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(Seattle & Northern 1890)

Skagit River Journal

of History & Folklore
Free Home Page Stories & Photos
The most in-depth, comprehensive site about the Skagit
Covers from British Columbia to Puget Sound. Counties covered: Skagit, Whatcom, Island, San Juan, Snohomish & BC. An evolving history dedicated to committing random acts of historical kindness
Noel V. Bourasaw, editor (bullet) 810 Central Ave., Sedro-Woolley, Washington, 98284
Home of the Tarheel Stomp (bullet) Mortimer Cook slept here & named the town Bug
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Most Recently Posted Features,
Free Home Page, August 2006

(North side of State-1)
      Read the new story about the Opera House and Moose Lodge in Sedro-Woolley. This photo from Dale and Marilyn Thompson shows the north side of the 200 block of State Street in Sedro-Woolley during a Loggerodeo parade sometime in the 1950s. To get your bearings, imagine that the old J.C. Penney/present Bus Jungquist furniture building is to the left. The woodframe building with the tall, vertical panes of glass is the Pressentin Plumbing shop. Then there is a wooden doorway to the right, between the Pressentin building and the Opera House/Moose Hall, which has the brick front and a sign hanging out front, "Radio Repair." To the right, or east, would be the Huggins Auto Parts shop and then the Sedro-Woolley Laundry, which you may recall had a very tall smokestack. Can any of you remember the exact date that the laundry and buildings around it burned, circa 1965? We hope that by posting these photos, a reader will recall details about all these buildings and specifically the old Opera House, which was apparently raised in 1972. See three more photos below. Unfortunately, these are the only views of the Opera House building and we hope that a reader will scans with a better view of it.

