The Last of the Snohomish Hilltop Landmark
A historic rock formation, long a gathering place for locals to view the Cascade Mountains and Mount Rainier, is dismantled to build bridge piers.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
Adieu to the huge rock which rested for years upon the hill in the rear of the Methodist church. For a time it stood for the city land. And for many years, since the first of the town, this rock was a landmark and the resort of many a curiosity seeker, who would take a position on its highest surface and view the snow-capped summits of the Cascades, the Coast range, Mount Rainier and the beautiful valley of the Snohomish river. Go to that spot now and you see only the fragments of its once perfect form. Since the demand for stone to fill the piers of the Pike back bridge, the city council ordered this rock used for that purpose, and this morning Street Commissioner Coffey hauled the last of it to the bridge.
“For many years, since the first of the town, this rock was a landmark and the resort of many a curiosity seeker.”
This 1892 report captures the tension between local sentiment and civic development—a struggle that defines the modern Pacific Northwest. Just as the Snohomish community watched a beloved natural landmark be sacrificed for infrastructure, today's residents grapple with the loss of neighborhood character in the face of rapid, urgent growth.
From readers
No comments yet. If you know something about this story — a correction, a family memory, a source — it belongs here.