The Rapid Rise of Sedro
A reporter recounts a trip to the burgeoning Skagit River town, which has transformed from a forest clearing to a rail hub in mere months.
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.
A HERALD reporter last Friday took a trip over the Fairhaven and Southern railroad to Sedro and was surprised to find such an energetic and beautiful town, where five months ago there was only an opening in the vast forests. The trip from this city is made in about two hours. Sedro was started about three months ago and now has a population of about 600 persons. On every side of Sedro extend the forests for miles, and from this vast area of timber land is taken the larger part of the logs that are cut by the mills of the Puget Sound. During the coming summer, Sedro expects to reap a large harvest from the mineral regions that are near and tributary to the town. The town site was laid out by the Fairhaven Land company, with Joseph M. Blain as general manager. In the past six weeks, twenty-five new store buildings have been erected and many others are contemplated.
“A HERALD reporter last Friday took a trip... and was surprised to find such an energetic and beautiful town, where five months ago there was only an opening in the vast forests.”
This reflects the hyper-accelerated urban planning characteristic of the Washington boom era. While Sedro-Woolley survives today, the 'railroad mania' described here captures the frantic pace at which Washington towns were platted and promoted by land syndicates.
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