(D.C. Linsley)
D.C. Linsley
New features posted most recently
      In addition, at this site you will find the nuts-and-bolts stories of pioneer life, including homesteading, exploration and many more subjects.
      And here you will find a list of all the stories still linked from our old domain.
  • Sam Strom, the young Count of Monte Cristo, Norwegian immigrant of 1893. And links to his memoir from his early days at the mines in the North Cascades, from 1889 on.
  • Read about the history of Utopia district and the Joseph Mathews farm from the eyes of his daughter, still alive. Now owned by the Smiths, this Civil War veteran built the house in 1906. The editor's childhood home. Shared from the Subscribers Edition.
    Due to continued popular demand, in the interest of furthering our "open source" policy, we are assembling a collection of CDs that will include MS Word files of our pioneer profiles and town profiles from years 1-5, so that you can print them individually at your convenience. They will be organized by region: Sedro-Woolley & surrounding area; Upper Skagit River from Utopia to Cascades; western Skagit County. Inquire for details today via email or see our site about the planned CDs offering and you will qualify for a pre-publication discount
  • Backus Ranger Station at Marblemount, the portal to the Mount Baker and Cascades mountain districts. Along with information about the Bacon creek and Texas Pond substations and the work of the CCC in building many camps in the Cascades from 1933-38. Shared from our Subscribers-paid Journal magazine online archives.
  • Mollie Dowdle tells the story of little Gar Green learning the facts of life as midwife Mrs. Tingley races to deliver a Pioneer Baby. Shared from our Subscribers-paid Journal magazine online archives.
  • Gar Green, Hamilton/Birdsview pioneer, his family, and his friends, Mollie and Wallie Dowdle, with correspondence from some of his relatives.
  • Charles M. Dwelley, country weekly newspaper editor. We present for the first time full biographies of the editor of the Concrete Herald for 30 years, his grandfather, Joseph F. Dwelley, who was a pioneer of the Skagit Valley in 1870; and his father, Charles L. Dwelley, pioneer resident of Anacortes. Cheri Cook-Blodgett and Dan Royal, who both put in a lot of work, preserving the history of Concrete, remind us that that Chuck's 1980 classic book, So They Called the Town Concrete is still available in reprint for $15 at the Concrete Heritage Museum, Albert's Red Apple Grocery in Concrete, or by mail order from the Concrete Museum web page. Read our review of the book here and also our Recommended Books Section.
  • For a thorough review of the North Cascades Mines, we strongly suggest the new book, Discovering Washington's Historic Mines, Volume 3: The Northern Cascade Mountains. See this Journal review.
  • Eldridge Morse's first tour of the Skagit river settlements from his The Northern Star newspaper in Snohomish, in the April 29, 1876 issue. & a subsequent tour from the April 9, 1877 issue, noting the growth of Skagit City, settlement on the north fork of the Skagit and how Mount Vernon was born that year, early LaConner and Fir Island and northern Snohomish County and Hatt's Slough. Links also to our exclusive biography of this great man.
  • Mount Vernon Log Jams Part One. Introduction to the famous Mount Vernon log jams and transcription of eye-witness articles about the work to remove them, dating from the 1870s. Includes the diary of Otto Klement, who arrived in the Skagit Valley in 1873. And Part Two — newspaper issues of Eldridge Morse's Northern Star (Snohomish City) that pegs exactly when work on the log jams near Mount Vernon began and when it was completed; and issues of the Washington Standard newspaper in Olympia from the 1870s that detail the work on the jams. Includes a short history of the Standard and the first newspapers in Washington Territory and Olympia, from 1853 on.
  • R.I.P. Bert Webber, Sedro-Woolley photographer and later a prolific publisher of history books.
  • Sedro-Woolley's Opera House, the Bowery Square and the building that became the Moose Club, fully updated from our recent newspaper research.
  • We have totally updated on June 24, 2006, our Old-Timey Pioneer songs and Big-Band standards from radio days, pre-TV, including Big Rock Candy Mountain, Man of Constant Sorrows, Didn't Leave Nobody But the Baby, and Once upon a time. With annotations and research about the songs and the movie, O Brother, Where Art Thou that revived many of them while creating allusions to Homer's Odysseus.
  • All new logging and Mills section. We are updating eight stories about early logging and mills, from 1876 logging to the Dolbeer steam donkey. Newest completely updated story: the Goodyear -Nelson mill. Coming next month: the Willis, Rogers and Pearson mill of Sedro-Woolley.
  • We have revived our long-awaited What's new in Sedro-Woolley section with stories on the new After Hours Cafe (including a photo and details of the original Liberty Cafe); the closing of Glenn Allen Jewelers after 65 years; the outdoor nursery that rose on the site of the historic Palace Tavern; and the totally remodeled Lederle/Penney building. We plan similar sections about other Skagit towns. Can you provide suggestions and ideas?
  • A collection of biographers of pioneer women, including Lewis Kirkby, 1888 Sedro pioneer, and writing by Joanna Stratton, Lavinia Gates Chapman and Lilla Day Monroe. Shared from Subscribers-paid Edition archives.
  • Some of our favorite history books and suggestions for further reading.
  • Readers' favorites of Skagit County humor features: Hogtied! Good ole boys in 1882 Lyman — devil rum, hijinks and cooking a pig . . . Frank Wilkeson — Two hobos of old Bug/Sedro, from the Dec. 14, 1890, New York Times
  • Introduction portal to the Goodell family, which had a marked impact on all of Washington Territory from the year it was formed in 1853, with special emphasis on Lewis, Thurston, Skagit and Whatcom counties. Capsule profiles of the major characters of the family and their biographers, especially Phoebe Goodell Judson, the mother of Lynden, and Edward Goodell, namesake of Goodell's Landing, founded in 1879 near future Newhalem during the gold rush.
Continue below for more recent photo features
or Return to home page and all the portal links

Calendar
 More new stories
sorted by area
 Meet with the editor
 Our book
plans
 Find Journal stories
offline/Speaking engagements

Calendar
(bullet) Noon Aug. 19, Downtown Concrete, A plaque to Concrete Herald publisher Chuck Dwelley will be dedicated and some of Dwelley's descendants will attend the celebration.
(bullet) Sept. 9-10, Founders Days, Sedro-Woolley downtown and Museum, celebrated second weekend of September annually (bullet) Sedro-Woolley Farmers Market began a week early this year — on Wednesday, May 24, and this year it will be staged downtown at the Hammer Heritage Square downtown park at Ferry and Metcalf every Wednesday through October from 3-7 p.m.
(bullet) The Journal research project was featured in the Skagit Valley Herald May 21. See the story
(bullet) Valley Annual Historical Exhibit, Big Lake School Gymnasium, Aug. 12, 10-5, Aug. 13, 1-5 . . . Photos, documents and Big Lake Fire Truck on display . . . Walking tours of old Biglake Mill Town: Sat. 11 a.m., 1 and 3 p.m . . . .Sun. 2 & 4 p.m. . . . Pot luck picnic follows at 5 p.m. Sunday. Phone for details. R.I.P. Big Lake pioneers, Josephine Hoffman and Fred Meyer
(bullet) We are pleased to announce that the new Hammer Heritage Square sign was installed on July 3 at the downtown park. It is made of bronze and weighs several hundred pounds, and cost $13,000, according to Mark Christ, architect.

