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Darrington is a town in
Snohomish County Snohomish County () is a county located in the U.S. state of Washington. With a population of 827,957 as of the 2020 census, it is the third-most populous county in Washington, after nearby King and Pierce counties, and the 72nd-most popul ...
,
Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...
, United States. It is located in a
North Cascades The North Cascades are a section of the Cascade Range of western North America. They span the border between the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of British Columbia and the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington and ...
mountain valley formed by the Sauk and North Fork Stillaguamish rivers. Darrington is connected to nearby areas by State Route 530, which runs along the two rivers towards the city of
Arlington Arlington most often refers to: *Arlington, Virginia **Arlington National Cemetery, a United States military cemetery *Arlington, Texas Arlington may also refer to: Places Australia *Arlington light rail station, on the Inner West Light Rail in S ...
, located to the west, and Rockport. It had a population of 1,347 at the 2010 census. Non-indigenous settlement in the area began in 1891 at the site of a Skagit campsite between the two rivers, near the traditional home of the
Sauk-Suiattle The Sauk-Suiattle Indian Tribe (; Commonly known as the Sauk-Suiattle Tribe) is a federally-recognized tribe of Sauk people located in western Washington state. The tribe historically lived along the banks of the Sauk, Suiattle, Cascade, Stil ...
tribe.
Prospectors Prospecting is the first stage of the geological analysis (followed by exploration) of a territory. It is the search for minerals, fossils, precious metals, or mineral specimens. It is also known as fossicking. Traditionally prospecting rel ...
had arrived in the area during the 1880s while looking for
gold Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...
and other minerals, but were quickly displaced by the
logging Logging is the process of cutting, processing, and moving trees to a location for transport. It may include skidder, skidding, on-site processing, and loading of trees or trunk (botany), logs onto logging truck, trucksNorthern Pacific Railway The Northern Pacific Railway was an important American transcontinental railroad that operated across the northern tier of the Western United States, from Minnesota to the Pacific Northwest between 1864 and 1970. It was approved and chartered b ...
built a
branch line A branch line is a secondary railway line which branches off a more important through route, usually a main line. A very short branch line may be called a spur line. Branch lines may serve one or more industries, or a city or town not located ...
to the town in 1901 and ushered in several years of growth. During the
Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...
, Darrington hosted a
Civilian Conservation Corps The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) was a voluntary government unemployment, work relief program that ran from 1933 to 1942 in the United States for unemployed, unmarried men ages 18–25 and eventually expanded to ages 17–28. The CCC was ...
camp that improved roads, trails, and firefighting infrastructure in the nearby Mount Baker National Forest. Several waves of Appalachian emigrants arrived in the area from
North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...
, forming a culture that is seen in the town's annual bluegrass festival and
rodeo Rodeo () is a competitive equestrian sport that arose out of the working practices of cattle herding in Spain and Mexico, expanding throughout the Americas and to other nations. It was originally based on the skills required of the working vaqu ...
. Darrington was incorporated as a town in 1945, under a
mayor–council government A mayor–council government is a system of local government in which a mayor who is directly elected by the voters acts as chief executive, while a separately elected city council constitutes the legislative body. It is one of the two most comm ...
. Its economy has transitioned away from logging and towards tourism, particularly outdoor activities such as hiking, mountain climbing, and fishing, due to its proximity to the
Mount Baker–Snoqualmie National Forest The Mount Baker–Snoqualmie National Forest in Washington (state), Washington is a United States National Forest, National Forest extending more than along the western slopes of the Cascade Range from the Canada–United States border, Canada� ...
. The Darrington area is above
sea level Mean sea level (MSL, often shortened to sea level) is an mean, average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal Body of water, bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical ...
and receives significantly more precipitation and
snowfall Snow consists of individual ice crystals that grow while suspended in the atmosphere—usually within clouds—and then fall, accumulating on the ground where they undergo further changes. It consists of frozen crystalline water througho ...
than the Puget Sound lowlands.


History


Prehistory and early exploration

The upper Stillaguamish and Sauk valleys on the Sauk, Suiattle, and White Chuck rivers were historically inhabited by various Native American
Coast Salish The Coast Salish peoples are a group of ethnically and linguistically related Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast, living in the Canadian province of British Columbia and the U.S. states of Washington and Oregon. They speak on ...
groups, including the Stillaguamish, the
Sauk-Suiattle The Sauk-Suiattle Indian Tribe (; Commonly known as the Sauk-Suiattle Tribe) is a federally-recognized tribe of Sauk people located in western Washington state. The tribe historically lived along the banks of the Sauk, Suiattle, Cascade, Stil ...
, and the
Upper Skagit The Upper Skagit Indian Tribe () is a List of federally recognized tribes in the contiguous United States, federally-recognized Indian tribe located in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington. The tribe is the successor-in-interest to ap ...
. The Sauk-Suiattle maintained a village site and burial ground near modern-day Darrington, while the Skagit used the plain between the Stillaguamish and Sauk rivers as a
portage Portage or portaging ( CA: ; ) is the practice of carrying water craft or cargo over land, either around an obstacle in a river, or between two bodies of water. A path where items are regularly carried between bodies of water is also called a '' ...
for overland transport of canoes. The portage,
Anglicized Anglicisation or anglicization is a form of cultural assimilation whereby something non-English becomes assimilated into or influenced by the culture of England. It can be sociocultural, in which a non-English place adopts the English language ...
as Kudsl Kudsl or Kuds-al-kaid, was also used as a transiting point for travelers from
Eastern Washington Eastern Washington is the region of the U.S. state of Washington located east of the Cascade Range. It contains the city of Spokane (the second largest city in the state), the Tri-Cities, the Columbia River and the Grand Coulee Dam, the H ...
on their way to and from the
Puget Sound Puget Sound ( ; ) is a complex estuary, estuarine system of interconnected Marine habitat, marine waterways and basins located on the northwest coast of the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington. As a part of the Salish Sea, the sound ...
coast. The area was known as Burn or Sauk Portage to early surveyors and visitors from towns along the Puget Sound coastline. A group of railroad surveyors for the
Northern Pacific Railway The Northern Pacific Railway was an important American transcontinental railroad that operated across the northern tier of the Western United States, from Minnesota to the Pacific Northwest between 1864 and 1970. It was approved and chartered b ...
arrived in modern-day Darrington in 1870 while plotting the potential route for a railroad crossing the Cascades to
Lake Chelan Lake Chelan ( ) is a narrow, long lake in Chelan County, north-central Washington state, U.S. It is an overdeepened lake and resembles a fjord, with an average width of . Near its upper end, the lake surface lies more than below peaks less t ...
, but ultimately chose
Stampede Pass Stampede Pass (elevation ) is a mountain pass in the Pacific Northwest, northwest United States, through the Cascade Range in Washington (state), Washington. Southeast of Seattle and east of Tacoma, Washington, Tacoma, its importance to transport ...
to the south. The North Stillaguamish Valley was nicknamed "Starve Out" by early settlers, who arrived alone and underprepared for the area's conditions, leading to several difficult winters. Soldiers sent to the area by the valley settlers threatened to evict the Sauk-Suiattles; this did not occur as the settlers' claim that the Sauk-Suiattle were hostile and had attacked them was determined to be unfounded. The tribe later hired surveyors to record their claims to the eastern side of the Sauk River, lands that currently comprise their
Indian reservation An American Indian reservation is an area of land land tenure, held and governed by a List of federally recognized tribes in the contiguous United States#Description, U.S. federal government-recognized Native American tribal nation, whose gov ...
. The discovery of gold and other valuable minerals in the Monte Cristo area in 1889 lured prospectors into the North Cascades and stimulated the development of the surrounding valleys. A
wagon road ''Wagon Train'' is an American Western television series that aired for eight seasons, first on the NBC television network (1957–1962) and then on ABC (1962–1965). ''Wagon Train'' debuted on September 18, 1957, and reached the top of the N ...
along the Sauk River connecting Monte Cristo to Sauk Prairie and the settlement of
Sauk City Sauk City is a village in Sauk County, Wisconsin, United States, located along the Wisconsin River. The population was 3,518 as of the 2020 census. The first incorporated village in the state, the community was founded by Agoston Haraszthy and h ...
on the
Skagit River The Skagit River ( ) is a river in southwestern British Columbia in Canada and northwestern Washington (state), Washington in the United States, approximately 150 mi (240 km) long. The river and its tributaries drain an area of 1.7&nbs ...
was built in 1891, later forming part of the modern
Mountain Loop Highway The Mountain Loop Highway is a scenic byway in the U.S. state of Washington (U.S. state), Washington. It traverses the western section of the Cascade Range within Snohomish County, Washington, Snohomish County. The name suggests it forms a full ...
. It was only used for three years before being replaced by the
Everett and Monte Cristo Railway The Everett and Monte Cristo Railway was built to transport gold and silver ores from mines in the central Cascade Mountains to a smelter in Everett, Washington. After the first mining claims were staked in 1889, entrepreneurs began exploring t ...
to the south; until that time, the Sauk Prairie at the modern site of Darrington was an overnight camping spot for prospectors. Nearby areas were explored by prospectors who made over a hundred claims to tracts of land in the highlands around the valley, including Gold Hill.


