The River Eats the Office: A Snohomish Flood Story
In January 1877, the Snohomish River rose so high that it swallowed the rear of the Northern Star newspaper office, threatening to wash away the town's press along with its ink.
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.
LAND SLIDE.—About ten feet of the river bank in the rear of this office slid into the stream Tuesday night. A few more tides come and the STA'S office and all will be left a wreck.
Local Items. ... The river has been very high all this week. It is now gut madman.
Snohomish.—Rev. J. H. Thompson, of Lynden, will preach in the second house in this city on Sunday, January 21, 1877, morning and evening.
While modern Snohomish has levees and flood control, the threat from the Snohomish River remains a defining feature of life here. This 1877 account captures the raw vulnerability of early settlement, where infrastructure was literally built on the edge of the water, and a single high tide could erase local business assets.
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