Thanks and acknowledgments:
    Thank you very much to Dr. Jesse Kennedy and Dr. Linda Newman-Kennedy, Ron Tingley, the late Reno Odlin, Dan and Maureen Royal, and Larry and Josef Kunzler for contributing computer items to the Journal. You made our Christmas very merry. And special thanks to Berniece Hoyt Leaf, who inspired us to launch this project long ago and has been our most ardent supporter. Meanwhile, our two old, tired monitors are getting sick. If you are trading up and would like to find a home for your old equipment, please let us know.
    The Territorial Daughters of Washington may have its last meeting in 2005, for lack of members. We want to help them decide to stay active by building attendance for future meetings. Would you like to know how you can qualify as a member descendant? Email us or see stories in this Portal Section about Frontier women.
    June Burn, one of the finest Northwest writers, circa 1940s. (In photo at right) See the Newest Stories section on the main home page for her biography, her book, Living High and her 1930s columns about the 1858 Fraser River gold rush
(June Burn)

New stories, page 2, continued

Sedro-Woolley
 Towns nearby
Sedro-Woolley
 Upriver
 West
county
 Nearby counties
Statewide WA
Return to home page and links to all the portals
Sedro-Woolley features:
  • Harry Devin, master real estate salesman of old Sedro, Klondike miner, Indian blood brother, best hunter in the Northwest, weatherman and historian & your basic Renaissance man. Updated with new photos and much more research. Another update coming in August, about how Mark Chatt and family have turned the ugly-duckling Devin house, circa 2000, into one of the most beautiful restored homes in Sedro-Woolley and the county. Also see the transcripts of his diary and his famous in-laws, the Mosiers, and their homesteads together in Snohomish County in the 1880s and their pioneer work with Mount Rainier.
  • Two-chapter profile of P.A. Woolley and his family and his company town. The link now works, so that you can read part two, about how his Woolley town was born, how Metcalf Street was named, Dr. Harbaugh's marriage into the family, how the family moved their business to Savannah, Georgia, and much more.
  • The extended family of the Hammers, Greens and Parkers, whom the new Hammer Heritage Square downtown park in Sedro-Woolley honors. George Green was one of the most famous Indian Scouts of Kansas and founded a town there before his sons-in-law, Emerson Hammer and David J. Parker, made quite an impact on Skagit county in Burlington, Sedro-Woolley, Clear Lake and Skiyou. Grandson George Hammer founded the Oliver Hammer Clothes Shop and great-grandson Wyman Hammer donated two lots for the Square.
  • Odds and Ends about Sedro-Woolley No. 1 Our new section with a dozen short stories, including: Skagit County's Washington Governor Henry McBride and the wild and woolly 1884 election . . . Margaret Hammer, Cinderella Girl . . . Eagles hosts national meeting 1925 . . . Burlington Highway (now Hwy 20) paved 1939 . . . South Skagit Road begins 1939 . . . Shirley Temple visits 1938 . . . Last passenger train 1940 . . . 1st Tarheel Picnic 1939 . . . and many more. You may have read the articles about Jack Abramoff and his alleged crimes while employed by the Preston Gates law firm of Seattle. Did you know that the firm dates from 1890 and that McBride staffed the Skagit County office of the original Preston firm then years before he became governor? There is history behind current affairs and the headlines.
  • Part Two, Odds and Ends short stories about historic businesses and buildings in Sedro-Woolley Link has been repaired, after 1937, including: Will T. West & Bingham Bank . . . Johnson's Radio & Appliance . . . Devener's Lumber, Massar Lumber, Undertaker . . . Mt. Baker Hardware . . . Affleck Brothers Anacortes — Mt. Vernon Stage Co . . . .McClintock's Drugs . . . Ed Bigelow butcher, bowling alley and Mr. Eagles Aerie . . . Mel Stone DeLuxe Barber Shop . . . George Hammer's store garden . . . Royce Crossman and Bob Mahaffie butchers and Tradewell Market . . . Jac Running grocery and Sousa band . . . Income Taxes
  • Part One, Odds and Ends short stories about historic businesses and buildings in Sedro-Woolley, up to 1937, including: George W. White, variety store and obit . . . Gampp's confectionery . . . Livermore Ford Garage . . . Stop & Shop grocery . . . LaRoche photography; Green Globe confectionery . . . Binghm Park service station . . . Ludwick-Wuest first radios . . . Candy stores . . . Brossard eggs and chicks . . . Piggly-Wiggly and Fuzzy-Wuzzy grocery . . . Dream Theater . . . Donnelly Motors and Cheese Factory . . .
  • Part Two, Odds and Ends short stories about historic businesses and buildings in Sedro-Woolley, after 1937, including: Will T. West & Bingham Bank . . . Johnson's Radio & Appliance . . . Devener's Lumber, Massar Lumber, Undertaker . . . Mt. Baker Hardware . . . Affleck Brothers Anacortes — Mt. Vernon Stage Co . . . .McClintock's Drugs . . . Ed Bigelow butcher, bowling alley and Mr. Eagles Aerie . . . Mel Stone DeLuxe Barber Shop . . . George Hammer's store garden . . . Royce Crossman and Bob Mahaffie butchers and Tradewell Market . . . Jac Running grocery and Sousa band . . . Income Taxes
  • Part Three, Odds and Ends short stories about historic businesses and buildings in Sedro-Woolley, after 1946, including: Central Grocery . . . Cascade Cafe . . . Ponschock tailor Linstrom & Jebens . . . Rogers-Romer Union Oil . . . Coffland Motors, Kaiser-Frazier autos . . . Palace Tavern and Jim Gray . . . Lee Tresner upholstery . . . George Shelton's ice-cream shop . . . Ted Jackson's service station . . . Ilo Sande Jewelry . . . Byham Cabinets . . . Skagit River Motor Lines . . . Pete & Bob's cafe