Establishment and early development

The Sauk Prairie campsite evolved into a settlement that was known as "The Portage" and developed around several homesteads established between 1888 and 1891. A vote on a name was held by several pioneer residents in July 1891 in advance of the establishment of a
post office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letter (message), letters and parcel (package), parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post o ...
. The vote was tied between two options, Portage (in some accounts, Norma) and Darrington, the
maiden name When a person (traditionally the wife in many cultures) assumes the family name of their spouse, in some countries and cultures that name replaces the person's previous surname, which in the case of the wife is called the maiden name ("birth name" ...
of settler W. W. Cristopher's mother. According to some reports, the name was originally to be "Barrington" but was changed due to a mistake from the Postal Department or by the townspeople to resemble the word "dare". By the end of the decade, the town had gained a
school A school is the educational institution (and, in the case of in-person learning, the Educational architecture, building) designed to provide learning environments for the teaching of students, usually under the direction of teachers. Most co ...
house, a
general store A general merchant store (also known as general merchandise store, general dealer, village shop, or country store) is a rural or small-town store that carries a general line of merchandise. It carries a broad selection of merchandise, someti ...
, a
hotel A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. Facilities provided inside a hotel room may range from a modest-quality mattress in a small room to large suites with bigger, higher-quality beds, a dresser, a re ...
, and a
postmaster A postmaster is the head of an individual post office, responsible for all postal activities in a specific post office. When a postmaster is responsible for an entire mail distribution organization (usually sponsored by a national government), ...
, Fred Olds, whose horse inspired the naming of Whitehorse Mountain. Darrington's residents lobbied the Seattle and International Railway for the construction of a
branch line A branch line is a secondary railway line which branches off a more important through route, usually a main line. A very short branch line may be called a spur line. Branch lines may serve one or more industries, or a city or town not located ...
from
Arlington Arlington most often refers to: *Arlington, Virginia **Arlington National Cemetery, a United States military cemetery *Arlington, Texas Arlington may also refer to: Places Australia *Arlington light rail station, on the Inner West Light Rail in S ...
to the town as early as 1895, offering a 15-year contract to ship 75 percent of the area's extracted
ore Ore is natural rock or sediment that contains one or more valuable minerals, typically including metals, concentrated above background levels, and that is economically viable to mine and process. The grade of ore refers to the concentration ...
s. The railroad agreed to the offer and began construction in 1900. It later merged with the Northern Pacific Railway, outpacing Great Northern and their plans to build a railroad to their timber holdings in the Sauk River valley. Railway crews arrived in the Darrington area by the following year and the first train arrived at the town's depot in 1901. Several
sawmill A sawmill (saw mill, saw-mill) or lumber mill is a facility where logging, logs are cut into lumber. Modern sawmills use a motorized saw to cut logs lengthwise to make long pieces, and crosswise to length depending on standard or custom sizes ...
s and other timber industries began in the years following the railroad's completion, as mining fortunes in the surrounding area dwindled. Most of the original prospectors had left the Darrington area during the Klondike gold rush of the late 1890s, while those who remained established a single
smelter Smelting is a process of applying heat and a chemical reducing agent to an ore to extract a desired base metal product. It is a form of extractive metallurgy that is used to obtain many metals such as iron, copper, silver, tin, lead and zin ...
in the mountains. A
Bornite Bornite, also known as peacock ore, is a sulfide mineral with chemical composition that crystallizes in the orthorhombic system (pseudo-cubic). It is an important copper ore. Appearance Bornite has a brown to copper-red color on fresh surfa ...
mine was later developed at Long Mountain in hopes of reviving mining in the area, but was abandoned after its mineral deposits were found to be smaller than expected. By 1906, Darrington had more than a hundred residents; a second hotel and the town's first
social club A social club or social organization may be a group of people or the place where they meet, generally formed around a common interest, occupation or activity with in an organizational association known as a Club (organization), club. Exampl ...
had been built. The U.S. Lumber Company, which began in 1901 as the Allen Mill, was the largest employer in Darrington during the early 1910s, producing 23,000
board feet The board foot or board-foot is a unit of measurement for the volume of lumber in the United States and Canada. It equals the volume of a board that is in length, one foot in width, and in thickness, or exactly liters. Board foot can be abbrev ...
(54.28 m) of wood per day. U.S. Lumber angered the townspeople by hiring 21
Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...
laborers at similar wages to their white counterparts. In June 1910, a mob of white men rioted and drove the Japanese out of town after little resistance, paying for their train fare to Everett after allowing them to retrieve their belongings. A report by Seattle-based vice-consul Kinjiro Hayashi was forwarded to the Japanese ambassador and state government. The company filed for an
injunction An injunction is an equitable remedy in the form of a special court order compelling a party to do or refrain from doing certain acts. It was developed by the English courts of equity but its origins go back to Roman law and the equitable rem ...
after rioters had threatened to burn its Darrington mill and other properties should it attempt to return the Japanese laborers. The injunction was denied, but the townspeople relented and allowed 20 Japanese laborers to return to the mill a week later following
Prince Fushimi Hiroyasu was a scion of the Japanese imperial family and a career naval officer who served as chief of staff of the Imperial Japanese Navy from 1932 to 1941. Early life Prince Hiroyasu was born in Tokyo as Prince Narukata, the eldest son of Prince F ...
's visit to Seattle.


Early 20th century

Darrington's residents resisted the county government's dry plan to prohibit the sale of alcohol and close the town's saloons. They circulated a petition to
incorporate Incorporation may refer to: * Incorporation (business), the creation of a business or corporation * Incorporation of a place, the creation of municipal corporation such as a city or county * Incorporation (academic), awarding a degree based on the ...
Darrington as a fourth-class city in order to continue alcohol sales, but the attempt was thwarted after protests by U.S. Lumber and several civic leaders. On July 5, 1910, the town voted 46–35 in favor of remaining a "wet" settlement, but the countywide plebiscite the same day passed in favor of prohibition. The town grew substantially in the early 1920s, with new sawmills attracting more residents and businesses. The wagon road along the North Fork Stillaguamish River (now part of State Route 530) was improved. A local improvement club established a
fire department A fire department (North American English) or fire brigade (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English), also known as a fire company, fire authority, fire district, fire and rescue, or fire service in some areas, is an organi ...
, a municipal
water supply Water supply is the provision of water by public utilities, commercial organisations, community endeavors or by individuals, usually via a system of pumps and pipes. Public water supply systems are crucial to properly functioning societies. Th ...
, and electrical service.
Standard Oil Standard Oil Company was a Trust (business), corporate trust in the petroleum industry that existed from 1882 to 1911. The origins of the trust lay in the operations of the Standard Oil of Ohio, Standard Oil Company (Ohio), which had been founde ...
built an auxiliary
gas station A filling station (also known as a gas station [] or petrol station []) is a facility that sells fuel and engine lubricants for motor vehicles. The most common fuels sold are gasoline (or petrol) and diesel fuel. Fuel dispensers are used to ...
in 1922 to serve the area, and a
stagecoach A stagecoach (also: stage coach, stage, road coach, ) is a four-wheeled public transport coach used to carry paying passengers and light packages on journeys long enough to need a change of horses. It is strongly sprung and generally drawn by ...
service started at the same time. Darrington gained its first
movie theater A movie theater (American English) or cinema (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English), also known as a movie house, cinema hall, picture house, picture theater, the movies, the pictures, or simply theater, is a business ...
in 1923, a
high school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., ...
in 1925, and a purpose-built
jail A prison, also known as a jail, gaol, penitentiary, detention center, correction center, correctional facility, or remand center, is a facility where people are imprisoned under the authority of the state, usually as punishment for various cr ...
that replaced a disused
boxcar A boxcar is the North American (Association of American Railroads, AAR) and South Australian Railways term for a Railroad car#Freight cars, railroad car that is enclosed and generally used to carry freight. The boxcar, while not the simpl ...
. Falling lumber prices during the
Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...
led several small sawmills in the Darrington area to suspend operations for a full year and laying off most of the town's workforce in late 1930. The town suffered outbreaks of
scarlet fever Scarlet fever, also known as scarlatina, is an infectious disease caused by ''Streptococcus pyogenes'', a Group A streptococcus (GAS). It most commonly affects children between five and 15 years of age. The signs and symptoms include a sore ...
and
smallpox Smallpox was an infectious disease caused by Variola virus (often called Smallpox virus), which belongs to the genus '' Orthopoxvirus''. The last naturally occurring case was diagnosed in October 1977, and the World Health Organization (W ...
in 1931, followed by winter storms that damaged bridges and roads in the Sauk valley. The
Civilian Conservation Corps The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) was a voluntary government unemployment, work relief program that ran from 1933 to 1942 in the United States for unemployed, unmarried men ages 18–25 and eventually expanded to ages 17–28. The CCC was ...
(CCC) work program established Camp Darrington on May 20, 1933, to provide employment for up to 200 men from northern Snohomish County. The townspeople established a local
cooperative A cooperative (also known as co-operative, coöperative, co-op, or coop) is "an autonomy, autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly owned a ...
association in 1935 to create jobs, including 33 at an independent sawmill, and provide services at a shared cost. Camp Darrington was primarily used to fight
wildfire A wildfire, forest fire, or a bushfire is an unplanned and uncontrolled fire in an area of Combustibility and flammability, combustible vegetation. Depending on the type of vegetation present, a wildfire may be more specifically identified as a ...
s and develop infrastructure in the Darrington district of the Mount Baker National Forest, including roads, trails, and a series of
fire lookout tower A fire lookout tower, fire tower, or lookout tower is a tower that provides housing and protection for a person known as a " fire lookout", whose duty it is to search for wildfires in the wilderness. It is a small building, usually on the summit ...
s atop nearby mountains. Among its projects was the
Mountain Loop Highway The Mountain Loop Highway is a scenic byway in the U.S. state of Washington (U.S. state), Washington. It traverses the western section of the Cascade Range within Snohomish County, Washington, Snohomish County. The name suggests it forms a full ...
, which provided connections between
ranger station A ranger station is a building complex typically including a dwelling and outbuildings which support a ranger or other guardian of a wilderness or national forest area. For example, the Cold Meadows Guard Station in Idaho County, Idaho, United S ...
s in Darrington and Granite Falls and also opened up the Cascades backcountry to logging and recreation. The camp employed the first wave of Appalachian emigrants from
North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...
, who would eventually form a majority of the town's population. Camp Darrington workers also assisted in the creation of two winter sports areas that were equipped with
ski run A ''piste'' () is a marked ski run or path down a mountain for snow skiing, snowboarding, or other mountain sports. This European term is French
s,
toboggan A toboggan is a simple sled used in snowy winter recreation. It is also a traditional form of cargo transport used by the Innu, Cree and Ojibwe of North America, sometimes part of a dog train. It is used on snow to carry one or more people (o ...
trails, and a
ski jump Ski jumping is a winter sport in which competitors aim to achieve the farthest jump after sliding down on their skis from a specially designed curved ramp. Along with jump length, competitor's aerial style and other factors also affect the fin ...
. The
Works Progress Administration The Works Progress Administration (WPA; from 1935 to 1939, then known as the Work Projects Administration from 1939 to 1943) was an American New Deal agency that employed millions of jobseekers (mostly men who were not formally educated) to car ...
, another federal jobs program, provided funds to replace the town's overcrowded high school in 1936.


