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 65

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 65
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 65

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 railroad, anticipated in 1881. became an accomplished fact in 1888. Throughout the whole of the latter year the main topic of interest was the doings of the right of way clearers, the graders, the bridge builders and the track layers. The long expected first train crossed the bridge near town at 9:30 in the morning of September 15th, the memor- able event being witnessed by a large, enthusiastic and joyous crowd. In commemoration of the occa- sion the Eye published the following verses from the pen of its agricultural editor, George W. Head :

"At the sound of the whistle of cars on the bridge Men, women and children did run,

Each sereaming aloud at the top of his voice. The Lake Shore and Eastern is done.

"A town that for years has been counted as dead To new business and life will soon come,

We all can have wealth to go where we please Now the Lake Shore and Eastern is done.

"Our moss covered mayor can live at his ease, Hle can wear a plug hat and drink rum.

And advance fifty dollars the price of each lot Now the Lake Shore and Eastern has come.

"Old bummers and drones can take a back seat And give way to new blood that will come. They've all had their day and their goose will be cooked, When the Lake Shore and Eastern is done.

"New sidewalks and bridges the village will have And all business will go with a hum.

From village to city our growth will be quick, Now the Lake Shore and Eastern has come.

"We surely will build a new court-house and jail And we'll take care of tramps if they come;

It will furnish some work for the marshal, you see. When the Lake Shore and Eastern is done."

Citizens of Snohomish were rejoicing at this time in the railroad blessings that had already come to them, and they were also looking for the early completion of the road to Vancouver. B. C., and for the branching off of the trans-Cascade division at their town, which would make Snohomish the con- necting point of two great highways of travel. During this, important year, the town incorporated. and inaugurated extensive improvements, among them a system of water works. A national bank was established; the finest hotel north of Seattle was built ; an electric light company was organized ; also a fire department and a building and loan association. A shingle mill with a capacity of about forty thousand commenced operations, and another, to have a capacity of fifty thou- sand was in course of construction, while the old mill was so enlarged and improved as to double its capacity. In proportion to size. more building was done than in any other town in western Washington, the building improve- ments aggregating one hundred and twenty-five thousand dollars, and the railroad improvements two hundred and twenty-five thousand dollars.

By 1889 Snohomish boasted of three general merchandise stores, four groceries, four hardware and tin stores, three dry goods, two fruit and con- fectionery, two book and stationery, two jewelry, three furniture, two pharmacies, five meat markets. five hotels, one crockery and glassware store. three livery and sale stables, a fruit and fish stand, five restaurants, two harness shops, one machine and wagon shop, four blacksmith shops, three churches. a fourteen thousand dollar brand new school- house, an opera house. Odd Fellows' and Masonic halls, a photograph gallery, three saw-mills, two shingle mills, two sash and door factories, two brick yards, an abundant supply of water for domestic and protective purposes, belonging to the Snoho- mish Water Company : and electric lights, furnished

331

SNOHOMISH COUNTY

by the Snohomish Electric Light, Power & Gas Company.

Manufacturing activity was great. Blackman Brothers' plant, recently improved and extended, with a capacity of one hundred thousand feet of lumber, one hundred and twenty-five thousand shingles, one hundred doors and as many window frames, was busy continuously. The same was true of Dow & Stevens' mill, capacity thirty thousand to forty thousand, of Morgan Brothers' factory, of the Snohomish Manufacturing Company's capacious plant, of J. B. Nolls' and I. N. Mud- gett & Sons' shingle mill, of Pearsall's steam brick manufactory, which had a capacity of thirty-five thousand brick a day and of E. Bast's yard, capacity six to eight thousand brick. The num- ber of men engaged in manufacturing and as skilled laborers throughout the town ex- ceeded two hundred; many more were engaged in teaming, freighting and the like, while five hun- (red men, most of whom claimed Snohomish as their home, were at work in the woods in regions tributary to the town, to say nothing of those employed in clearing land, developing the agricul- tural resources of the surrounding country, etc.

The era of rapid development, which came with the certainty that railroad building was about to begin, continued throughout the whole of 1890, though the spring of that year was somewhat quieter than usual, especially for transient men, and those whose affairs were not established on a sub- stantial basis. The influence of the Port Gardner real estate excitement was distinctly felt. As was natural, country property to westward of Snoho- mish, between that and the expected ocean port, soared skyward in price. Great quantities of farm land, improved and unimproved, were bonded, and sales at prices ranging from one hundred to two hundred dollars an acre were frequent. At the same time, men were asking themselves what would be the effect upon Snohomish of the building of a large city so near, and as none could foresee clearly, an element of uncertainty existed.

