Index ()
is a town in
Snohomish County,
Washington, United States. The population was 155 at the
2020 census, making it the smallest municipality in the county. Index lies at an elevation of along the North Fork
Skykomish River
The Skykomish River is a long river in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington which drains the west side of the Cascade Mountains in the southeast section of Snohomish County and the northeast corner of King County, Washington, K ...
in 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 ...
. It is connected to surrounding communities by
U.S. Route 2
U.S. Route 2 or U.S. Highway 2 (US 2) is an east–west United States Numbered Highway System, United States Numbered Highway spanning across the northern continental United States. US 2 consists of two segments connected ...
.
The town was established in 1889 by Amos Gunn and his family after they purchased an existing claim to build a home and hotel. It was named for
Mount Index (now Baring Mountain), which resembled an
index finger
The index finger (also referred to as forefinger, first finger, second finger, pointer finger, trigger finger, digitus secundus, digitus II, and many other terms) is the second digit of a human hand. It is located between the thumb and the m ...
. Index became a stop on the
Great Northern Railway in 1893 and was
plat
In the United States, a plat ( or ) (plan) is a cadastral map, drawn to scale, showing the divisions of a piece of land. United States General Land Office surveyors drafted township plats of Public Lands Survey System, Public Lands Surveys to ...
ted the same year amid a boom in mineral exploration in the area. The town reached its peak population of 1,000 residents by 1900 and was
incorporated as a municipality on October 11, 1907.
Index's economy originally relied on mining, lumber, and a
granite
Granite ( ) is a coarse-grained (phanerite, phaneritic) intrusive rock, intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly coo ...
quarry, but these industries declined by the middle of the 20th century. The town lost many of its businesses and the permanent population shrank for decades before stabilizing between 150 and 200 residents;
vacation homes and seasonal residents became more prevalent as the area continued to be a hub for outdoor recreation.
Rock climbing
Rock climbing is a climbing sports discipline that involves ascending climbing routes, routes consisting of natural rock in an outdoor environment, or on artificial resin climbing walls in a mostly indoor environment. Routes are documented in c ...
on the cliffs of the Index Town Wall and
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 ...
on the Skykomish River brought new tourism to the Index area and forms part of the modern economy.
History
Pre-incorporation
Prior to settlement by European Americans, the
Skykomish people had many villages along the
Skykomish River
The Skykomish River is a long river in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington which drains the west side of the Cascade Mountains in the southeast section of Snohomish County and the northeast corner of King County, Washington, K ...
between
Sultan
Sultan (; ', ) is a position with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", derived from the verbal noun ', meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it came to be use ...
and Index. One large and important village of the band was at (derived from , meaning "
sawbill duck")
in modern-day Index.
At the village were several longhouses, including a large
potlatch
A potlatch is a gift-giving feast practiced by Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast of Canada and the United States,Harkin, Michael E., 2001, Potlatch in Anthropology, International Encyclopedia of the Social and Behavioral Scienc ...
house. was the base camp for people traveling into the
Cascades for hunting and gathering.
The Skykomish people were signatories of the 1855
Treaty of Point Elliott and many were moved to the
Tulalip Indian Reservation, where they later amalgamated with the
Snohomish and
Snoqualmie tribes.
Some members of the tribe elected to stay in the Skykomish Valley, primarily near
Gold Bar
A gold bar, also known as gold bullion or a gold ingot, is a quantity of refined metallic gold that can be shaped in various forms, produced under standardized conditions of manufacture, labeling, and record-keeping. Larger varieties of gold ...
and
Sultan
Sultan (; ', ) is a position with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", derived from the verbal noun ', meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it came to be use ...
.
The first non-native settlers in the area were prospectors who placed individual
mineral rights
Mineral rights are property rights to exploit an area for the minerals it harbors. Mineral rights can be separate from property ownership (see Split estate). Mineral rights can refer to sedentary minerals that do not move below the Earth's surfa ...
for claims in the Cascades, beginning with a
gold rush
A gold rush or gold fever is a discovery of gold—sometimes accompanied by other precious metals and rare-earth minerals—that brings an onrush of miners seeking their fortune. Major gold rushes took place in the 19th century in Australia, ...
in 1874 along Silver Creek near what later became the community of
Galena
Galena, also called lead glance, is the natural mineral form of lead(II) sulfide (PbS). It is the most important ore of lead and an important source of silver.
