The Snohomish Valley’s First Great Showcase
In 1877, Snohomish County debuted its first agricultural fair, a high-stakes effort to prove the region’s soil and industry could rival the rest of the 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.
On Thursday, Friday and Saturday of next week, will be held the third annual fair of the Snohomish County Agricultural Society in the Masonic Building in this place. This is the first fair ever held in this county. No effort will be spared to make it the best one ever held in the county. The writer saw the state fair in Seattle, the week after the Territorial fair held at Olympia, and the regular state fair in Salem, Oregon. We need not make our fair to compare unfavorably with these, if the energy of the officers of the society is properly seconded by citizens of the county. The reputation of the whole county is at stake, and none have a right to shirk in this matter. We do not know that any will; on the contrary, we think that the efforts of the society will be properly sustained. Arrangements are made by which all articles left with Messrs. Ferguson, Funk and Co., the committee on storage, can be entered at any time after this date. The books will be left with Dr. Folsom, who will attend to this matter.
“The reputation of the whole county is at stake, and none have a right to shirk in this matter.”
Early Snohomish history was defined by the struggle to prove the valley was more than just logging wilderness; farmers had to fight the narrative that the land was only fit for the timber industry. Today, as Snohomish balances its agricultural heritage with rapid residential expansion, the 1877 impulse to prove the county's 'reputation is at stake' still resonates in our local debates over zoning and land use.
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