Granite Falls, Washington - History

History

Granite Falls, at an elevation of 396 feet, is situated on the Hartford & Eastern Railroad about seventeen miles northeast of Everett, and lies on a narrow plateau between the Stillaguamish and Pilchuck rivers. It occupies a commanding position as a commercial and farming center, and has played no small part in the mining and lumber history of the county. As the land around it is gradually being converted into fertile farms its importance as a town increases each year.

The town takes its name from the falls on the Stillaguamish River, less than two miles distant from it. The Indians and early pioneers knew this plateau as the "portage," and many of the early pioneers desired to apply this name to the town when organized. In fact as late as 1889 the desire to name the community Portage was an issue, and this circumstance led to some delay in the establishment and naming of the first postoffice in 1890.

It was in 1883 that the first actual settler located near the present town site of Granite Falls. This was Joseph S. Enas. George W. Anderson came in 1884. He was born in Maine, November 14, 1857, and came to La Conner in young manhood. He located on the old "burn" near Granite Falls, in 1884, and was thus enabled to plant a small crop the first year. Closely following him was William M. Turner, and then F. P. Kistner shortly afterwards. Turner located a claim on the southwest quarter of section 18, township 30, north, range 7, east; and Kistner settled on the 160 acres just south of Turner's claim. In 1885 W. H. Davis took up the quarter section just west of Kistner's claim. In 1886 Robert Wright homesteaded the quarter section west of Turner's and north of the Davis claim. Turner came to Snohomish in the spring of 1884, and then went on up to Machias. There was no road into Granite Falls then, so Turner lived at Machias from April to August, until he could cut out a rough road from Machias into his claim. The nearest neighbors to these early Granite Falls settlers lived at Hartford and Machias. Turner, who was born in Park County, Indiana, June 22, 1840, for a time

Granite Avenue, Granite Falls Stanley Avenue, Granite Falls

Other early pioneers who settled near Granite Falls were Julius Hansen, in 1885, who located a mile east of town; Fred P. Anderson in 1888; Christian Browne, 1888, who bought a relinquishment a mile east of the present town for $175 from a man named Thompson; Henry Menzel, 1888, who took up a claim about four miles southeast of town, but soon abandoned it, but came back later to file on another claim; Ulrich Sherrer, 1889, who located on the Henry Menzel tract ; George Menzel, 1887; Ira Carpenter, 1887, who located on Carpenter Creek; Isaac N. Carpenter, 1889, who located on a tract which was later inherited by Daniel I. Carpenter; and Henry L. Atwood, 1889, who settled on Atwood Creek east of town.

In 1890 the original settlers on the townsite and a few others secured a postoffice, and John L. Sneathan was chosen postmaster. Mail was carried in at irregular intervals from Getchell. This same year Mark Swinnerton of Marysville established the first store in Granite Falls, on the old Kistner homestead, near the junction of the four original claims, a few yards beyond the schoolhouse and on what is now the main street of the town. T. K. Robe, one of the prominent and early pioneers, erected the building. Fred P. Anderson entered this store in 1891, and in 1893 he and W. H. Davis purchased the business. In 1884 Anderson became the sole owner, but lost the store in the business depression of 1895. Mr. Anderson died in 1906, the victim of a premature blast in his mine near town.

In 1891 a townsite was platted consisting of eighteen blocks; twelve on the land of Robert Wright and six on that of W. H. Davis. S. W. Holland and T. K. Robe are given credit for being the real promoters of the townsite. The same year George C. Munroe started a grocery store; but this was destroyed by fire the following year, with a loss of $2,500. Work was also started in 1891 on a new two-story frame hotel by James Roycroft. It was completed and opened for business before the railroad reached the town. Citizens of the community this year subscribed $290 to build a trail to Silver Gulch. In the fall of this same season, Blackman Brothers erected a tie mill near the town to supply ties for the new railroad, which reached Granite Falls October 16, 1892. |

In 1892 Fred P. Anderson erected the pioneer shingle mill of the town, a double block; and also organized the Granite Falls Manufacturing & Mercantile Company. T. K. Robe maintained a store for a time in 1893. In 1895 his building was occupied by Dr. Frank Chappell as a drug store. In 1897 Percy Parminter built a double block shingle mill just east of town, and in 1898 he established the store which is now known as the B. E. Chappell establishment, which Mr. Chappell secured in 1901. J. H. Boyd and T. K. Robe entered business in the town in 1898, the former succeeding the mercantile company. Boyd sold to Morgan and Goodrich a few years later, and this firm subsequently became the Granite Falls Mercantile Company. George Whitcher was also in business in the town in the early 90s, associated with T. K. Robe.