Galena is one of the most abundant and widely distributed sulfide minerals. It crysta ...
.
Amos Gunn, a
Civil War
A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...
veteran from Illinois, arrived at the fork of the Skykomish River with his wife and six children in 1889 and bought a
squatter's claim to establish a
homestead. He constructed a home that also served as a hotel for prospectors and railroad workers on the
Great Northern Railway.
His wife Persis named their site "Index" for nearby Mount Index (later renamed
Baring Mountain
Baring Mountain (or Mount Baring), is a peak in the central part of the Cascade Range of Washington, United States. It lies about northeast of the Skykomish River and US Highway 2, at the western edge of the Cascades in the Mount Baker-Sno ...
),
itself named for its resemblance to an
index finger
The index finger (also referred to as forefinger, first finger, second finger, pointer finger, trigger finger, digitus secundus, digitus II, and many other terms) is the second digit of a human hand. It is located between the thumb and the m ...
.
Mount Persis and Gunn's Peaks were also named for the family.
Mines in the area yielded gold, silver, copper, and
galena
Galena, also called lead glance, is the natural mineral form of lead(II) sulfide (PbS). It is the most important ore of lead and an important source of silver.
Galena is one of the most abundant and widely distributed sulfide minerals. It crysta ...
among other minerals, which spurred further settlement around the North Fork Skykomish River.
Index was assigned 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 ...
in November 1891 and Amos Gunn was appointed its first
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), ...
. He initially delivered mail and parcels by horseback from Wallace (now
Startup
A startup or start-up is a company or project undertaken by an entrepreneur to seek, develop, and validate a scalable business model. While entrepreneurship includes all new businesses including self-employment and businesses that do not intend to ...
) on a overland trail.
The Gunns' hotel was expanded two years later to accommodate an increasing number of prospectors who arrived on the Great Northern and traveled onward towards Galena and
Mineral City.
The railroad across
Stevens Pass had been completed in January 1893, and was followed within a few years by 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 ...
road from Index to Galena.
The town
plat
In the United States, a plat ( or ) (plan) is a cadastral map, drawn to scale, showing the divisions of a piece of land. United States General Land Office surveyors drafted township plats of Public Lands Survey System, Public Lands Surveys to ...
for Index was filed by Amos Gunn on April 25, 1893, shortly after a controlling interest in the settlement was acquired by the Everett Terminal Land and Milling Company.
The plat reserved for the main street, which had been surfaced with gravel due to frequent flooding from the Skykomish River and was sought for use for a branch railroad to Galena.
A fire destroyed the Gunns' hotel,
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 ...
, and several residences in the town on July 22 of that year, but had not damaged the Great Northern depot.
The town's buildings were rebuilt as mining activity had temporarily subsided due to the
Panic of 1893
The Panic of 1893 was an economic depression in the United States. It began in February 1893 and officially ended eight months later. The Panic of 1896 followed. It was the most serious economic depression in history until the Great Depression of ...
and was eclipsed by logging and farming as the main local industry.
The Copper Bell and Sunset mines were opened in 1898 and brought the town to its peak population of 1,000 in 1900.
The Sunset Mine was the largest in the area and produced of gold, of silver, and of copper during its lifetime.
Early 20th century
Amos Gunn sold his properties in Index in 1899 shortly after the death of his wife Persis.
The town continued to grow with the arrival of social clubs, a schoolhouse, and its first newspaper, the ''Index Miner'' (later the ''Index News''), in 1899. In November 1902, a second major fire destroyed several buildings in the town, including the
assay office Assay offices are institutions set up to assay (test the purity of) precious metals. This is often done to protect consumers from buying fake items. Upon successful completion of an assay (i.e. if the metallurgical content is found be equal or bette ...
, and killed one person.
