulson.

Two wharves, that of the Pacific Coast Steam- ship Company, the pioneer and largest one, and that erected in recent years by Melville Curtis, one of the city's prominent pioneer business men, handle the bulk of the shipping. Thousands of sacks of oats from the flats, scores of cargoes of fish, boxes, coal and general merchandise pass over these docks annually, the business increasing by Icaps and bounds in recent years.

Of the present efficiently organized city govern- ment, W. T. Odlin is the head, serving his second term as mayor. The city owns an excellent city hall, constructed of brick and two stories high, which also houses a fire equipment.

There are five churches in Anacortes, the Pil- grim Congregational, Rev. Horace J. Taylor, pastor ; Westminster Presbyterian, Rev. W. A. Stevenson, Ph. D., pastor ; Christ Church. Episco- palian, Rev. R. H. Barnes; St. Mary's, Catholic, Rev. Father Le Roux ; First Methodist Episcopal, Rev. W. S. Hanlein. There is also a Christian Science society. The first of these to be established was the Pilgrim Congregational church, which was incorporated in November, 1887, by M. Louise Taylor, Horace J. Taylor, Jemima Hagadorn, George Hagadorn and Carrie M. White. The West-

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minster Presbyterian church society built a church building in 1891. Amos Bowman donated two lots for this purpose fronting on Fifth and Sixth streets. The Methodist church was also built about the same time.

The various fraternal lodges are well repre- sented at Anacortes. The first to come into existence was that of the Good Templars, who were organized on April 13, 1890, by Grand Chief Templar Bushell. On January 23, 1891, the Masonic lodge was organ- ized and Island Lodge No. 74, Knights of Pythias, was instituted May 15th, of the same year.

The full list of lodges in active operation at Anacortes at the present time, is as follows: I. O. O. F., Anacortes Lodge, No. 94; Rebekah Lodge, Mt. Erie, No. 85; W. O. W., Tyee camp, No. 453, A. O. U. W., Anacortes Lodge, No. 18; F. O. E., Anacortes aerie, No. 249; K. of P., Island Lodge, No. 44; F. and A. M., Fidalgo Lodge, No. 1; I. O. F., Anacortes Lodge, No. 1143; D. of II., Anacortes Lodge, No. 19; K. O. T. M., Fidalgo Tent, No. 96; L. O. T. M., Anacortes Lodge, No. 29; W. C. T. U .; M. W. A., Anacortes Lodge, No. 9635; G. A. R., General Emory post, No. 6%: W. R. C., Martha Washington Circle, No. 6; I. L. M. and T. A., Local, No. 522 ; A. O. of F., Court Ana- cortes, No. 9000; I. O. G. T., Anacortes Lodge, No. 5.

Anacortes is supplied with a water system, which was inaugurated by the Oregon Improvement Com- pany in 1891. In 1901 the people being dissatisfied with their water supply, met and subscribed fifteen thousand dollars for the purpose of purchasing the water works and vesting the control of it in a citizens' committee. Under the operation of this committee, it was in the following year brought under the control of the present company, of which the officers are Douglass Allmond, president ; P. E. Nelson, vice-president, E. P. Barker, secretary, and Gus Hensler, treasurer. The same company con- trols the electric light system.

Anacortes has an active and efficient volunteer fire service, the organization of which dates back to 1890. For a city that has had the remarkable ups and downs of Anacortes, there is little to record in the way of disaster of fire and flood. The most notable of the fires occurred in 1891 and 1902. The first of these, on December ?5th of 1891, resulted in the destruction of Bowman's hotel and the Bayside building. That of 1902 was on August 11th and resulted in the destruction of an entire block of business houses on the west side of Commercial avenue between Second and Third streets. Nothing but the horoic work of the volunteer firemen saved the entire business part of the city from destruction. Fortunately the buildings destroyed, with their con- tents, were quite fully covered by insurance, so the local loss was relatively small, being only about six thousand dollars.

SEDRO-WOOLLEY

In no town in Skagit county is there a more pleasing appearance of thrift than in Sedro-Woolley, a town of clean, gravelly streets, pleasant, home-like and handsome residences, a progressive populace, energetic business men, magnificent scenic environs and much tributary wealth. The visitor who now surveys the town and surroundings and looks upon the distant scene can hardly realize that had he visited the place a few years earlier his view would have been cut off by the stately conifers only a few rods distant from the center of the town (a forest primeval except for the logging roads radiating from the village) and that stumps everywhere would have told of a time, not far in the past, when the small town site itself was a forest-the home of the deer, the bear and the cougar; at times, perhaps, the scene for a night of the nomadic Indian's camp. No boomer's art has wrought the change. It has come speedily, to be sure, but in response to the demands of progressive industry, a result of acquis- itiveness seeking its legitimate satisfaction, the out- growth of natural wealth, appropriated in a natural wav.

Though the Sedro-Woolley of to-day is a town of comparatively recent growth, it is after all not far from three decades since the first settlement was made upon its site and about two since the insti- tution of its first place of business. In August, 1878, David Batey and Joseph Hart began hewing out homes in that part of the Skagit valley jungle ; a month later these pioncers of civilization were joined by William Dunlop, and before the close of the year William Woods had added himself to the community's population. .A little later came Mr. Batey's family. Mr. Batey's wife, Dr. Georgiana Batey, has the distinction of being the pioneer phy- sician in the region and one of the first in the county. The existence of these few home-builders was at first very precarious, and the clash with the opposing interests of the lumbermen was constant.