The first school of Granite Falls was started in 1888 in the old Robert Wright cabin, a half mile northwest of town, and was taught by Miss Eva Andrus. In 1889 the school was removed to a temporary shack erected on the present school grounds. Mr. Kistner had donated a block for this purpose, and later S. W. Holland confirmed the title to District No. 21, when he became owner of the land.

By 1900 there were about fifty or sixty people residing in Granite Falls. At that time there were four shingle mills near town - those owned by Parminter and Shafer Brothers, both on the Pilchuck; Swartz & Stacey, east of town; and Anderson's, recently removed to a new location. This population grew rapidly the next four years, and in 1904 it boasted of over four hundred inhabitants. On July 23, 1903, the Granite Falls Post was established by Niles and Moore. Two years later this paper came into the sole ownership of Frank Niles, and later R. G. Messner bought into the firm. On November 8, 1903, Granite Falls became a city of the fourth class, with B. E. Chappell as the first mayor. The councilmen were J. H. Fox, J. G. Luckey, D. I. Carpenter, L. H. Messner and W. H. Earl. C. T. Smith was clerk, and Dr. Frank Chappell town treasurer. L. A. Clinton was the first city marshal.

By 1906 Granite Falls was a lumbering and shingle center of no small magnitude. Mills operating near town included the Sobey Manufacturing Company, Robe & Menzel, Chappell Shingle Company, Sullivan Brothers, Fred Johnson, Ewald Brothers, Swartz & Stacey, Best Shingle Company, and the Lane Logging Company, and Starr Logging Company. This latter company, located about three miles northwest of town, employed about one hundred and fifty men.

The old "Wayside" mine is also a landmark in the vicinity. It was located in the early nineties by Tom Humes, F. M. Headlee and Fred Anderson and is situated less than two miles from town. It became one of the big producers of the county between 1905 and 1910, and at various times employed a large force of men. It is now owned by Earl W. Husted, Everett attorney, who has, under contract, sold it to the American Copper Company. In 1906 it was employing about fifty men.

Following the original postmaster, the following citizens of the town have served in that capacity: P. A. Ellis, Sr., A. C. Robe, for ten years; E. R. Turner, eight years; D. I. Carpenter, eight years; and the present postmaster, C. R. Bockmier, who took over the office March 3, 1923. The present mayor of the town is U. G. Hall.« Miss Anna Pugh is treasurer, and H. E. Jewell, city clerk.

Today Granite Falls is a thriving and growing business town. Its bank, the Granite Falls State Bank, has a capitalization of $15,000, and enjoys a large business. John H. Curtis is president; Ulrich Scherrer, vice president, and George D. Thompson, cashier. It was organized in 1906. Mr. Curtis, the president, owns a wholesale and retail creamery at Granite Falls - one of the large creameries of the county. A directory of the business houses includes the B. E. Chappell, general merchandise; Claude Morgan Company, general merchandise; Mrs. C. Konnerup, grocery; Wm. Miller, grocery; Walter Anzoe, grocery; Palace of Sweets, owned by Harry Clinton; Cascade Drug Company, owned by James Furlong; Granite Falls Pharmacy, owned by Dr. Frank Chappell; Frank Brush Shoe Company ; Cascade Hotel & Restaurant, managed by E. A. Shadbolt; Little's Restaurant; Frank Malerich, tailor shop; Granite Falls Bakery, owned by Chris Rasmussen; Snyder Hardware & Furniture Company; Willoughby Hardware & Furniture Company; Pilchuck Meat Market, Joe Mueller; the O. O. Wills and Ed Samuels Shoe Shop; Ashe Brothers Garage; Monte Cristo Service Station; A. H. Howarth Service Station; two barber shops of George Cook and R. W. Lambright; Pollman Transfer & Wood Company; H. E. Jewell, photographer; Brown Theatre; Oscar

