A Brief History of Mount Vernon
By Curt Cunningham

In 1870 Jasper Gates and Joseph Dwelley first settled on the banks of the Skagit River, where the city of Mount Vernon is located. Harrison Clothier arrived in 1877 to teach school and joined in business with a former student, E.G. English. Clothier and English were later recognized as the city's founders and pioneer businessmen. The post office was established in November 1877 and Clothier was appointed postmaster. The city was named after Mount Vernon, VA, the plantation estate and resting place of George Washington. The two men laid out the city's first plan while the area was still heavily timbered. Mount Vernon's first industry was logging and camps were set up to log the new town site. 

The community grew quickly following the loggers. Hotels and saloons sprang up along the Skagit River next to English & Clothiers' store. The town wanted to grow, but ships could not reach the new community due to a massive and ancient log jam in the river. Mail carriers had to paddle canoes upstream from nearby Skagit City. 

In 1880 mining activity at nearby Ruby Creek spurred growth for a short time, and the town gained a new hotel, but little else was accomplished when the mines didn't produce what they had hoped for. More logging operations were established but these enterproses were not profitable due to the low price of logs at the time. By 1881, Mount Vernon's permanent population was 75.

Growth in the 1880s was slow but steady. In 1882, the Odd Fellows Lodge was established, followed by the first newspaper in 1884, The Skagit News. The Baptist church was established in 1884 but they didn't build a permanent building for several more years. 

In November of 1884, Mount Vernon's future was secured when it was chosen for the new Skagit County seat, taking the designation away from La Conner. The Odd fellows building, which was built the following year, served the county's needs until a permanent building was built.

Mount Vernon's growth was helped by its central location in reference to the mining, logging and farming communities of the eastern and central parts of the county as well as its access to Puget Sound. The only thing it was lacking was a railroad connection to the outside world.

In 1889 a committee was appointed to negotiate with the railroads. Their efforts paid off when the Great Northern Railway agreed to lay their tracks through the city. The line was completed in 1891. Mount Vernon was also in the process of convincing the Seattle, Lake Shore & Eastern Railway to build its line to Mt. Vernon.

This deal fell through after the railroad was acquired by Northern Pacific who chose to lay the tracks further east through Sedro-Woolley in 1896. This didn't matter much as the Great Northern's arrival caused great excitment and in turn prosperity for Mount Vernon. The railroad enticed hundreds of new businesses and residents to move to Mount Vernon.

The town experienced its first of many fires in 1891 when several blocks along the waterfront were destroyed. These buildings were quickly replaced. Also in 1891 was the construction of several large civic structures such as a large brick schoolhouse on the hill above the city as well as the Mount Vernon Opera House, designed by Peacock & Dalton.

Mount Vernon was officially incorporated on July 5, 1893. That same year, a large brick courthouse was built on Main street, which still stands today. Due to the area's stable economy, Mount Vernon never had a boom and bust like some of the other towns did when the economy crashed in 1893. Though growth did slow considerably after the "Panic of 1893." 

In 1894 the town was flooded by the swollen Skagit River, and afterwards the first dike was built to protect the town. Another great fire occurred in 1900 and it wiped out all of Mount Vernon's original structures including English & Clothiers' store and the Ruby Hotel. Another fire would destroy more downtown businesses in 1903. 

Mount Vernon finally received a water system in 1902 after a failed attempt back in 1894. The town again grew in the 1910's when it became the southern terminus for the Bellingham & Skagit Railway's interurban trolley line, which would carry passengers as well as freight between Bellingham and Mount Vernon and the line also served Burlington and Sedro-Woolley.

The trolley line opened on August 31, 1912, with passenger trips to Bellingham every two hours during the day and freight operating at night. Mount Vernon business owners soon began pressuring the trolley company, since renamed the Pacific Northwest Traction Company, to extend the rails south to connect with the interurban line in Everett. This did not occur.

This was because the trolley company was plagued by a weakening economy, at the onset of America's entrance into World War I in 1917 which caused umerous infrastructure failures that led to line closures for months at a time. The extension of the line was put off indefinitely. 

The completion of the Pacific Highway between Seattle and Bellingham posed a great threat to the still incomplete interurban line. After a series of accidents and bridge wash outs, passenger service on the money-losing line was permanently suspended in June of 1930.

In 1969, Interstate 5 was built through downtown, severing it from most of the residential district and opening the farm lands north of the city to urban development, where many of Mount Vernon's downtown businesses moved.