But while the halting conservatives may have been troubled with fears and forebodings, the gen- eral opinion was that the amount of business done in Snohomish would not be greatly lessened by the new city, though its character must needs be changed radically. Progress was the slogan of the surrounding country, and the progressive citizens of Snohomish could not lag behind. As the year advanced, they threw whatever apprehension of evil any of them may have had to the winds and joined heartily in the progressive movement. Early in the summer, the Robinson-Cyphers block was completed, and a correspondent of the Seattle Post- Intelligencer, writing in July, stated that excava- tions were then completed and the brick was on the ground for the Burns block, which was to be a two- story building with a basement, and to cost seven

thousand five hundred dollars. The same writer tells us that a great many expensive residences were either in process of erection or just turned over by the contractors.

A special edition of the Snohomish Sun furnishes a list of buildings erected in Snohomish in 1890 with the estimated value of each, from which it appears. that more than two hundred and twenty thousand dollars were thus invested in a single twelvemonth. The list includes the county court-house, which cost thirty thousand dollars.

The law under which Snohomish was incorpo- rated as a village in 1888 having been declared null and void in the spring of 1890, the town was for a time without municipal government of any kind, but eventually it was reorganized under the new law as a city of the third class. The temporary officers. were as follows: Mayor, H. Blackman ; council- men, James Burton, W. M. Snyder, Lot Wilbur, D. W. Craddock, H. D. Morgan; city clerk, J. V. Bowen ; city attorney, F. M. Headlee ; city treasurer,. Charles L. Lawry ; marshal, William Brown; city engineer, George James: health officer, Dr. S. B. Limerick ; street commissioner, A. Van Buren ; city assessor, E. K. Crosby. They took up with energy the work of general improvement of the city. It is stated that contracts for street grading, planking, sidewalk building, etc., to the amount of eighty thousand dollars were at once let. They also greatly improved the fire protection of the city by the in- stallation of a new fire engine and other fire fighting apparatus.

Great was the activity in and around Snohomish at this time in the development of manufacturing industries. Blackman Brothers were erecting a mill fifty by three hundred feet with two wings each fifty by one hundred feet in place of the plant destroyed by fire the preceding September. At Cathcart, four miles south of Snohomish, a shingle mill and steam saw-mill were put in operation, while within the limits of the town the water power saw-mill and factory of Morgan Brothers and the Snohomish Manufacturing Company were in full blast, turning out lumber, sash and doors, blinds, mouldings and all kinds of house furnishing materials. Many other enterprises were contemplated at this time, among them a steam pulp mill. Manufacturing improve- ments in and around Snohomish in 1890 were enum- erated as follows : Snohomish Manufacturing Company, $14,000; Snohomish Lumber Company, $25,000 ; Electric Light improvement, $20,000 ; Cath- cart's saw-mill at Cathcart, $25,000; Cathcart's shingle mill at Cathcart, $5,000 ; Pearsall's brick and tile works, $10,000; work on Blackman Brothers" mill, $15,000 ; Dubuque's saw-mill, $15.000; Missi- mer & Illman's mill. $5,000; E. D. Smith's mill at Lowell, $10,000; total $144,000. It was expected that Blackman Brothers' plant, when completed, would cost nearly $300,000. It consisted of a saw- mill, lath mill, sash and door factory, machine shop,

335

CITIES AND TOWNS

turning lathe and dry kiln. Power was to be fur- nished by three mammoth engines, and the mills were to have a capacity of one hundred thousand feet of lumber and one hundred and twenty-five thousand shingles per diem.

The year 1891 brought some rather serious dis- asters to Snohomish. About midnight on the 9th of June, the existence of fire in Blackman Brothers' mill, in South Snohomish, was announced by a chorus of blasts from factory whistles, and a sleep- ing populace was awakened to the fact that the plant in which the towns-people had such just cause for pride was falling a victim to the great destroyer. Little could be done to stay the fury of the flames and soon nothing was left of the once splendid plant but broken and heat-warped machinery, charred embers, ashes and the tall smoke stack, standing like a lone sentinel in the midst of the desolation. The loss was estimated at from one hun- dred thousand to one hundred and ten thousand dol- lars, not covered by insurance and some that fell upon the insurance companies. The owners of the mill had been burned out about a year and a half before, at a loss of nearly one hundred thousand dollars, hence this disaster was especially discourag- ing to them, but it bore heavily also upon the town, which had been deriving not a little benefit from the money distributed by this large enterprise. While inferior in size to some other plants on the sound, this mill took rank among the most com- pletely equipped and conveniently arranged.

