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 45

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 45
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 45

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THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY

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SEDRO-WOOLLEY, WASHINGTON

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INDUSTRIAL FORCES INVADE THE PRIMEVAL FORESTS

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CITIES AND TOWNS

connection with the town. The First Bank of Sedro. Edwin C. Foltz, manager, and W. J. Thompson, of Tacoma, president, was also doing business in April, 1890. In 1890, also, David Batey and Joseph Hart organized the Sedro Saw and Planing Mill Com- pany and erected an extensive plant near the town. Later a shingle department was added. Unfor- tunately this important enterprise was destroyed by fire a few years later.

It will give the reader a clearer apprehension of the topography of this town to know that the old town of Sedro was located upon the river and that the old Fairhaven & Southern railroad. now aban- coned, passed directly to and through it. Sedro being the terminus. In 1890 the Fairhaven & Southern built a depot in Sedro between MeDonald and Cook avenues, a structure twenty-four by sixty feet, said to have been a better depot building than those at that time in Seattle and Tacoma, though if the truth be frankly admitted that was saying very little. After having existed about a year and a half in all the glory of a booming town and after attaining a popu- lation of about five hundred people. the old town relapsed into a condition which has been designated by an eminent statesman as one of "innocuous desuetude." This collapse seems to have been the result of the establishment of Kelly's town, lying northwesterly from the old town. The town of Woolley made its start at a point still further north- west. The Fairhaven & Southern railroad almost exactly bisected all three of these town sites, while the Seattle & Northern and the Seattle, Lake Shore & Eastern crossed each other, and also the Fairhaven & Southern, exactly in the center of Woolley.

A prominent factor in the development of Sedro and the adjoining community at that era was the Sedro Land & Improvement Company, incorporated in the summer of 1890, its chief members being W. S. Jameson, E. O. Graves. W. E. Bailey, George II. Ileilbron, Abraham Barker. J. B. Mexander. John Craig and C. B. Wood. It had during the summer of 1890 a hundred men engaged in clearing and grading the streets. This corporation attested their confidence in the community by shortly after- ward erecting three immense modern blocks in Kelly's town, which would rival the buildings of the present. The Hotel Sedro, costing probably six thousand dollars, occupied one corner, while opposite it stood the Pioneer block, providing quarters for the company, the bank, a drug store and the printing office, besides private offices. . \ little south on the same street the company built the Washington block, the home of Paulson ! Brothers' store, the postoffice and other business enterprises. The Pioneer was the largest of the buildings. They were all destroyed by fire during the middle nineties, their loss being mourned as a great disaster.

The first regular election in Sedro occurred on the Ith of March, 1891, and resulted in the election

of the following city officers: Mayor, George W. Hopp : councilmen. A. E. Holland. George Bros- sean. A. G. Mosier. Gus Pidde, A. A. Tozer : treas- urer, Edwin C. Foltz. The vote for incorporation was seventy-two: against, three.

An item of general interest in connection with Sedro is the fact that a vigorous effort was made to enter the town as a candidate in the county-seat contest of 1892. J. B. Alexander, Thomas Smith, H. L. Devine, W. V. Woolley and .A. B. Ernst con- stituted the committee in charge of the campaign. and it is stated that over thirty thousand dollars were raised to meet campaign expenses. When the election took place it was found that Sedro had polled over six hundred votes, taking third place, and being but little behind Anacortes and Mount Vernon.

In connection with this period in the history of Sedro it is also interesting to note the establishment of St. Elizabeth's hospital. the first institution of its kind in the county. Upon the decline of the old town, the Hotel Sedro was transformed into the institution above named and. considering the time. was a remarkably well-equipped one, well managed. Dr. M. B. Mattice was placed in charge with Dun- can Ferguson as nurse and Mrs. Huntley as matron. This hospital is still in existence and in a thriving condition.

