The Stench of the Exchange
A Snohomish newspaper takes aim at an upstream sanitation disaster, warning that the town’s growth is outpacing its infrastructure.
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.
The Siwash ranch in the lower end of town is a great nuisance. It, in connection with the little stream which washes across the road the offal from the rear of the Exchange, sends forth the most abominable stench imaginable, and unless abated may be the cause of disease, in addition to the offense to the olfactories of the passer by.
“It sends forth the most abominable stench imaginable, and unless abated may be the cause of disease.”
A century and a half later, Snohomish still grapples with the tension between its rapid growth and the limits of its aging infrastructure. This 1878 complaint about a 'nuisance' stream mirrors modern frustrations with river pollution and civic planning in the face of development.
From readers
No comments yet. If you know something about this story — a correction, a family memory, a source — it belongs here.