The mill was in charge of a watchman who claimed to have gone over the entire premises on a tour of inspection about five minutes before twelve. Finding everything all right he went to his midnight lunch, to which he had hardly sat down, when he heard the alarm. Rushing out to ascertain the cause, he saw flames issuing from the engine room, and on more minute examination he found it to be all ablaze. The origin of the fire is unknown.

The 19th of August the peaceful little city was again startled by the dread alarm bell. The fire this time was found to be in a frame building owned by Rufus E. Patterson and occupied in front by Kistler & Company, a grocery firm. and by the bakery of B. Zonstein in the rear. The assertion has been made that ten persons were asleep in the second story of the building at the time and that these effected their escape with difficulty by jump- ing from the second story window to the awning and descending thence to the ground by ladder.

The firemen reached the scene with due alacrity, but experienced much difficulty in finding a hydrant to which they could attach their hose. At last con- nection was obtained two blocks away, but the pres- sure was not sufficient to force water through such a length of hose, and not until the entire pressure from the main could be brought to bear on the hydrant, did the firemen succeed in obtaining a stream to play on the flames.

Meanwhile the dread scourge was getting in its work most effectually. The entire block was de- stroyed as was also an adjoining dwelling, occupied by F. Imo, who, however, succeeded in saving most of his household goods. The loss was estimated at six thousand dollars, distributed as follows: Mr. Patterson, $3,000, insured for $2,000; Kistler & Company, $2,000, insurance $1,500 and B. Zonstein, $1,000.

The city government in 1891 was in the hands of E. C. Ferguson, mayor ; James Pearl, I. Cathcart, C. H. Bakeman, W. H. Ward, U. Stinson and H. Spurrell, councilmen; T. E. Marks, city clerk; J. A. Coleman, city attorney ; Charles L. Lawry, city treasurer ; William Brown, marshal ; H. C. Comegys. city assessor ; Dr. S. B. Limerick, health officer and John Swett, street commissioner. Unfortunately a somewhat serious official quarrel developed before these gentlemen had been long at the helm. The city council brought charges against Marshal Brown, accusing him of dishonesty and peculation, and although they subsequently became convinced that they could not convict him and withdrew the charges, yet they dismissed him from his office. The case was taken into the court and the marshal reinstated, whereupon the council again arraigned him, gave him a trial before their own body, found him guilty and again dismissed him. It seems that Brown did not care to appeal this time, but he declined to turn over the properties of his office until his bondsmen were released. Thereupon, safe breaking experts were sent for, and one day about the 1st of October, two gunsmiths arrived from Seattle, having come for the purpose of opening the safe in which these properties were kept. This they did, in the presence of Cleveland and three others, two of them officers. As the two gunsmiths were about to return next morning, they were arrested and taken into Justice Griffith's court, where they waived examination and gave bonds in the sum of three hundred dollars each to appear before the superior court. Brown claimed that the safe was the prop- erty of the county and was simply loaned to him by the commissioners for use during his term of office.

One of the great achievements of 1891 and the following year was the establishment of the city water system. Before this time water had been supplied in a rather unsatisfactory manner by a private company. At a meeting held June 20, 1891, the council decided to construct a municipal system and the matter was a live issue until late in 1892, when the water works were completed. They con- sisted of two double action pumps with an aggre- gate capacity of two hundred thousand gallons per diem; a reservoir of five hundred thousand gallons capacity, miles of mains and laterals ; a large num- ber of hydrants, well distributed, etc.

Although there was no real boom in Snohomish during the latter eighties and the early nineties, building activity was great and the increase in pop-

336

SNOHOMISH COUNTY

ulation rapid. The Tribune of September 22. 1892, tells us that many unfinished buildings were then in course of construction in the city and many more in contemplation, among the former being the Dorrance Academy, which was located on Avenue -1 .. between First and Second streets. The claimed population of the town in 1888 was eight hundred. in 1890 it was one thousand nine hundred and ninety-five, and no doubt the same ratio of increase was almost if not altogether maintained during the ensuing two years.