But while all these developments were in progress in Sedro, a rival for the trade of the sur- rounding country had been springing up, one des- tined to handicap for a time the development of the pioneer town, but later to join with it in the out- working of a nobler destiny than either could hope to have achieved alone. This was Woolley. Prob- ably the first public mention of it was a reference in the Skagit County Logger of April 24, 1890. in which the paper stated that a new town was start- ing at the junction of the railroads, which would, presumably. be named Hilltown. However, its founder, Philip A. Woolley, says that his plans had been shaping themselves for months before that.

In September, 1889, shortly after coming to the sound. Mr. Woolley purchased from Ole Bozarth and George Nelson a timber claim which they in turn had purchased from Chris Olson, the tract consisting of forty-four acres. Of a man named Moore, he purchased forty more, all of which he platted June 3, 1890, as the town site of Woolley. There was no haphazard about this enterprise, for Mr. Woolley had become aware of the lines which the railroads would follow through the valley. In the fall of 1889, on the unplatted tract, he had already commenced the construction of a combina- tion saw and shingle mill with a capacity of forty thousand feet of lumber and two hundred thon- sand shingles a day. the first work being the cutting of ties for the Great Northern. The Fourth of July. 1890, witnessed a celebration at the mill yards which might be considered as the christening ceremony of

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the new town. On that day, in the presence of prob- ably forty people, a fir flag pole one hundred and four feet in height was raised, from the top of which a new flag, presented by Mr. Woolley, soon floated. At Sedro, that same day, the Fourth was celebrated by the trimming of a cedar tree to a height of two hundred and twenty-six feet as a flag pole. That accomplished, Old Glory, forty by sixteen feet in size, manufactured by the ladies of the community. was flung to the breeze amid the acclamations of the patriotic spectators.

Woolley postoffice was established about August 1. 1590, the mails at first being carried up from Sedro on the backs of Mr. Woolley's sons. The first street to take any regular shape was Northern avenue, opposite the proposed site of the union depot, but Metcalfe street, leading to Sedro, later became, as it is at the present time, the leading thoroughfare of the town. Next after Mr. Wool- ley's various buiklings, the first business structure was one of the omnipresent saloons, this one being erected by J. W. Peake in May, 1890. Soon after Douglass & Ormisby erected a drug store, and Doherty's meat market was opened. The first hotel in Woolley was known as the Keystone, built and managed by a man named Carr, and in 1891, Mr. Waldron, of Fairhaven, built the Osterman house, which received its name from the lessee who ran it for several years. In addition to Woolley's mill at Woolley, and Batey & Hart's mill on Batey slough, Davison & Millett, in 1890, opened a third near by the others.

The first city election in Woolley took place in 1891, upon its incorporation, and resulted in the election of the following officials : Mayor, William Murdock ; treasurer, William Doherty ; councilmen, Norris Ormsby. David Moore, George Gregory, Goosie ; clerk, Philip Woolley. This was a temporary election, however, and was followed in December by the regular one, which resulted as follows: Mayor, Philip A. Woolley ; clerk, Rev. Rouse ; treasurer. William Doherty ; council- men, Philip Woolley, William Cook, Norris Ormsby, Robertson.

One active agency in the concentration of busi- ness in the vicinity of Woolley, after the decline of the old town of Sedro, was the development on a large scale of the Bennett coal mines, six miles northeast, now known as the Cokedale property, which, together with the three saw-mills near the town and two additional ones a few miles away, created such a demand for labor that by the summer of 1891 there were probably not less than two thon- sand men engaged in work in the community. At the same time the establishment of trains on the three railroads centering there brought Woolley especially into very close connection with the out- side world, really a remarkable asset of such a young town. That social progress was being made rapidly is evidenced by the organization, May 24, 1891.

of Mount Baker Lodge, No. 13, Knights of Pythias, at Woolley, with forty-eight charter members. As officers there were elected: J. Y. Terry, past chan- cellor : W. T. Lucas, C. C .; A. F. Means, V. C .; 11. E. Dennis, prelate; W. T. Odlin, M. at A .; P. 1 .. Woolley. M. of F. ; D. E. Moore, M. of E. ; A. B. Ernst, K. of R. and S .; G. T. Gregory, O. G .; Andrew Wilson, I. G.