  • The J.J. Conner family moved West from Tarheel country in the Great Smoky Mountains area of North Carolina and Tennessee in the early 1900s. Read family memories plus a gold mine of Tarheel names in a book about the area back there.
  • Did you know that Skagit Steel nearly moved away from Sedro-Woolley in 1953? Read Part One of the story of how local businessmen insured that the company would stay and expand.
  • Can you even imagine losing the use of both arms and a leg in childhood and growing up to be a violinist and avid deer hunter. Read how Sedro-Woolley violinist Floyd Maxwell bagged his fifth deer. And read our transcription of two pages from the Dec. 1, 1949, issue of the Courier-Times, which includes photos and details of the severe flood, and especially how it affected old Sedro, the Nookachamps and Hamilton; plus history of the Wildcat Steelhead Club, the first Great Northern passenger in 17 years; plus several more stories.
  • Dollar Way in Sedro-Woolley, the first paved highway in the county, which Stone & Webster built as a demonstration project to earn the right of way for the Interurban.
  • The original Oliver Hammer Clothes Shop business and building, founded in 1921.
  • For first-time readers, we suggest that you read our introduction and overview, From Bug to the Bughouse. This story was the nucleus of our site in 2000. Other basic files: 1953 Skagit County history.
Go to this Portal Section to find all Sedro-Woolley stories
Towns near by Sedro-Woolley
Go to this Portal Section to find all Nearby Sedro-Woolley stories
Upper Skagit River to the Cascades
(Alger cabin)
We have dated Marblemount's Log Cabin Inn (above) back to 1889. Read the documentation in the profile about pioneer Andrew Jackson Jackman, namesake of Jackman Creek. Shared from Subscribers-paid Edition archives.
Go to this Portal Section to find
all Upper Skagit River stories
West county
  • The late Chuck Easton, legendary bookstore owner, Mount Vernon
  • The Bow General Store, only original business building still stands and will stand longer. Photos of the town that time almost forgot, and the story of the Bow History Project."
  • Anacortes Historic Photos from the files of author Paul Dorpat; publisher Wallie Funk, the old Puget Sound Mail newspaper and other collectors. And details of the Funk photo exhibit at the Anacortes Museum, shown from April 2006 to 2008.
Go to this Portal Section to find all Western Skagit County stories
(West of Sterling all the way to Puget Sound from Whatcom County line to Snohomish County line)
Washington statewide and national, and miscellaneous
  • A review of Jill Livingston's book, That Ribbon of Highway III, Highway 99 which follows the history of the road from its beginning in the Teen years of the 20th Century, through its designation as US99 in 1926 and its long life until the mid-1960s when most of it was replaced by Freeway I-5 from the Mexican Border to Vancouver. She also profiles Sam Hill — son-in-law of Great Northern magnate James J. Hill. Sam Hill launched the Good Roads Association in 1899 and that inspired similar groups in states and localities all over the West Coast.
  • A newspaper article from 1900 urging readers to desert William Jennings Bryan and vote for William McKinley. Frank Wilkeson and other Sedro-Woolley, Skagit County and Washington state business leaders endorse McKinley.
  • Our first excerpt from Theodore Winthrop's important 1863 book, Canoe and Saddle, about his 11-day tour of Washington territory in 1853. This excerpt profiles the controversial Klallam Indian chief who preferred then to be addressed as the Duke of York, and we provide some research about how he matured to become Port Townsend's revered friend, Chetzemoka, and nobody's fool, after all.
  • We launch a new Model Railroaders section for both modelers and those who want to learn the art — as well as those who still dream about their train sets from their childhood. Please check in and let us know if you have a setup or know someone who does who would like show if off. We especially look for sets that have a historical Skagit Valley theme.
Go to this Portal Section to find all stories about other nearby counties and statewide
Return to home page and links to all the portals
Meet with the editor
      If you have documents or photos that we can copy and you would like to meet with us, please let us know when you plan to Sedro-Woolley and we can meet at either the library or the Chamber so we can copy them. Or do you live here in the county and can we meet with you at your location? Remember, we do not need your originals.
Our plans for an eventual book
      As we explained when we started this project, we originally planned to publish a regional history book by 2000, but we decided to launch the website instead and seek information from descendants that would make the book unique. We are back at work, preparing a draft and completing another year of travel and research and we hope to have a final draft ready by the end of 2007. We will also have to raise a large sum for the first printing, so if you are a specialist in that field and have advice, we would love to hear from you. And to any of you who subscribed to our original print Journal, we have a special reward for you, so please email us. Meanwhile, we are preparing a special set of CDs from our first five years; just email. Thank you for your patience.
Finding Journal stories offline/Speaking engagements
      In 2003, we gave disks of Skagit River Journal stories and photos to the Sedro-Woolley Public Library and the Museum. In September 2006, we plan to provide CDs of the same at the Burlington and Mount Vernon public libraries and at the Sedro-Woolley and LaConner museums. That is part of our dedication to the program of "Giving Back to the Community," and in another part of that program, we have addressed schools at all levels, rest homes and clubs, as well as small groups. Please email for more information about how you can arrange for such a program.

