A Review of the Resources and Industries of the State of Washington, 1909 Part 17

Tributary to Stevenson is considerable improved land, and the people are engaged in stock-raising, fruit-growing and farming.

BUTLER is a town of about 300 people on the railroad and river.

CARSON, CAPE HORN, MT. PLEASANT and BEAR PRAIRIE are smaller villages, destined to become centers of commercial distribution.

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SNOHOMISH COUNTY.

Snohomish county extends 36 miles in width from the Sound to the peaks of the Cascade mountains, adjoining King county on the north.

It has an area of some 2,500 square miles of territory, a population of about 63,000 people, and a great storehouse of wealth in its natural resources. It is one of the largest and richest counties in the state, with a mild and healthful climate, magnificent scenery, great diversity of landscape, innumerable water falls and plenty of game.

RESOURCES.

The forests of Snohomish are very extensive and but little depleted.

Fir, cedar, hemlock and spruce are its chief trees. Nearly one-half of the area of the county is heavily mineralized with veins of gold, silver, copper, lead, nickel, iron, and other ores. There are also vast ledges of marble, granite and other building stones.

In diversified agricultural possibilities, few counties can excel Snohomish. Its general soils in its valleys are alluvial, and produce astonis.h.i.+ng crops; about the deltas of its rivers, the riches of the salt water and the mountains have combined to make a soil that will endure for ages and annually astonish the husbandman with its generosity. Upon its uplands, its clay and decaying herbage have combined for ages to create a soil wonderfully adapted to produce gra.s.s and fruits, and the industrious are luxuriating in nature's prodigality.

Rainfall is abundant, but not excessive, and crops of the cereals and fruits are never failures.

TRANSPORTATION.

This county is splendidly provided with transportation facilities; many steamboats ply its salt waters and part way up the three great rivers that flow into the Sound. Two transcontinental railroads cut the western part of the county in two. The trunk line of the Great Northern follows the valley of one river from the southeast to the coast, while two branch lines run up the other two great valleys, past the center of the state, toward the mountains, while a dozen spurs and short logging and coal roads act as feeders to the main lines, thus giving all the towns of the county access to all the Sound markets, and those of the east and the ports of the Pacific ocean.

PRINc.i.p.aL CITIES AND TOWNS.

EVERETT, situated upon a fine harbor on the sh.o.r.es of Puget Sound near the mouth of the Snohomish river, is the county seat and metropolis of the county. It has a population of 35,000, and is fast developing into a commercial and manufacturing center of importance.

The largest steamers afloat can find wharf.a.ge at her docks and safe anchorage in her waters. It has upwards of 3,000 men employed in its factories and mills, with a monthly payroll aggregating $230,000.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Plate No. 69.--Codfish and Salmon Packing Plants at Anacortes, Skagit County.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Plate No. 70.--Plant for the Manufacture of Portland Cement, Located in Skagit County.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Plate No. 71.--Snohomish County Views.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Plate No. 72.--Snohomish County Industrial Scenes.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Plate No. 73.--Street Scene in Stanwood, Snohomish County. A Pony Farm at Everett, Snohomish County.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Plate No. 74.--City and Town Views, Snohomish County.]

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They are engaged in the manufacture of lumber, s.h.i.+ngles, sash and doors; in railroad shops, pulp and paper mills, and smelters; in running tug boats, driving piles, making iron castings, and tanning hides; packing meats and fish; making turpentine, charcoal, flour, b.u.t.ter, and many other commodities. Its banks have $4,000,000 on deposit. Its paper mills produce 26 tons of paper daily. Its smelter is a constant producer of the precious metals and their by-products.

The city is substantially built, having all the conveniences of a modern city, with wide streets and wide sidewalks; has both gas and electricity for lights, and a good water system. Some of its streets are paved with preserved wooden blocks and some with asphalt.

Everett is a sub-port of entry of the Puget sound country. The United States has spent half a million dollars improving the mouth of the Snohomish river for a fresh-water harbor.