Woolley was visited by several disastrous fires in the carly part of its career, one of the first being May 26, 1891, and resulting in the total destruction of the Hotel Alexandria, at a loss of about $2,500. the insurance being $1,400. April 26, 1893, occurred a far more serious fire in which nearly the whole of the business part of the town was consumed, entailing a loss of nearly $20,000, only partly cov- ered by insurance. The fire started in some mysterious manner in the saloon of Joseph Mat- thews. The heaviest losers were Austin & Ruel, hotel building and contents, loss $5,000, insurance $1,300; Davison & Millett, loss $4,000, being the buildings occupied by J. W. Peake, Central meat market , Chamberlain Brothers and William Doherty, insurance, $2,800; F. A. Douglass, drug store and stock, loss $3,500, insurance $1,000 ; Ford & Hosch, saloon, $2,500, insurance $1,500; J. C. Ames, barber shop, loss $250; Ben Willard, res- taurant, $250, and many others, who suffered in a less degree.

These losses, combined with the general depres- sion which hung like a heavy nimbus cloud over the entire industrial world from 1893 to the close of 1896, effectually checked the rapid growth of both Sedro and Woolley. The rivalry between the two towns, which had existed from the inception of the latter, continued almost unabated during the years of industrial standstill, but as time went on it became apparent to the discerning that the best interests of both would be better conserved by mutual co-operation and a less active indulgence in the ignoble passion of jealousy. The folly of main- taining two municipal governments with two sets of officers must have impressed the citizens of both ; furthermore, it is said that a "Twin City Business league" was at work in the interests of the union and harmony. Toward the close of the nineties, after the financial clouds had moved away and the rays of the sun of prosperity were again lighting and warming towns and country, a definite move- ment was inaugurated for a formal joining of hands. One matter upon which it was hard to agree was that of a name for the new town. "What's in a name?" asks Shakespeare. "A rose by any other name would smell as sweet," but a change of name means loss of identity-oblivion-and it is a trait of human nature to war against that. The represen- tatives of either place were unwilling that their home town, for which they had struggled and planned should be nominally wiped off the map. Several votes were taken to decide whether the name

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should be Sedro, Woolley, Denver or something else, but those who were defeated in the elections refused to abide by the result. It was eventually agreed that the name should be a union of the two old names, as the town should be a union of the two old towns, and the postal authorities, though ex- ceedingly loath to permit the postoffice to bear a long, hyphenated name, finally acquisced in the interest of harmony.

December 6, 1898, a petition asking that steps be taken toward union was presented to the county commissioners and pronounced legal and acceptable. An election was then held to decide the matter, which resulted in favor of the union and incorpor- ation, so the two towns were duly incorporated by the commissioners December 19, 1898, under the name of Sedro-Woolley. The amount of land em- braced in the limits of the new town was 580.5 acres. The first officers elected to serve were: Mayor, Norris Ormsby ; treasurer, William Doherty ; councilmen, D. M. Donnelly, Henry Hosch, Charles Villeneuve, M. B. Mattice and F. A. Douglass.

Since the union the progress of Sedro-Woolley has been more than satisfactory, even beyond the hopes of its citizens. During 1901 new buildings were put up to the value of $10,000, while improve- ments to buildings amounted to $22,450. For the year ending March 1, 1903, $65,000 were spent in building improvements, exclusive of the cost of sidewalks, fences, etc. One of the most important improvements was an excellent water system, which was begun in 1902, and recently completed at a cost of about $25,000. The system includes eight miles of mains and has a capacity of not less than 250,000 gallons per day, which is several times more than is needed at present. The water is secured from the mountains lying on the opposite side of the Skagit, being piped across that broad river. An electric-light plant was also constructed at a cost of about $25,000, and twelve arc lights placed on the streets as a commencement. One of the most important industries established at this time was the iron works, which cost $10,000, and upon which $10.000 more have since been expended. Other recent industries worthy of special mention are the cement works of Smith & Munro and a brick- making plant, with a capacity of 35,000 bricks a day.

