Historic Skykomish tavern destroyed in arson fire

Originally named the Olympia Tavern (right), the Whistling Post Tavern was one of Skykomish's notable historic buildings.

The Sky Valley Chronicle reports that the historic Whistling Post Tavern in Skykomish was destroyed by fire Tuesday morning, and officials are now saying the blaze was likely arson.

The tavern first opened in 1897 as the Olympia Tavern & Pool Hall.

Skykomish got its start thanks to the Great Northern Railway, which was seeking a route to the Puget Sound through the Cascade Mountains. An expedition by John F. Stevens in 1890 led to the discovery of what we now know as Stevens Pass, and construction commenced.

Tiny downtown Skykomish has seen two major fires, the first in 1904 (during which the Olympia Tavern was destroyed, but rebuilt in 1905), then again in 1970.

Fire remains one of the great major threats to historic preservation in Washington State and the western U.S., where so many buildings were built from the once plentiful timber harvested from the mountains and foothills. It is even more devastating, as in the case of the Whistling Stop, that the fire was set intentionally.

The current owners are saying they plan to rebuild, and I hope they do... I've also been hoping restoration of the amazing four story Skykomish Hotel will occur in the near future. Unfortunately, it appears there is much weirdness going on between city government and the owners, whose blog is rather eyebrow raising, to say the least.

If you'd like to explore more of Skykomish's history, check out the Skykomish Historical Society's site.

Three views of Arlington, part three

For the final views of Arlington's historic "Old Town," I sadly only have two images, which have a lapse of some 40 or more years between them. Perhaps some kind soul out there might have a view of Olympic Avenue from the 1970s or 1980s (although this was an era when many of the historic building facades were replaced with "modern" -- but much less attractive -- architectural detailing).

This view is from sometime in the 1960s, again showing the "heart" of downtown, E. 3rd Street and Olympic Avenue. The brick building is still in place on the northwest corner. City Hall is situated on the southwest side, which at the time also housed the police and fire departments (remember, at this time Arlington's population was approximately 2,500).

This final view of Arlington's historic "Old Town," was photographed by yours truly in March 2008, and shows the results of the completed street resurfacing that had taken place over the course of a two year period.

Arlington is truly an example of the adage "the more things change, the more they remain the same." While there were obviously significant changes in the structures along Railroad/Olympic in the first half of the 20th century, not much has changed since then. While the town has grown to a population of more than 17,000, "Old Town" remains ageless, in a way. That is a rare quality in this day and age.

If you missed the earlier views, part one is here; and part two can be found here.

Three views of Arlington, part two

In the second era of Arlington's downtown core, Railroad Avenue became Olympic Avenue, and was photographed extensively by J. Boyd Ellis and his son Clifford of the Ellis Postcard Company*, located right here in Arlington.

Here are three Ellis views of the intersection of Olympic Avenue and E. 3rd Street.

The first view shows more of the east side of the intersection, and by the looks of the cars on the street, may be from the 1930s (before there was a stoplight). Just out of the screen shot to the left is City Hall.

The second and third views look to be taken sometime in the 1940s, based on the cars in the photo. The third view provides a better glimpse of the City Hall building.

If you missed part one, click here.

*Boyd and his son Clifford were prolific postcard photographers for the better part of half of the 20th century, documenting towns and landscapes from Washington, Oregon, California, Idaho and beyond. I will be writing about them more as this blog progresses.

Three views of Arlington, part one

What better place to start than with some images of my "hometown" of Arlington, Wash.

This first batch of postcard views shows Arlington in its earliest days at the turn of the 19th century. Arlington was incorporated as a town in 1903. At that time the main street in town was called Railroad Avenue, as the Northern Pacific Railroad line paralleled the street north/south (in all of these views, the tracks are on the left, outside of the frame).

Postmarked 1900.

Postmarked 1907.

No postmark. Probably 1910-1920.

Postmarked 1912.

Note in each of the views the location of the trees on the western side of the street, and the electric poles on the east side. From there you can probably estimate which cross streets are intersecting Railroad Avenue. Note also the hotel and drug store on the right side in the second and fourth images.


Editor's Note: I've split this topic into three parts, as I just discovered a cache of images I thought had disappeared forever! Please bear with me.