The pioneer town buikdler did not arrive until 1884. This was Mortimer Cook, a somewhat eccen- tric man, but possessed of no little ability to win success in the commercial and industrial world. In 1885 he opened a general store in the first build- ing erected in what later became known as Sedro, of which structure David Batey has the distinction of having been the builder. It faced on what was afterward known as Water street. At the same time Cook purchased forty acres of land upon which the town was later platted, buying it from W. Scott Jameson, the Port Gamble mill owner, who had "scripped" it some time before. Mr. Cook's great ambition was to bestow upon the new town a name such as no other town in America should have, and if such could be found he cared little whether or not it was euphonions or elegant. He eventually concluded to name the place "Bug," and even went

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so far as to direct that goods shipped from Seattle be consigned to that address. Mr. Bater painted the name on a sign which was then hung on the end of the building at the boat landing. One settler wished the town named "Charlotte," it is said, and went so far as to have a sign with that name painted in Seattle. About this time some one suggested that the syllable "hum" would probably be affixed Is outsiders in jest ; furthermore, Mrs. Cook and other ladies interested strennously objected to the undignified name, and the founder of the town was prevailed upon to accept the name Sedro, a corrup- tion of the Spanish word for cedar. Mrs. Batey is said to have discovered the name in an old Spanish dictionary she had and to have suggested it. Certain it is that the name is not only cuphonious but very apt, as innumerable cedars of magnificent form grew originally on and around the site. Its peculiar spelling was adopted to satisfy Mr. Cook's insistent desire for umiqueness.

On January 1, 1886, a postoffice was established at Sedro with Mr. Cook as postmaster, and in the fall of the same year he built a large shingle mill on the bank of the river ; the first in the county and, it is claimed, the first on the sound to ship shingles East. The mill was a ten-block with one hand machine and would have produced, if operated ac- cording to present methods, not far from two hun- dred thousand shingles daily, but owing to the inex- perience of the crew not more than eighty thousand were cut. A wharf was built on the river about simultaneously with the mill. The next business house to be established at Sedro was the store of Smith Brothers on Jameson avenue, at that time. 1889. a mere clearing in the timber. The same spring the Sedro Drug Company, of which A. E. Holland was manager, put up a drug store. Thus was inception given to the town.

The years 1889-90 were lively ones at Sedro. the effects of the general boom being felt there as well as elsewhere on Puget sound. Three rail- roads were in process of construction, the Fairhaven & Southern. upon which trains were running into Sedro by Christmas, 1889 : the Seattle, Lake Shore & Eastern, now the Northern Pacific. and the Seattle & Northern, now a part of the Great Northern system. All of these roads crossed in the vicinity of Sedro. Naturally a great impetus to business enterprises of various kinds was imparted by this railroad activity.

One of the first things to be done in an ambitious and progressive town is to plat plenty of land into streets, alleys and lots, and this was done at Sedro with a vengeance. The original town site company was anticipated in its designs by Norman R. Kelly, who owned the land adjoining Cook's town site on the north. The county archives show that Kelly filed, April 29. 1889, a plat of the town of Sedro. and the following January platted the first addition. The plat of old Sedro was filed for record October

11. 1889, by the Fairhaven Land Company, of which Nelson Bennett was the head. This company had made an arrangement by which it should take Cook's forty acres, eighty acres from William Woods and a like amount of William Dunlop's homestead. plat the whole into town lots, exploit the town, divide the proceeds of its sales with the original land owners, and at the end of eighteen months divide the property remaining unsold. Notwithstanding the fact that Kelly's plat was the first filed, his part of the town was usually referred to as "Kelly's plat of the town of Sedro," or sometimes as Kelly- ville, while the Fairhaven company's portion was for a time at least considered the town proper. There were, of course, a number of additions to the town as originally platted.

A large number of business enterprises were started at this time, especially during the summer of 1889, including many saloons and dance halls. Before the completion of the railroads most of the humber for building purposes was brought down the river from Lyman and Birdsview. The Sedro Press, in its first issue, that of April 18, 1890, gives, through its advertising columns, an incomplete sum- mary of the business establishments of the town, which is of permanent interest. In the general merchandise business were mentioned Mortimer Cook and the Sedro Mercantile Company, of which latter K. S. and O. S. Paulson were proprietors. The real estate business was represented by Hugh Harrod. F. S. Crosby & Company, Thomas Smith, Fairhaven Land Company, managed by Joseph M. Blain : Devin & Mosier, and A. E. Holland. The Sedro dray line was under the proprietorship of Martin Gillespie. Thomas Smith was the only lawyer mentioned. There was no dearth of hotels, however. The Sedro, first of all in time, built in February, 1890, and managed by McDonald & Rees : the Seattle, by Sigmund Clein : the Delmonico, bv Mrs. Martha Layden, and the Bank Exchange hotel, by Mrs. Mary E. Frederichs, were all bidding for business, and moreover the Fairhaven Land Com- pany was at that time building a new hotel. The dressed meat business was represented by Robert Crossman. There were two painting establishments, A. W. Rounds and J. C. Haynes proprietors respec- tively ; the hardware business was represented by Waltz & Bell, while Woods & Company kept a furniture store. There were four restaurants listed. managed respectively by Smith & Barr. - Carr, Wallace Andrews and J. A. Vernon ; also the lodg- ing house of Henry Waterman. A. G. Mosier and H. S. Devin. in addition to their real estate busi- ness, conducted an engineering and surveying busi- ness. P. H. Smith & Brothers had opened their store and were also engaged in railroad contracting. Flagg & Tozer advertised as druggists. A Sedro ferry company. organized by Joseph M. Blain and A. E. Holland. is mentioned as having done good service by bringing the lake country into closer

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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 44

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