Incorporation and decline of lumber

Darrington reached a population of 600 residents in 1945 and was officially incorporated as a fourth-class town on October 15, 1945, following a 96–60 vote in favor. The townspeople celebrated by establishing an annual summer festival, the Timberbowl, which ran until 1967 and was initially used to raise funds for a
fire engine A fire engine or fire truck (also spelled firetruck) is a vehicle, usually a specially designed or modified truck, that functions as a firefighting apparatus. The primary purposes of a fire engine include transporting firefighters and water to ...
and other equipment. A two-story
town hall In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or municipal hall (in the Philippines) is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses the city o ...
was built in 1947, housing the town council chambers, offices for town officials, the
police department The police are a constituted body of people empowered by a state with the aim of enforcing the law and protecting the public order as well as the public itself. This commonly includes ensuring the safety, health, and possessions of citize ...
, the fire department, and a
public library A public library is a library, most often a lending library, that is accessible by the general public and is usually funded from public sources, such as taxes. It is operated by librarians and library paraprofessionals, who are also Civil servic ...
. In 1952, the town built a dedicated
community center A community centre, community center, or community hall is a public location where members of a community gather for group activities, social support, public information, and other purposes. They may be open for the whole community or for a sp ...
to serve as a venue for various social functions and a general gymnasium with seating for 1,200 people. A new high school and municipal airport opened in 1958 at opposite ends of the town. Railroad companies with large timber holdings in the area began to leave in the 1960s, leading to the rise of independent " gyppo" loggers who salvaged discarded timber while under contract to regional paper mills. A large
open-pit mine Open-pit mining, also known as open-cast or open-cut mining and in larger contexts mega-mining, is a surface mining technique that extracts rock or minerals from the earth. Open-pit mines are used when deposits of commercially useful ore or ...
on Miners Ridge planned by Kennecott in the late 1960s was halted after intervention from environmental activists and local politicians. Northern Pacific ended passenger rail service to the Darrington area in the 1960s, and the passenger depot was demolished in 1967. The railroad was eventually abandoned in 1990 and its
right-of-way A right of way (also right-of-way) is a specific route that people, animals, vehicles, watercraft, or utility lines travel, or the legal status that gives them the right to do so. Rights-of-way in the physical sense include controlled-access h ...
was acquired by the county for conversion into a
rail trail A rail trail or railway walk is a shared-use path on a Right of way#Rail right of way, railway right of way. Rail trails are typically constructed after a railway has been abandoned and the track has been removed but may also share the rail corr ...
. The gyppo operations gave way to a small local timber company, Summit Timber, which acquired the largest sawmill in Darrington, now the Hampton mill. Several smaller mills in Darrington and surrounding communities, including four for cedar shakes, closed during the 1960s, leading to further population decline. The area's timber industry was also adversely affected by tighter logging restrictions on federal lands during the 1980s and 1990s meant to protect the mountain habitats of threatened and endangered species, including the
northern spotted owl The northern spotted owl (''Strix occidentalis caurina'') is one of three spotted owl subspecies. A western North American bird in the family Strigidae, genus ''Strix (genus), Strix'', it is a medium-sized dark brown owl native to the Pacific N ...
. In response, Summit transitioned to processing private forests and lands managed by the
Washington State Department of Natural Resources The Washington State Department of Natural Resources (DNR) manages over of forest, rangeland, range, agricultural, and commercial lands in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington. The DNR also manages of aquatic areas which include sh ...
, maintaining its position as the town's largest employer. The loss of timber-industry jobs led to local protests, part of the " timber wars" that erupted across logging communities in the
Pacific Northwest The Pacific Northwest (PNW; ) is a geographic region in Western North America bounded by its coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains to the east. Though no official boundary exists, the most common ...
during the 1990s.


Tourism economy and modern Darrington

The town government sought to diversify Darrington's economy and focus on
tourism Tourism is travel for pleasure, and the Commerce, commercial activity of providing and supporting such travel. World Tourism Organization, UN Tourism defines tourism more generally, in terms which go "beyond the common perception of tourism as ...
as an alternate industry, creating new festivals and promoting its existing bluegrass festival and
rodeo Rodeo () is a competitive equestrian sport that arose out of the working practices of cattle herding in Spain and Mexico, expanding throughout the Americas and to other nations. It was originally based on the skills required of the working vaqu ...
. It adopted strong
land use Land use is an umbrella term to describe what happens on a parcel of land. It concerns the benefits derived from using the land, and also the land management actions that humans carry out there. The following categories are used for land use: fo ...
controls to preserve its rural character in the 1970s, which prevented new development until 2002. Darrington subsequently developed into a
bedroom community A commuter town is a populated area that is primarily residential rather than commercial or industrial. Routine travel from home to work and back is called commuting, which is where the term comes from. A commuter town may be called by many o ...
for commuters working in Everett and Marysville. Opposition from residents forced the town government to drop plans for a 400-bed minimum-security prison work camp in 1990. The town government unsuccessfully campaigned for a
NASCAR The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. It is considered to be one of the top ranked motorsports organizations in ...
racetrack and regional
swimming Swimming is the self-propulsion of a person through water, such as saltwater or freshwater environments, usually for recreation, sport, exercise, or survival. Swimmers achieve locomotion by coordinating limb and body movements to achieve hydrody ...
center in the early 2000s, aiming to become an all-year destination for the county. Several major floods in the late 1990s and early 2000s damaged properties along the rivers; in 2003, a flood
washed out Ernest Weatherly Greene Jr. (born October 3, 1982), known professionally as Washed Out, is an American singer, songwriter and record producer. Commonly associated with the chillwave genre in the 2010s, ''Pitchfork'' dubbed him "the godfather of ...
part of the Mountain Loop Highway. The highway was not restored until 2008, costing Darrington approximately $750,000 in tourist revenue and forcing several businesses to close. Darrington's main lumber mill laid off 67 workers in 2011, citing the effects of the
Great Recession The Great Recession was a period of market decline in economies around the world that occurred from late 2007 to mid-2009.
and declining demand. The town government, running on a small budget of $1.6 million, accepted several grants from the state to upgrade its water system and repair streets during the recession. On March 22, 2014, a major mudslide on a hillside near Oso, west of Darrington, destroyed dozens of homes and a section of State Route 530, cutting off direct road access between Arlington and Darrington for two months. It killed 43 people, becoming the deadliest landslide in U.S. history and the deadliest natural disaster in state history since the
1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens In March 1980, a series of volcanic explosions and pyroclastic flows began at Mount St. Helens in Skamania County, Washington, United States. A series of Phreatic eruption, phreatic blasts occurred from the summit and escalated until a major ...
. Darrington was one of the main staging areas for disaster response workers and supplies; the community center was used as an
emergency shelter An emergency shelter is a place for people to live temporarily when they cannot live in their previous residence, similar to homeless shelters. The main difference is that an emergency shelter typically specializes in people fleeing a specific ...
for victims and the
rodeo Rodeo () is a competitive equestrian sport that arose out of the working practices of cattle herding in Spain and Mexico, expanding throughout the Americas and to other nations. It was originally based on the skills required of the working vaqu ...
grounds became an animal shelter and housing for workers. State Route 530 was partially reopened by early June and a permanent replacement was opened in September. The increased costs to local businesses resulting from the long detour via State Route 20 were mitigated with low-interest loans from the
Small Business Administration The United States Small Business Administration (SBA) is an independent agency of the United States government that provides support to entrepreneurs and small businesses. The mission of the Small Business Administration is "to maintain and str ...
and recovery funds, including $9.5 million in private donations. The tourism industry in Darrington also received a state-funded advertising campaign, keeping revenue and visitation for local events at pre-slide levels. The state government, together with the Economic Alliance Snohomish County and
Washington State University Washington State University (WSU, or colloquially Wazzu) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Pullman, Washington, United States. Founded in 1890, WSU is also one of the oldest Land-grant uni ...
, drafted a $65 million economic recovery plan that was put into effect in 2016.


