“The second railroad meeting last Friday evening would not have impressed a stranger very forcibly with the idea that the people of Snohomish were imbued with a spirit of progress.”

This was reported 123 years ago in the Snohomish Eye, at a time when two railroad companies wanted to come through town, a Canadian company from the north and the Seattle, Lake Shore and Eastern Company from the south, but both concerns wanted property and money from the citizens of Snohomish.

Ferguson, Blackman, Cathcart put up the first $1500 in cash and Mary Low Sinclair (then Mrs. Packard) donated some 20 lots to keep the latter company aiming toward Snohomish, but more was needed.

Ferguson’s brother, Clark, the town’s first milkman, offered to head up a subscription committee that would solicit funds from property owners along the proposed route of the train. John Otten rose to speak, offering $25 if the railroad would not come near the town. (Otten’s short-slightness may have led to his mercantile business eventually going belly up and the sale of his handsome new building at 1024-26 First to Tom Marks who wasted no time in having his name chiseled in stone and placed over the entrance.)

With the Lake Shore operation just over the hill from the Snohomish River, a curious concern was mentioned in the June 13, 1888, issue of the Eye: “Should the railroad touch the shores of Lake Stevens, a town will be built that will become a dangerous rival to Snohomish. Being situated near the geographical center of the county, could but with little difficulty secure the county seat.”

By July however, with regular train service to and from Seattle expected by the end of the month, attention was focused on the preparations to welcome the “Seattle excursionists.” The reception committee consisted of about 20 of the leading businesses and professional men. Between 300 and 500 excursionists were expected for a public reception in Atheneum Hall, located on the northwest corner of Avenue D and First, with a free lunch served at 3p.m in Ferguson’s new hall just across the street. Although the return service to Seattle was scheduled for 6pm, many visitors had indicated a desire to remain in town for the grand free ball that evening. First class accommodations would have been available at the recently opened Penobscot Hotel on First, an investment of the visionary Blackman Brothers, in preparation to serve a new class of visitors with over-sized wallets.

No mention of how the “open house” went in subsequent issues of the Eye, but the August 4 issue reported, “… between 75 and 80 passengers arrived on Wednesday’s train.”

Since the railroad bridge was still a work in progress at this time, arrangements were made for carriages to pick up the passengers and bring them across the river on George Tompkins ferry at Avenue D.

Work continued on the bridge even though the Lake Shore owners were under an injunction by the Canadian company “laboring under the delusion that they have the exclusive right to construct a road between Seattle and the British Columbia,” as the newspaper put it. However, since the bridge builders had their plan approved by no less an office than that of the Secretary of War, work continued uninterrupted.

The August 31 issue reports that, “the draw of the bridge was swung into position for the first time last Wednesday afternoon,” which could be the occasion pictured in our historic image. The Lake Shore owners secured a modification of the Canadian injunction that allowed them to finish the bridge and the running of trains thereon upon posting a $20,000 bond.

The first passenger train crossed the bridge and entered Snohomish City proper on September 19, 1888; but on October 27, a run-away log boom consisting of some 3,000,000 logs jammed up against the southern most pier of the new bridge.

“The pier slowly but steadily crowded down until the span was about six feet out of line with the draw, when at 2 o’clock with a crash it gave way, “ the paper reported. “It is doubtful if the missing spans can be replaced before low water next summer. About 500 people witnessed the thrilling scene,” the report concluded.

Published in the Snohomish County Tribune, March 17, 2010
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

ABOUT THE PHOTOGRAPHS:

The first railroad bridge to cross the Snohomish River into Snohomish City, completed September, 1888. Since the previous July, service ended south of town and passengers used the ferry at Avenue D to reach town. This system was called into service again in October when the pier seconded from the left collapsed due to pressure from a run-away log boom consisting of some 3,000,000 logs.
(Photo courtesy University of Washington, Special Collections, #uw18022)

The second railroad bridge over the Snohomish River built in 1910 as it appears today, without train traffic. Will that change this summer with the arrival of an excursion train to Snohomish?

THIS IS THE STORY OF JOSEPH McNULTY who broke his wooden leg protecting the citizens of Snohomish from being hit by trains.

But first some background. When the Milwaukee Road came to town in 1911, on tracks laid high on a wooden trestle running alongside the north bank of the Snohomish River, it agreed to provide a flagman where the tracks crossed Avenue D. According to Darrington resident and historian, Allen Miller, whom we introduced to you last month, two watchmen provided 24/7 coverage of the intersection. Their headquarters was a tiny guardhouse that can be barely made out in our faded historic image, nestled up against the utility pole.

