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Snohomish County
History:
Long before the
first white man appeared on the eastern shore of Puget Sound,
Native American tribes (the Snohomish, Stillaguamish,
Snoqualmie, Skykomish, Sultan, Pilchuck) inhabited this area and
traveled its waters by canoe.
The native
peoples lived in family groups in cedar long houses and moved up
and down the rivers from ocean to mountains in hand-hewn dugout
canoes. They had a highly developed culture based on fishing for
salmon and foraging for other foods found naturally in the
densely forested land. Superb salmon runs, sea mammals,
wildlife, and forests provided for all their material and
spiritual needs. Modern anthropologists consider these people
who lived on the Pacific coast among the wealthiest tribes in
all of America, other than the Aztecs. This great natural wealth
also attracted the first Europeans.
In 1792, Captain
George Vancouver sailed the tall ship Discovery into this
region, to claim the Pacific Northwest on behalf of King George
III. Vancouver and his crew charted this region and named many
of the bodies of water he explored, including Puget Sound and
Port Gardner Bay, opening the way for European exploration and
development.
White settlement
of the region that became Snohomish County began in 1853, the
year Washington Territory separated from Oregon Territory.
Snohomish County was carved out of Island County on January 20,
1861, and grew slowly during the territorial years of 1853-1889.
During this time period, settlements were founded at Tulalip
Bay, Snohomish, Mukilteo, Lowell, Tualco (near Monroe),
Stanwood, and Edmonds.
Soon after
Washington achieved statehood in 1889, the Great Northern
Railway brought a major boom down the Skykomish Valley to the
new industrial city of Everett. The years from 1891 to 1893,
known as the Rockefeller boom years, saw remarkable progress and
prosperity. Henry Hewitt, a Tacoma lumberman and investor,
formed the Everett Land Company with backing from the wealthy
east coast Rockefeller family. Important commercial centers were
created at both ends of Hewitt Avenue and rail connections were
established.
However, the
Silver Panic of 1893 caused a nationwide depression and put an
end to this period of prosperity. It took six more years before
recovery and steadier growth based on timber and farming began.
During this time, Everett won the battle with the City of
Snohomish to become the county seat and the large Bell sawmill,
later to become a Weyerhaeuser mill, was built.
After World War
II, growth quickened in the southwestern part of the county near
Seattle adding Lynnwood, Brier, Mountlake Terrace, and Woodway
as incorporated cities. In the late 1960s, construction of the
Boeing Company's 747, 767, 777, 787 plant near Everett and the
development of high technology industries along Interstate 405
and north towards Lake Stevens and Marysville, brought major
population increases in those areas. At the same time, both
lumber production and farming began to decline, greatly
affecting smaller communities and the older mill towns.
The 1980s saw new
industries emerge with a high technology base of aerospace,
biotechnology, research and development and computer firms,
including Microsoft.
The building of
the U.S. Naval Station in Everett is bringing a new vitality and
prosperity to the Everett area.
The high quality
of life and economic growth in Snohomish County is expected to
continue well into the 21st century.
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