Geography

Darrington is located in the northeastern reach of
Snohomish County Snohomish County () is a county located in the U.S. state of Washington. With a population of 827,957 as of the 2020 census, it is the third-most populous county in Washington, after nearby King and Pierce counties, and the 72nd-most popul ...
in
Western Washington Western Washington is a region of the United States defined as the area of Washington State west of the Cascade Mountains. This region is home to the state's largest city, Seattle, the state capital, Olympia, and most of the state's residents. ...
, just south of the
Skagit County Skagit County is a county in the U.S. state of Washington. As of the 2020 census, the population was 129,523. The county seat and largest city is Mount Vernon. The county was formed in 1883 from Whatcom County and is named for the Upper and ...
border. It is east of
Arlington Arlington most often refers to: *Arlington, Virginia **Arlington National Cemetery, a United States military cemetery *Arlington, Texas Arlington may also refer to: Places Australia *Arlington light rail station, on the Inner West Light Rail in S ...
, the nearest city, and northeast of
Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...
. According to the
U.S. Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The U.S. Census Bureau is part of the U ...
, the town has a total area of , of which, is land and is water. Darrington is situated on a
plain In geography, a plain, commonly known as flatland, is a flat expanse of land that generally does not change much in elevation, and is primarily treeless. Plains occur as lowlands along valleys or at the base of mountains, as coastal plains, and ...
between the North Fork Stillaguamish River to the west and the Sauk River to the east. The plain is long and wide, at approximately above sea level in a valley between foothills of the
Cascade Mountains The Cascade Range or Cascades is a major mountain range of western North America, extending from southern British Columbia through Washington and Oregon to Northern California. It includes both non-volcanic mountains, such as many of those in the ...
, including the Whitehorse Mountain. The plain was formed by
lahar A lahar (, from ) is a violent type of mudflow or debris flow composed of a slurry of Pyroclastic rock, pyroclastic material, rocky debris and water. The material flows down from a volcano, typically along a valley, river valley. Lahars are o ...
deposits from several eruptions of
Glacier Peak Glacier Peak or Dakobed (known in the Sauk-Suiattle dialect of the Lushootseed language as "Tda-ko-buh-ba" or "Takobia") is the most isolated of the five major stratovolcanoes (composite volcanoes) of the Cascade Volcanoes, Cascade Volcanic Arc ...
, to the southeast. The area remains in the volcano's lahar hazard zone and also lies on a
fault line In geology, a fault is a planar fracture or discontinuity in a volume of rock across which there has been significant displacement as a result of rock-mass movements. Large faults within Earth's crust result from the action of plate tectonic ...
that last produced a major
earthquake An earthquakealso called a quake, tremor, or tembloris the shaking of the Earth's surface resulting from a sudden release of energy in the lithosphere that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes can range in intensity, from those so weak they ...
less than 500 years ago. Soil in the Darrington area is primarily composed of glacial sands and gravels that have deposits of various mineral ores, including
gold Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...
,
silver Silver is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Ag () and atomic number 47. A soft, whitish-gray, lustrous transition metal, it exhibits the highest electrical conductivity, thermal conductivity, and reflectivity of any metal. ...
,
copper Copper is a chemical element; it has symbol Cu (from Latin ) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkish-orang ...
,
lead Lead () is a chemical element; it has Chemical symbol, symbol Pb (from Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a Heavy metal (elements), heavy metal that is density, denser than most common materials. Lead is Mohs scale, soft and Ductility, malleabl ...
,
zinc Zinc is a chemical element; it has symbol Zn and atomic number 30. It is a slightly brittle metal at room temperature and has a shiny-greyish appearance when oxidation is removed. It is the first element in group 12 (IIB) of the periodic tabl ...
,
antimony Antimony is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol Sb () and atomic number 51. A lustrous grey metal or metalloid, it is found in nature mainly as the sulfide mineral stibnite (). Antimony compounds have been known since ancient t ...
,
arsenic Arsenic is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol As and atomic number 33. It is a metalloid and one of the pnictogens, and therefore shares many properties with its group 15 neighbors phosphorus and antimony. Arsenic is not ...
, mercury, and
iron Iron is a chemical element; it has symbol Fe () and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 of the periodic table. It is, by mass, the most common element on Earth, forming much of Earth's o ...
.


Climate

Darrington has a general climate similar to most of the Puget Sound lowlands and the Cascades foothills, with dry summers and mild, rainy winters moderated by a marine influence from the
Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five Borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is ...
. Temperatures in Darrington typically differ by approximately from Everett and other coastal cities in the county, with colder winters and warmer summers. The majority of the region's
precipitation In meteorology, precipitation is any product of the condensation of atmospheric water vapor that falls from clouds due to gravitational pull. The main forms of precipitation include drizzle, rain, rain and snow mixed ("sleet" in Commonwe ...
arrives during the winter and early spring, and Darrington averages 152 days of precipitation annually that totals on average—significantly higher than areas in lowland Snohomish County. Darrington also receives significantly more
snowfall Snow consists of individual ice crystals that grow while suspended in the atmosphere—usually within clouds—and then fall, accumulating on the ground where they undergo further changes. It consists of frozen crystalline water througho ...
than other cities in the county due to being in the mountains, with 10 to 15 days on average and approximately of snowfall annually since 1911. July is Darrington's warmest month, with average high temperatures of , and January is the coolest, at an average high of . The highest recorded temperature, , occurred in July 2007, and the lowest, , in January 1950. According to the
Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...
system, Darrington has a
warm-summer Mediterranean climate A Mediterranean climate ( ), also called a dry summer climate, described by Köppen and Trewartha as ''Cs'', is a temperate climate type that occurs in the lower mid-latitudes (normally 30 to 44 north and south latitude). Such climates typic ...
(Csb).


