The Snohomish Hotel: A Hub for Loggers and Travelers
An 1870s advertisement captures the life of a frontier hostelry, promising 'first-class board' and the best liquor north of San Francisco for those taming the Pacific Northwest wilderness.
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.
This hotel is the best in Snohomish County, in every respect. First-class board is always furnished at moderate rates. The bar is supplied with the best ales and liquors north of San Francisco. Also a first-class billiard table to accommodate the patrons of this house. Sam Cathcart, Proprietor.
“The bar is supplied with the best ales and liquors north of San Francisco.”
While today’s Snohomish is defined by its historic preservation and boutique hospitality, 19th-century establishments like Cathcart’s were the essential infrastructure of the frontier—providing not just a bed, but the central social exchange for laborers and travelers working in the timber industry.
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