In accordance with American ideals, the school made its appearance in the towns of Sedro and Woolley simultaneously with the appearance of set- tlers. The pioneer school of Sedro was held in 1889, upon the segregation of the district, in the old home of William Woods, near the residence of Charles LeBallister, and was taught by William Bell. Mr. Bell's wife was formerly Edith Peck. A peculiar feature of this pioneer school-house was the use of both the lower and upper floors, when the sudden influx of population came, under one teacher, whose desk was placed on a platform arranged so that he could look after both floors at the same time.

Mrs. P. A. Woolley is entitled to the distinction of having taught the first school in Woolley, it occupy- ing the rear end of the commissary house belonging to the mill. This was in the summer of 1890. She had twenty-two pupils at one time, some of whom walked a distance of two miles through the heavy timber to enjoy the privileges offered. There was as vet no district incorporated and Mrs. Woolley generously contributed her services for the public good. A new term was opened in November, 1890, George Raymond being the teacher. The upper story of the cook house was used as the school room this time, and Mr. Woolley himself bore a large share of the expense of maintaining the school. In the spring of 1891 the district was formally organ- ized, the first board of directors being David Moore, George Gregory and Frank Douglass. Mr. Woolley erected a building for day school, Sunday-school and church purposes, but it was superseded soon as a school-house, although used for seven years for Sunday-school purposes, during all of which period Mrs. Woolley served as superintendent.

The present school system of the city is an excellent one, the teachers being among the best in the county. There are two buildings in the con- solidated district, valued with their contents at twenty-eight thousand three hundred dollars, and during the last school year there was an average enrollment of 497 pupils, of whom 228 were boys and 269 girls. The teachers were: Ira Gerdon, principal ; Mary Parcell, Edith Monoir, Sadie Hub- bell, Queenie Stair, Margaret Campion, Elsie Pet- turam, Clara Burkee, M. J. Hyde, Violet Bourgett, Leota Meredith ; and in the kindergarten, Alice Harrison. The high-school building is a handsome structure, situated nearly in the center of the city.

The city has four churches, the Presbyterian, of which Rev. George H. Haystead is pastor : Methodist, Rev. J. H. Carter, pastor : Baptist, with a non-resident pastor, and Catholic, Rev. Fr. George S. Vangoethen. Of these, among the first to be organized was the Presbyterian, the first services being held in 1889 in an old tent shack at old Sedro by Rev. George Raymond. The charter members were Mrs. George A. Brosseau, Mrs. Mortimer Cook, Dr. and Mrs. Gill and Mrs. Gillis, the first named of whom still resides at Sedro- Woolley. The First Presbyterian church was built near the hospital in 1892. There was another society of the same denomination in Woolley which held services at first in the rear end of P. A. Woolley's store. It was known as the House of Hope society and its charter members were: Mr. and Mrs. P. A. Woolley, Mr. and Mrs. Culp, Mr. and Mrs. Hegg. Miss Kate Woolley and W. A. Woolley. When the combination school and church building was erected by Mr. Woolley, services were held in it. In 189 these two societies merged and the old First church was removed to its present location and remodeled, the structure and furnishings now being worth at

SKAGIT COUNTY

least four thousand dollars. The Baptists were organized in 1891 with twelve or fifteen members by Rev. E. G. Wheeler, the traveling evangelist, and services were held for a long time in an old store. bought for the purpose. The first resident pastor was Rev. - Ronse. The Catholic church is of more recent date, being established only about three years ago.