Economy

Darrington's largest industry remains
logging Logging is the process of cutting, processing, and moving trees to a location for transport. It may include skidder, skidding, on-site processing, and loading of trees or trunk (botany), logs onto logging truck, truckssawmill A sawmill (saw mill, saw-mill) or lumber mill is a facility where logging, logs are cut into lumber. Modern sawmills use a motorized saw to cut logs lengthwise to make long pieces, and crosswise to length depending on standard or custom sizes ...
, the town's largest employer at 160 jobs. Hampton acquired the disused sawmill from Summit Timber in 2002 and reopened it the following year after $15 million in renovations. The sawmill primarily processes
western hemlock ''Tsuga heterophylla'', the western hemlock or western hemlock-spruce, is a species of hemlock native to the northwest coast of North America, with its northwestern limit on the Kenai Peninsula, Alaska, and its southeastern limit in northern ...
and
Douglas fir The Douglas fir (''Pseudotsuga menziesii'') is an evergreen conifer species in the pine family, Pinaceae. It is the tallest tree in the Pinaceae family. It is native to western North America and is also known as Douglas-fir, Douglas spruce, Or ...
from nearby state and local lands. Other major industries in the town include tourism and outdoor recreation, educational services for the Darrington School District, and forestry management. The town has a
grocery store A grocery store ( AE), grocery shop or grocer's shop ( BE) or simply grocery is a retail store that primarily retails a general range of food products, which may be fresh or packaged. In everyday US usage, however, "grocery store" is a synon ...
, a
bakery A bakery is an establishment that produces and sells flour-based baked goods made in an oven such as bread, cookies, cakes, doughnuts, bagels, Pastry, pastries, and pies. Some retail bakeries are also categorized as Coffeehouse, cafés, servi ...
, several
restaurant A restaurant is an establishment that prepares and serves food and drinks to customers. Meals are generally served and eaten on the premises, but many restaurants also offer take-out and Delivery (commerce), food delivery services. Restaurants ...
s, a
bookstore Bookselling is the commercial trading of books, which is the retail and distribution end of the publishing process. People who engage in bookselling are called booksellers, bookdealers, book people, bookmen, or bookwomen. History The found ...
, and a
microbrewery Craft beer is beer manufactured by craft breweries, which typically produce smaller amounts of beer than larger "macro" breweries and are often independently owned. Such breweries are generally perceived and marketed as emphasising enthusiasm, ne ...
. The
Sauk-Suiattle Indian Tribe The Sauk-Suiattle Indian Tribe (; Commonly known as the Sauk-Suiattle Tribe) is a federally-recognized tribe of Sauk people located in western Washington state. The tribe historically lived along the banks of the Sauk, Suiattle, Cascade, Stil ...
had a small
casino A casino is a facility for gambling. Casinos are often built near or combined with hotels, resorts, restaurants, retail shops, cruise ships, and other tourist attractions. Some casinos also host live entertainment, such as stand-up comedy, conce ...
and
bingo hall Bingo is a game of probability in which players mark off numbers on cards as the numbers are drawn randomly by a caller, the winner being the first person to mark off all their numbers. Bingo, previously known as Housey-Housey, became increas ...
that employs 50 people until it closed in 2020. A 2015
Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The U.S. Census Bureau is part of the U ...
survey estimated that Darrington had a workforce population of 1,138 and an
unemployment rate Unemployment, according to the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development), is the proportion of people above a specified age (usually 15) not being in paid employment or self-employment but currently available for work d ...
of 9.3 percent. The most common employers for Darrington residents are in manufacturing (23.8 percent), followed by educational and health services (17.6 percent),
retail Retail is the sale of goods and services to consumers, in contrast to wholesaling, which is the sale to business or institutional customers. A retailer purchases goods in large quantities from manufacturers, directly or through a wholes ...
(13.7 percent), and public administration (10.5 percent). Approximately 9.9 percent of Darrington residents also work within the town, while 13 percent commute to Everett, 6.4 percent work in
Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...
, and 5.7 percent work in Arlington. The average one-way commute for the town's workers is approximately 36.5 minutes; 85.3 percent of commuters drove alone to their workplace, while 6.8 percent
carpool Carpooling is the sharing of Automobile, car journeys so that more than one person travels in a car, and prevents the need for others to have to drive to a location themselves. Carpooling is considered a Demand-Responsive Transport (DRT) serv ...
ed and 6.2 percent walked or used other modes of transport.


Demographics

Darrington is the third-smallest incorporated place in Snohomish County, ahead of Woodway and
Index Index (: indexes or indices) may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional entities * Index (''A Certain Magical Index''), a character in the light novel series ''A Certain Magical Index'' * The Index, an item on the Halo Array in the ...
, with a population of 1,462 as of the 2020 census. Historically, the Darrington area's population peaked at an estimated 3,500 to 4,000 in the early 20th century during the heyday of logging in the area, which also attracted Scandinavian and Western European immigrants. The town saw an influx of Appalachian transplants from
North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...
(particularly the area around Sylva) in the 1940s and 1950s, whose families remain in the Darrington area, influencing traditions and local culture. The town's population has remained relatively stable since the 1960s, declining by 230 residents by 1990 and rebounding since then. Darrington predominantly has single-family residences, with only 36 multi-family units reported in 2010. According to 2012 estimates by the U.S. Census Bureau, Darrington has a median family income of $60,750, and a
per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...
of $18,047, ranking 227th of 281 areas within the state of Washington. Approximately 16.7 percent of families and 20.9 percent of the overall population were below the
poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line, or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...
, including 24 percent of those under the age of 18 and 8.9 percent aged 65 or older. Darrington is described as economically depressed and has median household incomes that are far below the Snohomish County average.


2010 census

As of the 2010 U.S. census, there were 1,347 people, 567 households, and 349 families residing in the town. The
population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geog ...
was . There were 644 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the town was 92.4 percent White, 2.4 percent Native American, 0.4 percent Asian, 0.5 percent from other races, and 4.2 percent from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino residents of any race were 3.2 percent of the population. There were 567 households, of which 30.9 percent had children under the age of 18 living with them, 44.8 percent were
married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...
living together, 9.5 percent had a female householder with no husband present, 7.2 percent had a male householder with no wife present, and 38.4 percent were non-families. Individuals made up 32.6 percent of all households; and 13.1 percent had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.37 and the average family size was 2.96. The median age in the town was 41.4 years. Residents under the age of 18 accounted for 22.7 percent of the population, 7.7 percent were between the ages of 18 and 24, 24.9 percent were from 25 to 44, 28.1 percent were from 45 to 64 and 16.6 percent were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the town was 50.9 percent male and 49.1 percent female.


2000 census

As of the 2000 census, there were 1,136 people, 473 households, and 292 families residing in the town. The population density was 1,171.9 people per square mile (452.2/km). There were 505 housing units at an average density of 520.9 per square mile (201/km). The racial makeup of the town was 94.98 percent White, 1.67 percent Native American, 0.35 percent Asian, 0.26 percent from other races, and 2.73 percent from two or more races. Hispanic of Latino residents of any race were 1.23 percent of the population. There were 473 households, out of which 30.9 percent had children under the age of 18 living with them, 49 percent were married couples living together, 8.7 percent had a female householder with no husband present, and 38.1 percent were non-families. 31.7 percent of all households were made up of individuals, and 14.6 percent had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.40 and the average family size was 3.08. In the town, the age distribution of the population shows 27.1 percent under the age of 18, 6.9 percent from 18 to 24, 27.5 percent from 25 to 44, 21.9 percent from 45 to 64, and 16.6 percent who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females, there were 96.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 97.6 males. The median income for a household in the town was $32,813, and the median income for a family was $44,063. Males had a median income of $36,429 versus $25,625 for females. The per capita income for the town was $17,384. About 4.7 percent of families and 8.9 percent of the population were below the poverty line, including 10.9 percent of those under age 18 and 6.6 percent of those age 65 or over.


