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Skagit River Journal

of History & Folklore
600 of 700 total Free Home Page Stories & Photos
(Also see our Subscribers Magazine Sample)
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

810 Central Ave., Sedro-Woolley, Washington, 98284
Home of the Tarheel Stomp

Mortimer Cook slept here & named the town Bug

Northwest Washington History Detectives:
Two Meet-ups in July: July 18 Skagit City School
July 31 Bow Community Picnic

This photo of the Skagit City School dates from 1937, while the Depression still lingered on nationwide, even though Skagit County was already showing signs of economic recovery. The county schools, however, were already slated for consolidation. The rural school building for Skagit City became part of the Conway School District. The interior of the building today is much like it was at the time of this photo, except the old desks on wrought-iron legs are missing. We hope a reader will have some idea when they were removed and how a small selection of them might be recovered.

Skagit City School Meet-up July 18, 1-4 p.m.

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Skagit City was the first town on the Skagit River. It sprang up because it was the last sternwheeler stop before the log jams at the future site of Mount Vernon. The school was built in 1902, replacing several other smaller country schools in the area dating back to the 1880s. It was specifically placed out in the country on higher land because the Skagit City site often flooded, about two miles away. The site is 3.5 miles south of Mount Vernon, on Fir Island; most people will ariive via the Conway exit from I-5. An annual picnic was staged there until three years ago. Many guests will be honored, including John Kamb, whose families settled nearby, and Solveig Lee, who has researched the area extensively.
Our meeting is staged to revive interest in this very historic area and to help save the school from the wrecking ball. As with all our meetings, we ask guests to bring a potluck dish and there will be a $3 donation for administrative and organizing costs. We will coordinate this meet-up with the board of the school building and local organizations. We ask guests to bring photos and scrapbooks and documents of the forks of the river, Fir Island, Skagit City and the surrounding area. Children are very welcome and we hope to have activities especially for them.
For background information, see the free page we provided for the Skagit City Community Club and our Skagit City Portal page with many links to photo features.
Location: Skagit City School, 1552 Moore Road, Mount Vernon (on Fir Island, 3.5 miles south of Mount Vernon

Bow Community Picnic and Meet-up July 18, 1-4 p.m. Bow was the first crossroads community inland from Edison on the Samish River. It was founded by William Brown, a sawmill owner who named the town for his home railway station in England. Located right by the Great Northern Railroad, it was east of the Chuckanut Drive and the Pacific NW Interurban line. Our meet-up is staged in conjunction with the Bow Community Association, which preserves the heritage of the village, which is now almost all residential. The hosts are Dan Miller and Diz Schimke, who have worked hard to preserve local history for many years. Schimke descends from the Pocock family, longtime pioneers and residents of the area.
As with all our meetings, we ask that guests bring a potluck dish to share. The meeting will be at the community church, which is also a social center for the area. Nearby is the oldest surviving business building in the area, constructed 110 years ago by the Cleary family as a department store. Guests are advised to take the first exit north of Burlington, to the Chuckanut Drive and take the road east when you see the sign to Bow. Nearby towns are Edison, Allen and Blanchard, and guests can view the beautiful Samish Island. Find lodging information and amenities here.
For background information, see the free page we provided for the, Bow Community History Project and see our Bow Portal story with more than a dozen links.
Location: Bow Church, 11507 Scott Road, Bow, WA 98232, (360) 766-6339

Introduced by Noel V. Bourasaw, Skagit River Journal Fellow history-lover Dan Royal introduced me to Meet-ups last year when we attended the KCTS History Café in Seattle. We were so impressed with the concept and possibilities that we have launched the Northwest Washington History Detectives, which will be based in Sedro-Woolley, but will go on the road wherever the interest is.
You can learn more about the group by visiting this website, http://www.meetup.com/NWHistory/. There you will learn the goals of the group and how to join and meet with fellow history-lovers and detectives. Here are the goals of the group.
History authors will be attending, showing their books and signing them if you want to purchase. And, weather permitting, we will have a walkabout to the nearby old depot sites for the three railroads that crossed in the triangle north of old Woolley. We are working to get railroading experts there and we hope people attending will bring railroad documents and photos, timetables, articles, etc. for members to see.
At various shows we have presented for schools, community centers and groups over the past 18 years all over Washington, people who have attended have asked if we could meet on a regular basis to share historical information we have all discovered and review and discuss books about history, especially about Washington state and the Pacific Northwest.
We would like to restore the kinds of meetings that groups like the Territorial Daughters of Washington and others. We especially want to encourage people of all ages to share family scrapbooks and photos that have historical interest. We would not expect "experts," but rather would encourage those who love history, regardless of your knowledge level.
There will be no tests, nor will you be judged. There would be no hierarchy, no officers planned, just meet-ups and sharing. I have a location in Sedro-Woolley that can accommodate up to 40 people. And I can envision meet-ups in other cities as folks show interest, including hikes to the Cascades and field trips to Seattle, the Islands, Olympia, etc.
During the good-weather months, I can see having hikes and tours of historic locations as the feature of the meet-up, including the streams and rivers of the Northwest, fisheries, hatcheries, ghost-towns, etc.
We will work with other Northwest authors and researchers, such as Dan Royal and his stumpranchonline.com website, and invite them to meet with us and share their discoveries and plans for future books, articles and meetings.
There would be a small donation of $2-3 per meet-up to pay for refreshments and administrative costs. We have a pizza place right down the street that will deliver.
I'd like to do this for selfish reasons, because half of the ideas for the Skagit River Journal website come from history-lovers who share the kernel of an idea or a discovery and we pursue it from there. And we have many guest-writers. This kind of group could produce many more of them. In return, the meet-up members would learn first about new discoveries, about new books on the subject and about other outlets for your interests. This will be a place where writers can test-drive ideas with fellow history detectives.
Please email us at (nwhistorydetectives@gmail.com) or (skagitriverjournal@gmail.com if you have questions, or go to our Meet-up webpage (http://www.meetup.com/NWHistory/), where you can learn more details and join the group. You, too, can be a detective.

Story posted on Jan. 4, 2009, updated June 8, 2010
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Skagit River Journal

Northwest Washington History Detectives: Two Meet-ups in July: July 18 Skagit City School July 31 Bow Community Picnic

Northwest Washington History Detectives:
Two Meet-ups in July: July 18 Skagit City School
July 31 Bow Community Picnic