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The Grand Hotel That Will Define a Territory

A new five-story hotel rising on Main Street promises to transform Snohomish from a frontier town into the 'best city' of Washington Territory.

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.

We call the attention of our readers to the advertisement of Putnam & Young of Seattle, W.T., who have the agency for 'The Atlantic Monthly,' the only literary magazine published on the coast. The price is one dollar and fifty cents per year.

But let us turn to the most significant development in town: The new hotel being erected by Messrs. Putnam & Young. This structure will have a frontage on Commercial Street of 56 feet, and 98 feet on Main Street, and be three stories in height. This new structure, together with the old building in the rear which it will adjoin, will cover the entire lot which is 100 feet in size... and when completed will not only be the best building in the Territory but will provide great accommodation to the public, and at the same time add much to the appearance, if not to the business, of that portion of the city.

Building—Many new buildings are now in process of construction in this city than any former period of its history; and at the rate they are now being put up, it is safe to say that this place, in less than twelve months time, will assume such proportions which will impress every visitor with the conviction that the word 'city' is applied to Snohomish no misnomer.

Then · 1876150 years apartNow · 2026

In 1876, Snohomish was undergoing a rapid transformation from a logging camp to a civic center, driven by ambitious developers like Putnam & Young who believed that grand architecture would legitimize the town's status. Today, Snohomish continues to balance its historic identity with modern development pressures, where new construction often sparks debates about preserving heritage versus accommodating growth and density.

The original page

The Northern Star (Snohomish City, W.T. [Wash.]) 1876-1879, 1876-03-18. Library of Congress, Chronicling America.

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About this story

From
The Northern Star (Snohomish City, W.T. [Wash.]) 1876-1879, MAR 18, 1876, Page 3
Rights
Public domain
Place
48.00747, -121.73049 · placed automatically
The paper in the Library of Congress catalog ↗