Government and politics

Darrington is an incorporated
town A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...
that operates under a mayor–council form of government. It is one of two towns within Snohomish County, the other being
Index Index (: indexes or indices) may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional entities * Index (''A Certain Magical Index''), a character in the light novel series ''A Certain Magical Index'' * The Index, an item on the Halo Array in the ...
, the only incorporated place in the county with a smaller population than Darrington. The five
town council A town council, city council or municipal council is a form of local government for small municipalities. Usage of the term varies under different jurisdictions. Republic of Ireland In 2002, 49 urban district councils and 26 town commissi ...
members regularly meet twice per month and are elected to four-year terms alongside the mayor. The current mayor, Dan Rankin, a
sawmill A sawmill (saw mill, saw-mill) or lumber mill is a facility where logging, logs are cut into lumber. Modern sawmills use a motorized saw to cut logs lengthwise to make long pieces, and crosswise to length depending on standard or custom sizes ...
owner and former councilmember, was elected in 2011; he has twice been re-elected. The town government handles and manages public safety, public works, administration, and parks and recreation. It also operates a public
cemetery A cemetery, burial ground, gravesite, graveyard, or a green space called a memorial park or memorial garden, is a place where the remains of many death, dead people are burial, buried or otherwise entombed. The word ''cemetery'' (from Greek ...
, the municipal
airport An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial Aviation, air transport. They usually consist of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surf ...
, and contracts for
utility services A public utility company (usually just utility) is an organization that maintains the infrastructure for a public service (often also providing a service using that infrastructure). Public utilities are subject to forms of public control and r ...
. The mayor and town council appoint a clerk
treasurer A treasurer is a person responsible for the financial operations of a government, business, or other organization. Government The treasury of a country is the department responsible for the country's economy, finance and revenue. The treasure ...
and the heads of various government departments. , the town government employs seven people and has an annual budget of $3 million. The town has an independent
fire department A fire department (North American English) or fire brigade (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English), also known as a fire company, fire authority, fire district, fire and rescue, or fire service in some areas, is an organi ...
with two stations, but contracts with the Snohomish County Sheriff for policing and emergency services. The town also has a
public library A public library is a library, most often a lending library, that is accessible by the general public and is usually funded from public sources, such as taxes. It is operated by librarians and library paraprofessionals, who are also Civil servic ...
branch operated by the
Sno-Isle Libraries Sno-Isle Libraries is a public library system serving Island County, Washington, Island and Snohomish County, Washington, Snohomish counties in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington. The system is among the largest in Washington state ...
system and located in the town hall complex, which was built in 1990 and expanded in 2008. The town lacks home delivery of mail, requiring residents to use the local
post office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letter (message), letters and parcel (package), parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post o ...
. At the federal level, Darrington is part of the 8th congressional district, which encompasses the eastern portions of the Snohomish,
King King is a royal title given to a male monarch. A king is an Absolute monarchy, absolute monarch if he holds unrestricted Government, governmental power or exercises full sovereignty over a nation. Conversely, he is a Constitutional monarchy, ...
, and Pierce counties as well as the entirety of Chelan and Kittitas counties. The town was part of the 1st congressional district until 2022. At the state level, Darrington shares the 39th legislative district with Lake Stevens, Granite Falls, and eastern
Skagit County Skagit County is a county in the U.S. state of Washington. As of the 2020 census, the population was 129,523. The county seat and largest city is Mount Vernon. The county was formed in 1883 from Whatcom County and is named for the Upper and ...
. The city lies in the
Snohomish County Council The Snohomish County Council is the legislative body of Snohomish County, Washington. The county council was created in 1979 and consists of five members serving four-year terms. Members :' ;Notes History The county council was created on ...
's 1st district, which includes most of the county north of Everett and Lake Stevens. While Snohomish County as a whole favors the Democratic Party in elections, Darrington has generally supported Republican candidates. During the
2016 U.S. presidential election Presidential elections were held in the United States on November 8, 2016. The Republican ticket of businessman Donald Trump and Indiana governor Mike Pence defeated the Democratic ticket of former secretary of state Hillary Clinton and ...
, Darrington had the highest percentage of votes in Snohomish County for Republican
Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...
, at 61 percent compared to 33 percent for
Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (Cyprus) (DCY) **Democratic Part ...
Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, lawyer and diplomat. She was the 67th United States secretary of state in the administration of Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, a U.S. senator represent ...
, who carried the county. Similarly, in the same year's
gubernatorial election A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the type of political region or polity, a ''governor'' ma ...
, 59 percent of Darrington voters preferred Republican Bill Bryant over incumbent Democrat
Jay Inslee Jay Robert Inslee ( ; born February 9, 1951) is an American politician and lawyer who served from 2013 to 2025 as the 23rd governor of Washington. A member of the Democratic Party, he served from 1993 to 1995 and again from 1999 to 2012 as a ...
, who was re-elected. Some Democrats have succeeded in Darrington, however. In the
2012 presidential election This national electoral calendar for 2012 lists the national/ federal elections held in 2012 in all sovereign states and their dependent territories. By-elections are excluded, though national referendums are included. January *3–4 January: ...
,
Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...
won the town with 52 percent of the vote.


Culture

Darrington describes itself as a self-sufficient and tight-knit community, owing to its isolation and small population. Descendants of emigrants from
North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...
, particularly the Sylva area, after
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, shaped many of the traditions and customs in the Darrington area. The term "going down below" is sometimes used among Darrington residents to refer to trips outside of the town. Memorial dinners and fundraisers during
funeral A funeral is a ceremony connected with the final disposition of a corpse, such as a burial or cremation, with the attendant observances. Funerary customs comprise the complex of beliefs and practices used by a culture to remember and respect th ...
s are hosted by its residents, typically attended by up to a fourth of the town's population. Darrington also has a strong tradition of
volunteerism Volunteering is an elective and freely chosen act of an individual or group giving their time and labor, often for community service. Many volunteers are specifically trained in the areas they work, such as medicine, education, or emergency ...
, which it sometimes relies on in lieu of municipal services.


Events and festivals

Darrington has a community events complex and park located west of the town, which is home to several annual events, including a
rodeo Rodeo () is a competitive equestrian sport that arose out of the working practices of cattle herding in Spain and Mexico, expanding throughout the Americas and to other nations. It was originally based on the skills required of the working vaqu ...
and a Bluegrass festival. The Darrington Timberbowl Rodeo began in 1964 and typically draws over a thousand spectators during its two-day run in late June. The rodeo was cancelled in 2013 after an inspection found the venue's bleachers to be unsafe, but $25,000 in repairs funded by state grants allowed it to resume the following year. The Timberbowl Rodeo is named for a former festival that was held annually in late June from 1946 to 1967, and featured various logging events and competitions in addition to a town parade. The Darrington Bluegrass Festival is held for three days every July and was started in 1977 by descendants of Appalachian transplants to the area. The festival draws around 10,000 people, including visitors who use an adjacent campground and participate in communal
jam session A jam session is a relatively informal musical event, process, or activity where musicians, typically instrumentalists, play improvised solos and vamp over tunes, drones, songs, and chord progressions. To "jam" is to improvise music without ...
s. Prominent Bluegrass groups, including
Bill Monroe William Smith Monroe ( ; September 13, 1911 – September 9, 1996) was an American mandolinist, singer, and songwriter who created the bluegrass music genre. Because of this, he is often called the " Father of Bluegrass". The genre takes its n ...
, the
Gibson Brothers The Gibson Brothers are a French musical group, originally from Martinique, who had their greatest success during the disco boom of the late 1970s. Their best known hit singles included "Cuba" and " Que Sera Mi Vida". Career The three brothe ...
, and Rural Delivery, have performed at Darrington's Whitehorse Mountain Amphitheater. From 2006 to 2019, the amphitheater also hosted the Summer Meltdown jam festival in early August, which attracted a wide variety of musical acts. The four-day event typically drew 4,000 visitors and 40 acts, as well as art pieces that were installed around the campgrounds. Both festivals were cancelled in 2020 due to the
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
. The town also has several other annual events, including Darrington Day in late May, a
Fourth of July Independence Day, known colloquially as the Fourth of July, is a federal holiday in the United States which commemorates the ratification of the Declaration of Independence by the Second Continental Congress on July 4, 1776, establishing th ...
parade, and a
street fair A street fair celebrates the character of a neighborhood. As its name suggests, it is typically held on the main street of a neighborhood. The principal component of street fairs are booths used to sell goods (particularly food) or convey informa ...
in July. Darrington formerly hosted an annual
wildflower A wildflower (or wild flower) is a flower that grows in the wild, rather than being intentionally seeded or planted. The term implies that the plant is neither a hybrid nor a selected cultivar that is any different from the native plant, eve ...
festival and an annual
Christian music Christian music is a genre of music that has been written to express either personal or a communal belief regarding Christianity, Christian life and faith. Common themes of Christian music include praise, worship, penitence and lament, and its f ...
festival in the 1990s during the transition to a tourism-based economy.


Media

With no local newspaper, events in Darrington are covered by Everett's daily newspaper, the ''
Herald A herald, or a herald of arms, is an officer of arms, ranking between pursuivant and king of arms. The title is commonly applied more broadly to all officers of arms. Heralds were originally messengers sent by monarchs or noblemen ...
'', a daily publication from Everett, and the weekly '' Arlington Times''. The town's first newspaper, named ''The Wrangler'', was published from 1907 to 1915 by the Darrington Literary Society. A second newspaper, ''The Darrington News'', was published for two years from 1947 to 1949 and was followed by the ''Timber Bowl Tribune'', which was printed in Darrington and
Concrete Concrete is a composite material composed of aggregate bound together with a fluid cement that cures to a solid over time. It is the second-most-used substance (after water), the most–widely used building material, and the most-manufactur ...
using a plant owned by '' The Concrete Herald''. The ''Tribune'' was active from 1955 to 1958, when it was folded into the ''Arlington Times''.