It wasn’t long before the first incident was recorded in this newspaper of record, but not between an automobile and a train. According to the September 6, 1912, issue of the Snohomish County Tribune, eyewitnesses saw a speeding auto knock the (unnamed) flagman, who was guarding the crossing for a passing train, “to the ground insensible.” He was rushed to Snohomish General Hospital (yes, here in town), where the attending physician set his broken ribs back in place. The driver of the auto did not stop, but as the article reported, “the Milwaukee detectives will undoubtedly be on the parties trail.” Allen never found a follow up to this story in the paper.

Then there is the McNulty incident. Less than a year later, June 17, 1913, an article reported, “Joseph McNulty, flagman for the Milwaukee Railway, has brought suit against F. K. Folliott for $8,000 damages claimed by the plaintiff to be due him as a result of a broken wooden leg and injured feelings.” Folliott attempted to go around the flagman in front of an approaching train, when McNulty was struck and thrown on the tracks, breaking his wooden leg. The broken member was repaired for $125 and the balance of the claim, $7,875, was for injured feelings. Again, no follow up story was found in later editions.

And the headline for a story in the April 8, 1926, issue of the Tribune reads, “Bell Replaces Watchman Pat.” Pat Gannon’s job as guard at the Avenue D crossing was eliminated by city ordinance. “The council has decreed that the Milwaukee must install a wig wag signal at that point, which will probably mean that Pat moves elsewhere,” the story explained. “Pat’s little cabin near the crossing and his waving cane and lantern are familiar sights.” A well-known character around town, “Pat the Watchman, faithfully guarded wagons, buggies, then autos and trucks from the oncoming trains for 16 years.”

The wig wag signal was most likely a blinking red light and bell mounted on a metal pole anchored in concrete and located in the center of Avenue D. The signal was left behind when the railroad company abandoned the right of way in 1940, and over the years its badly chipped base bore witness to the rapid increase of automobile traffic in Snohomish.

Many thanks to Allen Miller for bringing this story to my attention, and for sharing his photographs. Please contact me if you have a story or historic photograph to share.

Published in the Snohomish County Tribune, February 17, 2010
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

ABOUT THE PHOTOGRAPH:

Looking east up First Street with a horse drawn cart heading toward the Avenue D Bridge, dated 1912. To the right of the horse and cart, nested up against the utility pole is the Milwaukee Road’s flagman booth. The large structure left of center is currently the American Legion Building, but back then it was the depot when the train ran on tracks laid on a high wooden trestle alongside the north bank of the Snohomish River. The dark object behind the cart appears to be a boxcar parked on a siding. (Photo courtesy Allen Miller.)

ALLEN MILLER, visiting from Darington, parked his pick-up truck in front of the American Legion Building on First Street where we met to talk about the time when the building was a depot and visitors could arrive in Snohomish by train.

The Legion building at 1201 First, built with 19th Century drug money by Lot Wilbur, was the depot for the Milwaukee Railroad from 1911 until 1930 when railroad passenger service to Everett was replaced by an eight-cylinder Studebaker bus. The company moved its freight operation to the Great Northern tracks on the other side of the river, and in the1940s, the unused steel tracks were pulled up and sold for scrap to Japan. But that’s another story.

Allen once worked as an agent/operator for the Milwaukee Railroad and is now an avid collector of company records, photos, memorabilia and a historian with a head full of fascinating stories.

For example, on the second floor of the Legion building where Post Commander Pat Guyot (pictured above on the right), was showing us the Post’s restoration progress, Allen went immediately to a section of wall with leftover wallpaper. This was the kitchen area of the agent’s living quarters, he explained, and Mrs. Kent Gill could have been the one who put it up since her family was the last one to reside in the upstairs living quarters when her husband was the station agent.

Then there is the story of the great James Hill’s failed negotiations with the prosperous young Snohomish City business leaders in the 1880s to build a trestle on the north side of the river for his Great Northern Railroad, which was following Wall Street money to Everett. In response, Mr. Hill’s tracks were installed on the south side of the river with no station for Snohomish.

Our historic image of the trestle passing behind the former depot shows only the parallel lines of preserved wood where the tracks once ran. The railroad company simply abandoned the massive wooden structure, which eventually became an eyesore and hazard that had to be dismantled by the city struggling to find extra wartime dollars, I imagine.

Next month I will share with you Allen’s story about the time when the railway flagman at the Avenue D intersection had to hire a lawyer.

Published in the Snohomish County Tribune, January 27, 2010

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

ABOUT THE PHOTOGRAPHS:
The abandoned railroad trestle pictured here around 1940 was built by the Milwaukee Railroad in 1910 along the north bank of the Snohomish River. 1201 First Street, currently the American Legion Building, was the depot and passengers would use the elevated wooden walkway on the right leading to the front of the building. The station agent and his family lived on the second floor. Photo courtesy Allen Miller.

View of the backside of the former depot as it appears today with the wooden trestle replaced by a concrete walkway as part of the Riverside Trail completed in 2006. The American Legion Post #96 has owned the building since the 1950s.