Such being the condition, the financial depres- sion of 1893 might be expected to come as a special shock to Snohomish. It did give the speed of the car of progress a rather sudden check, but the re- action was not so pronounced as one would expect. The Tribune tells us that considerable building was still going on in various parts of Snohomish in July, 1893, and that times, though quiet, were far better than in many other localities. It is a signifi- cant fact that not one of the Snohomish banks was even shaken by the financial storm of 1893, while all the business houses managed to weather the gale.

But the year did not pass without bringing to Snohomish its share of disaster. On the last day of January, the fire alarm warned the people that something was wrong, and it soon became generally known that the Great Northern saloon, on the corner of First street and Avenue A, was on fire. The cause of the conflagration is a matter upon which reports differ, but the one that seemed plausible was that the dead and dry remains of fir boughs, which had once served to adorn the ceiling of the room, caught from the stove pipe, causing the entire interior to become enveloped in a flash. There must, from some cause, have been undue delay in turning in the alarm, for though the firemen responded with alacrity, the building was all ablaze inside and out, when they arrived. Further delay in beginning the struggle with the destroyer was caused by the fact that the nearest hydrant was frozen up. By the time connection was secured with one a block away, Kirk's furniture store had caught and was being rapidly consumed, but soon two streams were play- ing upon the flames, and presently a third began its work, the frozen hydrant near the fire having been thawed out by placing a barrel over it and building a fire inside. For some reason it was impossible to get a heavy flow of water and for a while appear- ances were that the entire row of buildings on that side of the street would be wiped out of existence. Finally the engine, whose pumps were frozen up, was gotten into action and from that time on the fortunes of the battle belonged to the firemen, who brought the carcer of the flames to an abrupt end.

The saloon was entirely destroyed as was also a small barber shop, while Kirk's establishment was damaged to the extent of fifteen hundred or two thousand dollars. This loss was covered by insur- ance, but Mr. Kirk himself suffered a loss of about

two thousand dollars in stock and household goods destroyed or damaged by fire and water. The loss of the Great Northern saloon was fully covered by insurance.

Again in the fall the consuming elements went on the rampage in Snohomish, destroying, early in the morning of September 16th, the Bakeman block and Rice & Gardner's meat market. The efforts of the fire department were prompt, efficient and well directed but the location of the fire was such that it was almost impossible to get water to the hottest point.

"The flames," says the Tribune. "rolled out under Rice & Gardner's building and the fish market until the west and south sides of these two buildings were a mass of flames. Chief Allen kept his men hard at work and it was thought for a while that all of the buildings would be partially saved, but the fire had burned so long in the top basement that the south side wall was burned through and after giving a few cracks and lurches that warned the firemen to get out of the way, the tall structure toppled over toward Gittlesohn Brothers' clothing store, carry- ing the little fish market, Rice & Gardner's store and Lang's fruit stand with it. The whole thing landed at the bottom of the gulch. The firemen kept pouring water on the burning ruins until ten o'clock this morning, when the last of the fire was extin- guished.

"When the fire was discovered, the smoke was so thick in the building that nothing could be gotten out and the loss is consequently very heavy. Out of Bakeman & Company's immense stock of furniture, it is very doubtful if one hundred dollars' worth of goods are left. Their stock filled the two large basements and the first floor, while the second floor was occupied by Headlee & Headlee, lawyers ; Dr. J. L. McCain, dentist ; Dr. Thomas Keefe, physician : 1 .. II. Coon, city attorney and W. T. Elwell, city clerk.'

Little was saved by any one of these gentlemen, but fortunately Mr. Elwell succeeded in finding most of the city record books, though somewhat scorched and water-soaked. The losses were substantially as follows: C. H. Bakeman & Company, building, $8.000, insurance. $4,000; C. H. Bakeman & Com- pany, stock, $9,500, insurance, $4,500 ; Rice & Gard- ner, building and stock, $2,400, insurance, $1,000; W. T. Elwell, $250; Headlee & Headlec, $1,000; Dr. Keefe, $2,000; Dr. McCain, $1,000; L. H. Coon, $1,000.