Parks and recreation

Darrington is surrounded by the
Mount Baker–Snoqualmie National Forest The Mount Baker–Snoqualmie National Forest in Washington (state), Washington is a United States National Forest, National Forest extending more than along the western slopes of the Cascade Range from the Canada–United States border, Canada� ...
and serves as the headquarters of the Darrington Ranger District, a unit of the
U.S. Forest Service The United States Forest Service (USFS) is an agency within the U.S. Department of Agriculture. It administers the nation's 154 national forests and 20 national grasslands covering of land. The major divisions of the agency are the Chief's ...
. The area includes three designated wilderness areas,
Glacier Peak Glacier Peak or Dakobed (known in the Sauk-Suiattle dialect of the Lushootseed language as "Tda-ko-buh-ba" or "Takobia") is the most isolated of the five major stratovolcanoes (composite volcanoes) of the Cascade Volcanoes, Cascade Volcanic Arc ...
,
Henry M. Jackson Henry Martin "Scoop" Jackson (May 31, 1912 – September 1, 1983) was an American lawyer and politician who served as a U.S. representative (1941–1953) and U.S. senator (1953–1983) from the state of Washington (state), Washington. A Cold W ...
, and Boulder River, and over of hiking and backcountry trails that are also open to
mountain biking Mountain biking (MTB) is a sport of riding bicycles off-road, often over rough terrain, usually using specially designed mountain bikes. Mountain bikes share similarities with other bikes but incorporate features designed to enhance durability ...
and
horseback riding Equestrianism (from Latin , , , 'horseman', 'horse'), commonly known as horse riding (Commonwealth English) or horseback riding (American English), includes the disciplines of riding, driving, and vaulting. This broad description includes the u ...
. Darrington has several
campground Campsite, campground, and camping pitch are all related terms regarding a place used for camping (an overnight stay in an outdoor area). The usage differs between British English and American English. In British English, a ''campsite'' is an ...
s, roadside recreational areas, fishing areas, and
whitewater rafting Rafting and whitewater rafting are recreational outdoor activities which use an inflatable raft to navigate a river or other body of water. This is often done on whitewater or different degrees of rough water. Dealing with risk is often a ...
courses along the Sauk and Suiattle rivers. The
Mountain Loop Highway The Mountain Loop Highway is a scenic byway in the U.S. state of Washington (U.S. state), Washington. It traverses the western section of the Cascade Range within Snohomish County, Washington, Snohomish County. The name suggests it forms a full ...
connects Darrington to various scenic areas, including
birdwatching Birdwatching, or birding, is the observing of birds, either as a recreational activity or as a form of citizen science. A birdwatcher may observe by using their naked eye, by using a visual enhancement device such as binoculars or a telescop ...
hotspots and the
Pacific Crest Trail The Pacific Crest Trail (PCT), officially designated as the Pacific Crest National Scenic Trail, is a long-distance hiking and equestrian trail closely aligned with the highest portion of the Cascade and Sierra Nevada mountain ranges, which lie ...
system. The town government also maintains several small parks in Darrington, totaling of open space. Old School Park sits within view of Whitehorse Mountain and has a
gazebo A gazebo is a pavilion structure, sometimes octagonal or Gun turret, turret-shaped, often built in a park, garden, or spacious public area. Some are used on occasions as bandstands. In British English, the word is also used for a tent-like can ...
, a
playground A playground, playpark, or play area is a place designed to provide an environment for children that facilitates play, typically outdoors. While a playground is usually designed for children, some are designed for other age groups, or people wi ...
, a
skate park A skatepark, or skate park, is a purpose-built recreational environment made for skateboarding, BMX, scootering, and aggressive inline skating. A skatepark may contain half-pipes, handrails, funboxes, vert ramps, stairsets, quarter pipe ...
, and a
pump track A pump track is a purpose-built Track cycling, track for cycling. It has a circuit of rollers, banked turns and features designed to be ridden completely by riders "pumping"—generating momentum by up and down body movements, instead of pedaling ...
for bicycles. Harold Engles Park has a disc golf course and a lawn, and Nels Bruseth Memorial Garden has historic exhibits and a
rhododendron ''Rhododendron'' (; : ''rhododendra'') is a very large genus of about 1,024 species of woody plants in the Ericaceae, heath family (Ericaceae). They can be either evergreen or deciduous. Most species are native to eastern Asia and the Himalayan ...
garden. The Snohomish County government owns and operates Whitehorse Community Park, which includes several
baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...
and
softball Softball is a Variations of baseball, variation of baseball, the difference being that it is played with a larger ball, on a smaller field, and with only underhand pitches (where the ball is released while the hand is primarily below the ball) ...
fields on north of the town that opened in 2007. Darrington is the only town in the state to have a permanent
archery Archery is the sport, practice, or skill of using a Bow and arrow, bow to shooting, shoot arrows.Paterson ''Encyclopaedia of Archery'' p. 17 The word comes from the Latin ''arcus'', meaning bow. Historically, archery has been used for hunting ...
range, which is one of three that regularly hosts events organized by the
National Field Archery Association The National Field Archery Association is a field archery organization in the United States. Founded in 1939, it is a non-profit organization A nonprofit organization (NPO), also known as a nonbusiness entity, nonprofit institution, not-for- ...
. The archery complex includes six full ranges, trails, concession stands, and of reserved space. The town also has a
community center A community centre, community center, or community hall is a public location where members of a community gather for group activities, social support, public information, and other purposes. They may be open for the whole community or for a sp ...
that was built in 1954 and typically functions as a gymnasium and gathering space.


Historic preservation

The town has a small
historical society A historical society is non-profit organization dedicated to collecting, preserving, interpreting, and promoting the history of a particular place, group of people, or topic. They play a crucial role in promoting historical awareness and understan ...
that preserves photographs and other documents for research. The Darrington Ranger District has four structures listed on the
National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...
(NRHP). The
ranger station A ranger station is a building complex typically including a dwelling and outbuildings which support a ranger or other guardian of a wilderness or national forest area. For example, the Cold Meadows Guard Station in Idaho County, Idaho, United S ...
in Darrington was listed in 1991, while the
fire lookout A fire lookout (sometimes also called a fire watcher) is a person assigned the duty to look for fire from atop a building known as a fire lookout tower. These towers are used in remote areas, normally on mountain tops with high elevation and ...
s on Three Fingers, Miners Ridge, and
Green Mountain Green Mountain is a common name for "The Peak", the highest point and a stratovolcano on Ascension Island, which has gained some fame for claims that it is one of very few large-scale artificial forests. Green Mountain is ranked 38th by topograp ...
were listed in 1987 and 1988. The Green Mountain lookout was to be removed since its maintenance requires
helicopter A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which Lift (force), lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning Helicopter rotor, rotors. This allows the helicopter to VTOL, take off and land vertically, to hover (helicopter), hover, and ...
s and other machinery, until passage of the
Green Mountain Lookout Heritage Protection Act The Green Mountain Lookout is a historic fire lookout tower located at the summit of Green Mountain (Snohomish County, Washington), Green Mountain in the Glacier Peak Wilderness and the Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest in Snohomish County, W ...
by the U.S. Congress in 2014 provided funds for a restoration project.


Notable people

*
Bob Barker Robert William Barker (December 12, 1923 – August 26, 2023) was an American media personality, game show host, and animal rights advocate. He hosted CBS's '' The Price Is Right'', the longest-running game show in North American television ...
, former
game show A game show (or gameshow) is a genre of broadcast viewing entertainment where contestants compete in a game for rewards. The shows are typically directed by a game show host, host, who explains the rules of the program as well as commentating a ...
host of ''
The Price Is Right ''The Price Is Right'' is an American television game show where contestants compete by guessing the prices of merchandise to win cash and prizes. A 1972 revival by Mark Goodson and Bill Todman of their The Price Is Right (1956 American game ...
''; born in Darrington *
Nels Bruseth Nels Bruseth (August 1, 1886 – March 24, 1957) was an American mountaineer, naturalist, author, and painter. He was a forest ranger employed by the United States Forest Service from 1916 to 1951 at a ranger station in Darrington, Washington, wher ...
, forest ranger, artist, and naturalist


Education

The Darrington School District operates two
public schools Public school may refer to: *Public school (government-funded), a no-fee school, publicly funded and operated by the government *Public school (United Kingdom), certain elite fee-charging private schools in England and Wales *Great Public Schools, ...
in the town that enroll 414 students during the 2016–17 school year. It employs 31 teachers and administrations, and 50 other staff members. The district primarily serves Darrington and areas east of Oso, as well as areas in
Skagit County Skagit County is a county in the U.S. state of Washington. As of the 2020 census, the population was 129,523. The county seat and largest city is Mount Vernon. The county was formed in 1883 from Whatcom County and is named for the Upper and ...
that are near the Sauk-Suiattle Reservation. The town's
elementary school A primary school (in Ireland, India, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, South Africa, and Singapore), elementary school, or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ...
, serving kindergarten through eight grade, was opened in 1990 and shares its campus with the
high school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., ...
. The mascot for the school is the Darrington Loggers, named after the town's historic principal industry. Loggers teams have won state championships in various sports during the 1950s, 1980s, and 1990s.