However, the pioneer church society of the com- munity is the Methodist, organized in 1884 by Rev. W. B. McMillan at the home of David Batey. There were sixteen charter members. Immediately the Bateys gave the use of their old home for church purposes and for the Sunday-school, and that was used until 1886. The first service held in Sedro was held in that year at the home of Mortimer Cook by Rev. - - Dobbs of Whatcom. After being held successively at the VanFleet school-house and in the old Sedro hotel, services were at last trans- ferred to the society's own building, erected in 1892 in the First Addition to Sedro, where it still remains. The building is the best of its kind in the city, valued at approximately five thousand dollars.

There are two excellent newspapers in Sedro- Woolley, the Skagit County Times and the Skagit County Courier. the former published and edited by W. H. Pilcher, the latter owned by Foster & Totten, U. E. Foster being the editor. Both are well-equipped offices. The Courier has recently installed a typesetting machine.

The present city officers are : Mayor, C. E. Bing- ham : councilmen, 31. B. Mattice, C. C. Villeneuve. George Ratchford, W. W. Caskey, David Donnelly. F. R. Fowler, J. B. Holbrook; clerk, H. Hammer : city attorney, 1. H. Seabury ; treasurer, Q. P. Reno ; clay marshal, J. C. Munro : night watchman, Jasper Holman : street superintendent. H. H. Shrewsbury. The fire department is a good one, consisting of two companies, of which Jasper Holman is chief. It manifested great efficiency in the last serious fire which occurred on May 5, 1900, resulting in the burning of seven store buildings. It was only by the heroic efforts of the fire department that the bank building and several others were saved. The loss approximated seven thousand dollars, a portion of which was covered by insurance.

The fraternal orders are well represented in Sedro-Woolley by the F. & A. M. and O. E. S .: K. of P. with a uniform rank: 1. O. O. F. and encampment, D. of R .; A. O. U. W., D. of H., I M. W. A .. R. N. A., Eagles, Ancient Order of For- esters, Order of Pendo. Besides these there are several clubs: The Commercial; the Hoo-Hoo, as the lumberman's association is named ; the Shingle Weavers' union ; W. T. Sherman Post No. 41, and the W. R. C., and the women's societies, P. E. O. and W. C. T. U.

There are a number of large lumber and shingle mills in and near the city, among them being the Heininger's with a capacity of 150,000 shingles per

day; Burns' Shingle Company's. 90,000 per day; Green Shingle Company's two mills, 300,000; Clark & Lennon's, 150,000 ; D. J. Cain & Company's, 80,000; J. M. Hoyt's, 80,000; Sterling Mill Com- pany's. 150.000 ; Sedro Shingle Company's, 100,000; Grand Rapids Shingle Company's, 150,000, and the Childs Lumber Company's. There are also a num- ber of logging camps in the vicinity of the town.