The Granite Falls Record was established in November, 1922, after a suspension of several months of the old Post. The new owners are C. W. and W. D. Sibley. The paper has a modern and well equipped shop, with a new linotype installed during the first part of October, 1926. The town is well served by daily stage to Everett and way points; and an auto freight line makes regular trips between I.verett and Granite Falls. The schools now include a full high school course. The school system includes a corps of seventeen teachers, with T. E. Hartsock as superintendent. J. H. Curtis is president of the school board, and H. E. Jewell is clerk. There are three churches in the community. The Union Congregational Church was built in 1901, and rebuilt in 1925. At present the church has no pastor. The Catholic Church was built in 1903, and its pastor is supplied from Snohomish. The Swedish Lutheran Church was organized and built in 1912.

Granite Falls is a lodge town. The lodges of the town, and the clerks or secretaries of the organizations are Damascus Lodge No. 199, F. & A. M., Harry Clinton, secretary ; Bethel Chapter No. 146, O. E. S., Mrs. M. Griffin, secretary; I. O. O. F. Lodge No. 191, Ed. Hall, secretary; Hyacinth Rebekah Lodge No. 157, Rena Kenny, secretary; W. O. W. Lodge No. 769, C. E. Willoughby, clerk; Women of Woodcraft, No. 447, Mrs. Mabel Watson, secretary; Modern Woodmen of America, Camp No. 8355, U. G. Hall, clerk; Royal Neighbors, Flora Hadring, oracle. .

The Waite Mill & Timber Company, whose president is H. B. Waite, of St. Paul, Minn., operates a large lumber mill a short distance from town. The mill has a capacity of about 125,000 feet daily, and the company employs over one hundred and fifty men in its mill and logging operations. The Heath Lumber & Shingle Company, with Ed. Heath, president, is another mill near town which employs about one hundred men.

For the past ten years the county fair has been held at Granite Falls. The management has built up a splendid organization and fair, and visitors from every part of the county go to Granite Falls every fall to see the exhibits. Alex Wheller, R. F. D. No. 4, Snohomish, is president of the fair association, and B. E. Chappell, of Granite Falls, is secretary. The business men of the community devote a great deal of their time to making this event a success. One of the thriving agricultural ventures of the neighborhood is the bulb farm owned by C. H. Fray, near town. The Meadow Mountain Bulb Farm grows bulbs of various kinds for the market. Nor can Granite Falls be passed without mention of Canyon Creek Lodge, managed by Mrs. Joe Mueller. This fishing and camping ground is situated about two miles northeast of town on Canyon Creek, and enjoys a large patronage. Granite Falls and neighborhood is visited each year by paced: of sportsmen for the pleasure it furnishes to fishermen and hunters.

Granite Falls is now past the pioneering stage, and is upon a substantial foundation. Increased farming acreage each year tributary to the town augments its importance and prominence as a trading point. Its business men and citizens are progressive and have every faith in the future of the community - factors which necessarily mean that Granite Falls will hold its own in the future growth and development of the county.

Robe

Robe is the name of the postoffice and station on the Hartford & Eastern Railroad, situated about nine miles east of Granite Falls, its banking point. It was named after its pioneer settler, T. K. Robe, and logging and lumbering operations are its chief industries. Such names as the Canyon Lumber Company, Best Shingle Company, Johnson-Dean Lumber Company, Rucker Bros. shingle mill have played an important part in its existence. It has a population of about one hundred and fifty. J. A. Theurer, prominent mill man of Everett, was postmaster there for five or six years preceding 1911, and was interested in the Canyon Lumber Company and the Johnson-Dean Lumber Company, until his removal to Everett. In 1911 C. Nichols was chosen postmaster. The town is served by the Puget Sound Telephone Company, and has an express office.

Gold Basin

Gold Basin was first settled in 1890. It is thirty-five miles northeast of Everett, on the Hartford & Eastern Railroad. Silver, copper and iron deposits were discovered in the neighborhood in the early '90s, but its history is more closely connected with lumbering and logging operations. By 1905 it had an estimated population of seventy, with a sawmill and two shingle mills in operation. Katie Moffatt was the postmistress appointed for the village in 1895. Minnie Hemple held the position for over fifteen years, until 1917, when the mail was ordered sent to Robe.