      See this Journal website for a timeline of local, state, national and international events for years of the pioneer period.
      Search the entire Journal site.
      Due to continued popular demand, in the interest of furthering our "open source" policy, we are assembling a collection of CDs that will include MS Word files of our pioneer profiles and town profiles from years 1-5, so that you can print them individually at your convenience. Inquire for details today via email.
You can click the donation button to contribute to the upkeep of this site at a time when we may be forced to cut it back for lack of funds. You can also subscribe to our optional Subscribers-Paid Journal magazine online, which is about to enter its sixth year with exclusive stories, in-depth research and photos that are shared with our subscribers first. If you like what you read, thank you in advance for whatever support you can provide. You can go here to read the preview edition to see examples of our in-depth research.
(bullet) Did you enjoy this story? Remember, as with all our features, this story is a draft and will evolve as we discover more information and photos. This process continues until we eventually compile a book about Northwest history.
(bullet) Can you help? We welcome correction and criticism.
(bullet) Please report any broken links or files that do not open and we will send you the correct link. With more than 500 features, we depend on your report. Thank you.

Return to our home page anytime

You can read the history websites about our prime sponsors:
(bullet) Jones and Solveig Atterberry, NorthWest Properties Aiken & Associates: . . . See our website
Please let us show you residential and commercial property in Sedro-Woolley and Skagit County 2204 Riverside Drive, Mount Vernon, Washington . . . 360 708-8935 . . . 360 708-1729
(bullet) Schooner Tavern/Cocktails at 621 Metcalf Street in downtown Sedro-Woolley, across from Hammer Square: www.schoonerwoolley.com web page . . . History of bar and building
(bullet) Oliver Hammer Clothes Shop at 817 Metcalf Street in downtown Sedro-Woolley, 82 years.
(bullet) Joy's Sedro-Woolley Bakery-Cafe at 823 Metcalf Street in downtown Sedro-Woolley, 82 years.
(bullet) Check out Sedro-Woolley First section for links to all stories and reasons to shop here first
or make this your destination on your visit or vacation.
(bullet) DelNagro Masonry Brick, block, stone — See our work at the new Hammer Heritage Square
See our website www.4bricklayers.com
(bullet) Are you looking to buy or sell a historic property, business or residence? We may be able to assist. Email us for details.
(bullet) Peace and quiet at the Alpine RV Park, just north of Marblemount on Hwy 20
Park your RV or pitch a tent by the Skagit river, just a short drive from Winthrop or Sedro-Woolley
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     Tip: Put quotation marks around a specific name or item of two words or more, and then experiment with different combinations of the words without quote marks. We are currently researching some of the names most recently searched for — check the list here. Maybe you have searched for one of them?
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