The following is a list of the business men and establishments in the city at the present time : K. S. Paulson, general merchandise: George Wicker, blacksmith : W. J. Thompson, livery : J. W. Kyle, groceries : J. W. Nance, bicycles, guns, etc. ; J. W. Ilayson, jeweler; Third street market. C. Mc- Donald, proprietor ; home bakery, Mrs. W. H. Wal- lace: Charles Howe, manufacturing shoe dealer : Peoples' market, Paul Paluski, proprietor ; the Leader grocery, Earl Boynton, proprietor ; J. W. Peake, tailor : John Ross, confectionery and cigars ; Skagit Furniture Company, Ennis & Taylor ; Cres- cent bottling works, James Clark; Popular restau- rant. Fred Wack: First National bank. August Peterson, president, Fred Bentley, cashier, Henry Johnson, assistant cashier ; A. M. Devener, under- taker : Stark & Huffman, tailors: Sedro-Woolley Harness Company, L. S. Livermore, manager ; D. Dalton, confectionery and cigars; Skagit Realty Company, H. L. Devin and C. J. Wicker; Grand Rapids Shingle Company, John Munro, president and manager : P. Boynton & Son, general merchan- dise : Ames & Davis, barbers: Jacob Lederle, con- fectionery and cigars ; Joseph Lederle, shoemaker ; A. E. Holland, druggist ; C. E. Bingham & Com- pany, bankers, C. E. Bingham, president, Q. P. Reno, cashier. William West, assistant cashier ; Fritsch Brothers, hardware and furniture: Frye. Bruhn & Company, wholesale butchers ; C. M. Cole. bakery; R. K. Dunham. tailor and employment agency : Union Mercantile Company, general mer- chandise, Senator E. Hammer, president, F. A. Hegg, W. W. Caskey. A. W. Davison and J. C. Roe : Mott & Company, druggists, Paul Rhodius, manager : Caddington & McGowan, dry goods and clothing : Frank Benecke, newsdealer: Central barber shop. Sid. C. Hoover, proprietor : William Thomsen, cigar factory : Charles Nye, confectionery and cigars : Mrs. F. Herron, millinery ; P. C. Adams, gents' furnishings ; A. D. Bauer, shoes and repair- ing : Sedro-Woolley Tea Company. P. C. Philips. proprietor ; M. Levy, gents' furnishings ; E. Reno, bicycles and sporting goods : Osterman hotel, Hugo Batman, proprietor : J. W. Sadler, paints and wall paper : C. J. Cramer, jeweler: Harris Condy, jewelry: Todd's meat market. William Todd, prop- rictor : W. B. Pigg, confectionery and cigars : Orian Hightower. confectionery and cigars : Morris Schneider, dry goods and clothing: Howard & Reynolds, general merchandise: F. A. Douglass, druggist : Pressentin Hardware Company, O. K. Pressentin, manager: Sedro-Woolley Transfer

CITIES AND TOWNS

Company, J. B. Holbrook and Norris Ormsby : Frank J. Hoehn, livery ; Ratchford & MeCabe. blacksmith ; Skagit Improvement Company, electric lights and water, William Morgan, president : Sedro-Woolley Iron Works, foundry and machine shop, F. R. Faller, president, Clay Gould, secretary ; Cory Shingle Company, Philip Cory, president ; Forest House hotel, Mrs. J. Hubbell : Pioneer lodg- ing house. Henry Hosch, proprietor; Vendome hotel. Frank Bergeron, proprietor; K. W. Rings, tailor shop: R. McKay, barber shop: Skagit Com- mission Company, hay, grain and feed. John Gould, proprietor : Keystone hotel, Charles Hill, proprietor ; Gray's Harbor lodging house, Mrs. A. A. Chapman, proprietor : Sedro-Woolley creamery, Robert E. Reid, manager : Sedro Ice and Cold Storage Com- pany. Dave Donnelly, manager ; Sedro-Woolley Bottling works, A. C. Kick, manager ; D. R. Kinsey. photographer : Mrs. Hastings, photographer ; steam laundry, Ed. Burns, proprietor ; attorneys : Gable & Seabury, Wilbra Colman. William Perry ; Morrow Credit Company. T. J. Morrow: president ; dentist. J. S. Baldridge; M. B. Mattice, M. D .; C. C. Har- baugh, M. D .: C. M. Frazer, M. D .: B. F. Brooks. M. D. : dray line, C. Ingham ; Shrewsbury Lumber Company, H. H. Shrewsbury, manager.

From the foregoing general review of the busi- ness establishments of Sedro-Woolley, it will be seen that the town has all the staple lines well rep- resented and has not a little manufacturing. with the stimulus to commercial prosperity which a pay roll always gives. The railroad connecting it with Rock- port makes it the natural outlet for the rich up-river country with its wealth of timber and agricultural products and whatever the future may win from the coal and iron deposits there. A goodly share of the prosperity which flows from the development of Skagit valley's great natural resources will always come to Sedro-Woolley, giving it permanence and the sinews of growth. The rapidity with which it has grown in recent years is seen from the fact that in 1900 it had eight hundred and eighty-five inhabitants and on July 1, 1904. according to a reliable census, two thousand one hundred and

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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 45

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