This fire was undoubtedly of incendiary origin, for the smell of burning kerosene could be distinctly noticed by those who first arrived. though none was kept or used in the building, and it was observed that the first flame was of a blue color. About nine weeks previous, fire had been discovered in the same part of the same building, at about the same hour of the morning, indicating that some fiend was de-

photo.a & D: Hort

11 31

Puget Sound Academya Spadewish

DENTIST

HARDWAR

Snohamichiến's

SNOHOMISHI, WASHINGTON

THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY

ASTOR, LENOX TILDEN FOUNDATIONS

339

CITIES AND TOWNS

termined upon its destruction for his own malicious purposes.

"When sorrows come, they come not single spies, but in battalions." The same seems to be trne of misfortunes generally. Two weeks had not passed, before Snohomish was again roused by the ery of fire, Norbett Barrett's wholesale liquor store this time being the spot where the destroying demon began the attack. The fire company had trouble in getting ready for defense, some one having tam- pered with the cocks on the engine, and before effec- tive resistance could be offered, King's grocery store was ablaze. But this time the victory was on the side of the fire fighters, with their five batteries of water and the fire was confined to the two build- ings, neither of which was a total loss, although the liquor house was nearly so. Barrett's loss in goods destroyed was heavy and King's grocery was badly water-soaked. Both these men carried insurance, as did also F. Blackman, who owned the building occupied by Barrett.

The financial depression, which wrought such widespread stagnation in industrial circles through- out the United States in 1894, was not so potent for evil in Snohomish as in many other towns of the sound. Its business failures during the twelve- month numbered only two, and one of the bankrupt firms was able to resume operations almost immed- iately. Its banks, which stood the crash of 1893, were in an excellent condition. There was consid- erable industrial activity in and around the town throughout the whole of the year and not a little street grading and other municipal improvement was undertaken. The Tribune tells us that during 1894 the following amounts of lumber were cut by the Snohomish lumbermen, namely, William Hulbert, 6,000,000 feet; Cyphers & Stinson, 4,000,000 fect : E. H. Elwell, 1,000,000 ; William McGee, 3,000,000 ; Arthur McShane, 1,500,000; Butler & Meredith, 300,000 ; Geirin & Pearl, 3,000,000; Solberg. 1,500,- 000; McDonald Brothers, 1,000.000 ; Mosher & Mc- Donald, 1,200,000 ; Frank Witherell, 600,000. "Our mills," says the same paper, "converted much of this into shingles and lumber, while the remainder found a market elsewhere. Buck & Sons shipped 26,000,- 000 shingles and the Standard Mill Company, prior to the fire in July, cut 10,000,000 shingles and 2,260,000 feet of lumber, while Mudgett Brothers cut 16,000,000 shingles and J. F. Webber & Com- pany, 14,000,000."

The fire in July, referred to, was that which resulted in the entire destruction of the Standard mill, a splendid lumber and shingle producing plant belonging to Logget Brothers & Evans, of Seattle. When, during the afternoon of the 19th. the fire began its operations, the mill was as dry as tinder, and the flames spread so rapidly that the men at work in the mill had to flee for their lives, many of them without their coats and liats. It is supposed that the fire originated under the fire box, as the

flames, when first seen, were near the engine. The mill was beyond saving when the fire alarm was rung, but the department did efficient work in pre- venting the flames from spreading. The loss in buildings, machinery and lumber amounted to about sixty-five thousand dollars. Only thirteen days previous, the dry kiln of the same plant had taken fire and the building and the shingles and cedar lumber stored therein had been greatly damaged.

This was the only important fire in 1894, except that in Young & Tennant's store in October, which greatly damaged the building and destroyed over two thousand dollars worth of goods.

Early in 1895 a somewhat important point for many of the citizens of Snohomish was scored in the district court of the county, when Judge Denny sustained the demurrer of the defendants in the suit of the Haskell heirs vs. Elwell, Ford and Clay. The question at issue was one that had received con- siderable attention in the county for five or six years, the title of the holders to a large amount of real estate, including the Clay farm, adjoining Snohomish and Clay's addition to the town, being in jeopardy. The contention of the plaintiffs was that they were owners of a half interest in all this property, inasmuch as their mother, at the time of her death, was the possessor of an undivided half interest, which Mr. Haskell had no power to convey. The defense called attention to the fact that in 1878, the year of Mrs. Haskell's demise, the law of the territory was that a wife's community property passed at her death to her husband ; that the law by which her children could inherit from her did not come into force until the following year. The contention of the defendants was sustained by the court to the great relief of the many citizens who had purchased portions of this property and built homes upon it. The total value at issue was nearly fifty thousand dollars.

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

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 65

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