SNOHOMISH’S OWN PIONEER PHOTOGRAPHER, GILBERT D. HORTON, captured this month’s historic image of Avenue B around 1885. By then, all three Blackman families had made their homes in this part of town, but only one has survived, and it is now the Blackman House Museum at 118 Avenue B.

Alanson “Cap” Blackman was the eldest brother to settle in Snohomish along with his wife, Eliza, also from Bradley, Maine. Their home was on the corner of Avenue B and 2nd, across the street from pioneer drugstore owner Lot Wilbur’s home. The Wilbur’s three story home was built on a south-facing hill that was removed in the 40s to build an automobile dealership level with the street. Most likely, Horton had his large format camera set up on the hill in order to capture the historic bird’s eye view, as opposed to my “ladder-high view” repeat photograph.

Next in line age wise, was Elhanan who built a home on the east side of Avenue B, on the left in the historic image, and lived there with his wife Frances and their daughter Edith. (We wrote about Edith last month since her grandson, Richard, had just donated her family album to the Society.)

Just across the wide, park-like avenue from Elhanan’s family was the youngest brother, Hyrcanus and his wife Ella living at 118 Avenue B. Their two children, Clifford and Eunice were born and raised in this home that is now our museum. Plus, Eunice and her husband Dr. William Ford lived in the home until his death in 1951, but Eunice stayed put for another 10 years or so until accepting her daughter’s invitation to live with her family in Sacramento, California, where she died in 1974.

Hyrcanus was the financial officer of the Blackman Brothers Company and civic activist. By the time this photograph was taken, the Brothers had a logging operation on a small lake north of town, and a very busy mill on the Snohomish River turning out red cedar shakes by the (coming) trainload for shipment to the East Coast.

The structure in the historic image at the end of the block could be the location of Blackman roller skating rink that’s mentioned in the early newspapers. In any case, the structure was deconstructed to make room for the four-star Penobscot Hotel, which opened on this site in 1888. Sadly, it burned to the ground in the great fire of 1911 when the current two-story brick building was built inside of a year.

Then there is the story of the heated contest between Hyrcanus and city founder “Old Ferg” to be elected the first Mayor when the citizen’s voted for the city’s incorporation in 1890. You are invited to hear that story and more as part of my second annual Blackman Stories for the Holidays offered weekend afternoons from 1 to 4pm, but only through December at the Blackman House Museum on historic Avenue B.

Published in the Snohomish County Tribune, December 16, 2009

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

ABOUT THE PHOTOGRAPHS:

A Gilbert Horton photograph of Avenue B around 1885 captured from a hill that was removed to build the Poier Chevrolet Dealership on Second Street. All three Blackman Brothers had homes on this street at the time, but only one home has survived to become the Blackman House Museum, the second structure up from First Street on the right.

Avenue B looking towards First Street and the river. Today’s view of the Blackman House Museum at #118, located on the right, is hidden by trees. The white structure at the end of Avenue B is the public restroom and the Sea-Sno Mill beyond.

WOODBURY SINCLAIR’S TOMBSTONE is marking no grave.

The sad story begins with his sudden death in 1872, just after Woodbury and his wife Mary Low had platted the eastern section of the town site newly named “Snohomish.” Their two small children, Clarence and Mabel, inherited the Sinclair land holdings, with their mother acting as the executor.

So, acting on behalf of the children, Mary donated three acres alongside the Pilchuck River for a cemetery, since the young town had no place for public burials. The Snohomish Cemetery Association was legally established in 1876. After four years, Mary finally had a registered resting place for her husband’s remains. She ordered a marker of white stone from Seattle, and Woodbury’s tombstone (pictured here) is considered to be the first one in Snohomish City.

Along with the her husband, Mary included the remains of their first born, Alvin, who died within a month of Mary’s arrival in Snohomish, he was barely two months old in 1865.

Accounts of Snohomish’s first cemetery describe a picturesque, park like setting with a white metal picket fence and a gateway with swinging gates. A black arch above read “Snohomish Cemetery” in white letters.

With the establishment of the G. A. R. (Grand Army of the Republic) cemetery west of town in 1898, the small cemetery alongside the river was no longer used, then neglected and forgotten. In the 1940s it was divided for the extension of Second Street to connect with Highway 2. Supposedly, the remains were moved to the G. A. R cemetery, but not the Sinclairs, according to the records. Even Woodbury’s tombstone was left behind, as it was vandalized in the thirties and eventually rescued by the Historical Society.

One day, I hope to take a “now” picture of the stone in its new setting, alongside a monument to Mary Low, and the other founding pioneers that shaped early Snohomish.

Published in the Snohomish County Tribune, October 21, 2009.

Learn more about Mary Low Sinclair at HistoryLink.org.