Skykomish, Washington-Then and Now
Then.....
Skykomish was born of the Railroad. James J Hills Great Northern Railway to be exact. Even though many persons had lived in the area of the upper valley of the s. fork of the Skykomish River, no permanent community was platted until Hill decided to extend his railroad westward to Puget sound. In 1893 the town of Skykomish was Born. It would lay at the start of the long climb over or the end of the long descent of the Cascade mountains via Stevens Pass. Soon a substantial rail yard was established. On the south side of the tracks an Electrical Substation was built to power the electric trains over Stevens Pass via the Cascade Tunnel (old and New). This made skykomish a busy place not only as a crew changing point but also where the Steam Locomotives were swapped out for the Electric Locomotives.The electrics would continue on through the tunnel until swapped for steam again at Leavenworth (later on Wenatchee).
With the railroad now going full tilt, skykomish became the newest town in King County at the time when it was incorporated on June 5, 1909. It had everything a railroad town needed. A railway Depot, Hotels, Town Hall, Churches, Stores and Warehouses, General Store, School and Taverns and other questionable establishments.
To learn more about skykomish, please visit HistoryLink.org
©Above Photo By LEE PICKETT circa 1915-Courtesy Mrs. Dorothy Pickett
©Postcard Published by SKYKOMISH LIONS CLUB Skykomish, WA 98288
Now.....
I took these following photo's over the past 25 years or so of the Skykomish area.
The two photos above were taken in the early to mid 1980's before the old GN Power House was torn down because it was deemed unsafe. This powerhouse supplied power for the Electric Locomotives. That's my Dad and Cousin in the lower photo.
A welcome from Rocky. Or is that Mr. Hill himself?
The Sky Depot in the 1990's. Notice how much smaller the Skykomish yard is when compared to the 1915 photo above.
A trio of BN SD70's pass the Skykomish School in the late 1990's.
The Skykomish Hotel.
Unfortunately as is often the case, after over a century of railroad related use much of the ground underneath the town of skykomish was found to be greatly polluted. A major clean up was and is still being undertaken. This even includes the removal and replacement of polluted soil. This involves the jacking up of many buildings, the removal and replacement of the soil underneath and then the construction of new foundations before the buildings can be lowered again.
For more information on this major clean up effort please visit the Skykomish Cleanup Page.
For more Skykomish history and some great old photos please visit The Skykomish Historical Society.