SNOHOMISH is a city of 4,000 people, on the Snohomish river, which is navigable, and is connected with Everett by a street car line.

It is also on the Northern Pacific and Great Northern railways, and is the distributing center for a large agricultural district.

It has a number of s.h.i.+ngle and sawmills, and is headquarters for a good deal of the mining industry of the county.

STANWOOD is a town of about 800 people, on the Sound and railway, in the northwestern part of the county. It is a center of farming interests and lumber industries.

ARLINGTON is a mining and lumbering town on the Northern Pacific railway, well up toward the mountains. It has a population of 2,000 and is growing.

MONROE is a town of 2,400 people, on the line of the Great Northern railway, in the center of a large farming and milling industry.

EDMONDS, a town of 2,000 people, is on the Sound and Great Northern railway, near the King county line; chiefly engaged in sawing lumber and making s.h.i.+ngles.

SULTAN, GRANITE FALLS, GOLD BAR, DARRINGTON, and MONTE CRISTO are all centers of mining and other industries.

MARYSVILLE, MUKILTEO, SILVANA, GETCh.e.l.l, and PILCHUCK are centers of lumbering and farming.

SPOKANE COUNTY

Spokane county lies in the extreme eastern section of the state.

The area of the county is 1,680 square miles.

TRANSPORTATION.

The transportation facilities are the best of the Inland Pacific Northwest. Three transcontinental railroads--the Northern Pacific, Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul, and Great Northern--traverse the County from east to west; a fourth transcontinental line, the Oregon Railway & Navigation company, enters from the southwest, and a fifth transcontinental road, the Spokane International (C. P. R.), enters [Page 82]

the county from the northeast and terminates at Spokane. The Spokane Falls & Northern extends north into British Columbia and to Republic and Oroville, Wash. Electric trolley lines connect Spokane with the outlying towns in every direction. The total railway mileage in the county is approximately 429 miles.

TOPOGRAPHY AND INDUSTRIES.

The northern portion of the county is somewhat mountainous, and is covered with a fine growth of pine and tamarack timber; much of this section is suitable for agriculture, while all is adapted to grazing. The central part of the county is rolling and is traversed by the Spokane river; the central section to the west of the city of Spokane is fine agricultural land, while to the east of Spokane is the Spokane valley, which is rapidly being brought into a high state of cultivation by means of irrigation. There are about 40,000 acres in this valley capable of irrigation; 3,000 acres are now irrigated and under cultivation. The southern portion of the county is rolling, and comprises some of the finest agricultural land in the state. Large areas of this section are utilized for wheat-raising, while here are grown the finest sugar beets in the world.

Lumbering is a considerable industry, while stock-raising and dairying are also extensively engaged in. Over 1,000,000 bushels of wheat are grown annually. The flour mills of the county have a combined capacity of 3,600 barrels daily.

In fruit-growing Spokane is one of the leading counties of the state. The value of the fruit produced in the county amounts to nearly $3,000,000 annually. The following table shows the distribution of the five important fruits.

_Trees planted_ 1908-- _Total._ [*]Apples, 253,630 713,567 Pears, 15,470 39,232 Peaches, 59,323 94,769 Cherries, 56,405 106,909 Plums and Prunes, 11,815 29,128 Miscellaneous 2,910 10,000 ------- --------- 399,553 Total planted 1,003,615

[Footnote *: Is 25 percent. of the total number of apple trees planted in the state in 1908.]

SCHOOLS.

There are 165 school districts in the county and eighteen towns where graded schools are maintained. The total valuation of a.s.sessed property with improvements (1908) is $77,120,360; personal property, $10,527,030.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Plate No. 75.--(1) Spokane Club Building, Spokane.

(2)Riverside Avenue, Looking East from Post Street, Spokane.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Plate No. 76.--Spokane River and Bridge at Spokane, Showing Fill for New Concrete Structure to Cost $500,000.]