Infrastructure


Transportation

Darrington is located along State Route 530, which travels west towards Arlington and north to State Route 20 at Rockport. The highway carries a daily average of approximately 3,300 vehicles west of the town and 2,300 vehicles north of the town towards the Sauk-Suiattle Reservation. Darrington has a third highway connection through the
Mountain Loop Highway The Mountain Loop Highway is a scenic byway in the U.S. state of Washington (U.S. state), Washington. It traverses the western section of the Cascade Range within Snohomish County, Washington, Snohomish County. The name suggests it forms a full ...
, a backcountry
scenic byway A scenic route, tourist road, tourist drive, scenic byway, or holiday road is a specially designated road or waterway that travels through an area of natural or cultural beauty. It often passes by Scenic viewpoint, scenic viewpoints. The designat ...
that runs south through the Cascades and west to Granite Falls. It is closed in the winter and is considered unsuitable for commercial traffic, in part due to a dirt and gravel section. The area is also served by
Community Transit Community Transit (CT) is the public transit authority of Snohomish County, Washington, United States, in the Seattle metropolitan area. It operates Public transport bus service, local bus, paratransit and vanpool service within Snohomish Count ...
, the main public transportation agency for most of Snohomish County. Route 230 connects Darrington to Oso, Arlington, and a
transit center A transport hub is a place where passengers and cargo are exchanged between vehicles and/or between transport modes. Public transport hubs include railway stations, rapid transit stations, bus stops, tram stops, airports, and ferry slips. ...
in Smokey Point twice a day during
rush hour A rush hour (American English, British English) or peak hour (Australian English, Indian English) is a part of the day during which traffic congestion on roads and crowding on public transport is at its highest. Normally, this happens twice e ...
. The agency expanded its Zip Shuttle
microtransit Microtransit is a form of bus demand responsive transport vehicle for hire. This transit service offers a flexible routing and/or flexible scheduling of minibus vehicles shared with other passengers. Microtransit providers build routes ad-hoc ex ...
service to Darrington and the surrounding area in December 2024. The Sauk-Suiattle Indian Tribe operates a bus route serving Darrington, its reservation, and
Concrete Concrete is a composite material composed of aggregate bound together with a fluid cement that cures to a solid over time. It is the second-most-used substance (after water), the most–widely used building material, and the most-manufactur ...
. It has six daily round trips and launched in 2016 with grants from the state and federal governments. The
Whitehorse Trail The Whitehorse Trail is a rail trail in northern Snohomish County, Washington, connecting the cities of Arlington, Washington, Arlington and Darrington, Washington, Darrington. The trail uses a former Northern Pacific Railway spur built in 1901 ...
, a recreational trail for hikers, cyclists, and horseback riders, is being developed by the county government to connect Darrington with Arlington. It follows the Northern Pacific's 1901 route, sold to the county in 1993. The town government operates a small airport,
Darrington Municipal Airport Darrington Municipal Airport is a public airport located in Darrington, a rural town in Snohomish County, Washington, United States. It is owned and operated by the town government and is situated west–east along the north side of State Rout ...
, which has a single paved runway suitable for
general aviation General aviation (GA) is defined by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) as all civil aviation aircraft operations except for commercial air transport or aerial work, which is defined as specialized aviation services for other ...
and other activities.


Utilities

Electric power Electric power is the rate of transfer of electrical energy within a electric circuit, circuit. Its SI unit is the watt, the general unit of power (physics), power, defined as one joule per second. Standard prefixes apply to watts as with oth ...
for Darrington residents and businesses is provided by the
Snohomish County Public Utility District The Snohomish County Public Utility District is a public utility agency providing power to over 367,000 customers in Snohomish County and on Camano Island, Washington. It provides water service to about 23,000 customers in the northeast sectio ...
(PUD), a consumer-owned
public utility A public utility company (usually just utility) is an organization that maintains the infrastructure for a public service (often also providing a service using that infrastructure). Public utilities are subject to forms of public control and ...
that serves all of Snohomish County. The Hampton mill operates a small
biomass Biomass is a term used in several contexts: in the context of ecology it means living organisms, and in the context of bioenergy it means matter from recently living (but now dead) organisms. In the latter context, there are variations in how ...
cogeneration Cogeneration or combined heat and power (CHP) is the use of a heat engine or power station to generate electricity and useful heat at the same time. Cogeneration is a more efficient use of fuel or heat, because otherwise- wasted heat from elec ...
plant in Darrington that produces electricity from
steam power A steam engine is a heat engine that performs mechanical work using steam as its working fluid. The steam engine uses the force produced by steam pressure to push a piston back and forth inside a cylinder. This pushing force can be transf ...
by burning wood from the Hampton Lumber sawmill. The 7 MW plant was installed in 2006 after an earlier proposal by the National Energy Systems Company (NESCO) for a similar plant that would have generated up to 20 MW was rejected. The NESCO proposal was withdrawn in 2004 over local concerns about air pollution and environmental degradation to the nearby National Forest lands. The town lacks
natural gas Natural gas (also fossil gas, methane gas, and gas) is a naturally occurring compound of gaseous hydrocarbons, primarily methane (95%), small amounts of higher alkanes, and traces of carbon dioxide and nitrogen, hydrogen sulfide and helium ...
service and relies on
wood-burning stove A wood-burning stove (or wood burner or log burner in the UK) is a heating or cooking appliance capable of burning wood fuel, often called solid fuel, and wood-derived biomass fuel, such as sawdust bricks. Generally the appliance consists of a s ...
s for building heat, some of which have been replaced by the Puget Sound Clean Air Agency due to their impact on
air quality Air pollution is the presence of substances in the Atmosphere of Earth, air that are harmful to humans, other living beings or the environment. Pollutants can be Gas, gases like Ground-level ozone, ozone or nitrogen oxides or small particles li ...
.
Ziply Fiber Northwest Fiber, LLC, doing business as Ziply Fiber, is an American telecommunications company based in Kirkland, Washington. Owned by WaveDivision Capital, the company operates fiber-optic broadband services in the Pacific Northwest, serving 1. ...
is the only land-based provider of Internet and telephone service to Darrington, using a
fiber-optic cable A fiber-optic cable, also known as an optical-fiber cable, is an assembly similar to an electrical cable but containing one or more optical fibers that are used to carry light. The optical fiber elements are typically individually coated with p ...
laid along State Route 530. The state government awarded a $16.5 million grant in 2022 to improve broadband and fiber service in northern Snohomish County, including Darrington. The installation of new fiber-optic lines and connections to 4,000 households along the State Route 530 corridor is scheduled to be completed by 2025. A non-profit internet provider was started by local residents in 2017 to address the lack of broadband service in the area. The town government provides water from a pair of wells, and
water treatment Water treatment is any process that improves the quality of water to make it appropriate for a specific end-use. The end use may be drinking, industrial water supply, irrigation, river flow maintenance, water recreation or many other uses, ...
, to 534 structures. Darrington is one of several small communities in Snohomish County without a municipal
sewer system Sewerage (or sewage system) is the infrastructure that conveys sewage or surface runoff (stormwater, meltwater, rainwater) using sewers. It encompasses components such as receiving drains, manholes, pumping stations, storm overflows, and screen ...
, instead relying on
septic tank A septic tank is an underground chamber made of concrete, fiberglass, or plastic through which domestic wastewater (sewage) flows for basic sewage treatment. Settling and anaerobic digestion processes reduce solids and organics, but the treatment ...
s. The town government has considered installing a sewage system several times in the 1990s and 2000s, but those plans have stalled due to the $6.5 million cost (as estimated in 2000) and the land needed for a treatment plant.
Solid waste Municipal solid waste (MSW), commonly known as trash or garbage in the United States and rubbish in Britain, is a waste type consisting of everyday items that are discarded by the public. "Garbage" can also refer specifically to food waste, ...
and
recycling Recycling is the process of converting waste materials into new materials and objects. This concept often includes the recovery of energy from waste materials. The recyclability of a material depends on its ability to reacquire the propert ...
collection is contracted out by the town government to
Waste Management Waste management or waste disposal includes the processes and actions required to manage waste from its inception to its final disposal. This includes the collection, transport, treatment, and disposal of waste, together with monitor ...
.


Health care

Darrington's nearest
general hospital ''General Hospital'' (often abbreviated as ''GH'') is an American daytime television soap opera created by Frank and Doris Hursley which has been broadcast on American Broadcasting Company, ABC since April 1, 1963. Originally a half-hour seria ...
is the Cascade Valley Hospital in Arlington. The town also has a medical clinic operated by Skagit Regional Health and staffed by a single doctor. The clinic was established in 1958 and operated by Cascade Valley Hospital until it was absorbed into the Skagit system. The town has periodically gone for years without a doctor, notably substituting a
registered nurse A registered nurse (RN) is a healthcare professional who has graduated or successfully passed a nursing program from a recognized nursing school and met the requirements outlined by a country, state, province or similar government-authorized ...
to provide the majority of medical care in the early 1970s. Darrington's lone
pharmacy Pharmacy is the science and practice of discovering, producing, preparing, dispensing, reviewing and monitoring medications, aiming to ensure the safe, effective, and affordable use of medication, medicines. It is a miscellaneous science as it ...
was established in 1917 and closed in 2023 after its owner was unable to sell the business. The nearest pharmacy is in Arlington, a round trip.


References


External links

*
Tarheels in the Northwest
KCTS-TV KCTS-TV (channel 9), branded Cascade PBS, is a PBS member television station in Seattle, Washington, United States, owned by Cascade Public Media. The station's studios are located at Broadway and Boren Avenue in Seattle's First Hill neighbor ...
(PBS), 1979 – via
American Archive of Public Broadcasting The American Archive of Public Broadcasting (AAPB) is a collaboration between the Library of Congress and WGBH Educational Foundation, founded through the efforts of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB). The AAPB is a national effort to di ...
{{Authority control Towns in Snohomish County, Washington Towns in Washington (state) Logging communities in the United States