A granite
quarry
A quarry is a type of open-pit mining, open-pit mine in which dimension stone, rock (geology), rock, construction aggregate, riprap, sand, gravel, or slate is excavated from the ground. The operation of quarries is regulated in some juri ...
also opened east of Index in 1904 and later provided materials for the
Washington State Capitol building in
Olympia.
It became one of the main employers in the area, along with logging to supply a new
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 ...
that was later acquired by the Index-Galena Lumber Company.
Plans to build a
hydroelectric dam
Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is Electricity generation, electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies 15% of the world's electricity, almost 4,210 TWh in 2023, which is more than all other Renewable energ ...
and a
pulp mill
A pulp mill is a manufacturing facility that converts wood chips or other plant fiber sources into a thick fiber board which can be shipped to a paper mill for further processing. Pulp can be manufactured using mechanical, semi-chemical, or ...
at sites along both forks of the Skykomish River were proposed but never began construction.
Index was also promoted as a tourist destination for
sport fishing and mountaineering;
by 1905, it had five hotels and drew hundreds of visitors by train during the summer season.
Index was incorporated as a
fourth-class city on October 11, 1907, with several hundred residents.
A
volunteer fire department
A volunteer fire department (VFD) is a fire department of volunteers who perform fire suppression and other related emergency services for a local jurisdiction. Volunteer and retained (on-call) firefighters are expected to be on call to respo ...
was established and moved into a permanent
fire station
__NOTOC__
A fire station (also called a fire house, fire hall, firemen's hall, or engine house) is a structure or other area for storing firefighting apparatuses such as fire apparatus, fire engines and related vehicles, personal protective equ ...
in 1913; its old facility was converted into a
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 ...
with a
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 ...
.
An unpaved county road was completed from Gold Bar to Index in 1911, which brought regular automobiles to the area and scheduled bus service. The road included a bridge over the Skykomish River that was destroyed by one of two major floods in 1917 and later rebuilt.
The
Stevens Pass Highway (now part of
U.S. Route 2
U.S. Route 2 or U.S. Highway 2 (US 2) is an east–west United States Numbered Highway System, United States Numbered Highway spanning across the northern continental United States. US 2 consists of two segments connected ...
) opened on July 11, 1925, and opened the area to
skiing
Skiing is the use of skis to glide on snow for basic transport, a recreational activity, or a competitive winter sport. Many types of competitive skiing events are recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), and the International S ...
with the development of a new
ski area a few years later. The Great Northern's local trains, nicknamed the "Dinkies", made daily stops in every Skykomish Valley settlement and provided Index with passenger and postal service until they were discontinued in 1925 after the highway opened. The Stevens Pass Highway was rebuilt by the state government in 1933 and
bypassed Index, which reduced tourist traffic to the town and caused several businesses to close.
The town's major industries saw reduced business during the early years of 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 ...
, which resulted in the shutdown of lumber mills and mines in the area.
The granite quarry closed permanently after a fire destroyed its warehouse in May 1932; it was not rebuilt due to the decreased demand for granite. 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 was established east of Index in 1934 to provide jobs for unemployed men and improve lands owned by the
United States Forest Service
The United States Forest Service (USFS) is an agency within the United States Department of Agriculture, U.S. Department of Agriculture. It administers the nation's 154 United States National Forest, national forests and 20 United States Natio ...
in the Cascades.
On August 16, 1939, a
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 ...
that formed west of Index swept into the town and destroyed the church and seven residences;
hundreds of firefighters from the United States Forest Service and local fire departments in the region prevented the fire from causing further damage before it retreated into the forests.
The Sunset Mine, the last remaining copper mine in the area, had financial issues and was taken over by its workers after a dispute over unpaid wages; it was shut down in 1942 by a federal order to halt mining of non-essential materials during
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 ...
. A natural
hot springs
A hot spring, hydrothermal spring, or geothermal spring is a Spring (hydrology), spring produced by the emergence of Geothermal activity, geothermally heated groundwater onto the surface of the Earth. The groundwater is heated either by shallow ...
near the town continued to draw tourists and was developed into a major resort named the Garland Mineral Springs; during World War II, it was converted into a
Coast Guard
A coast guard or coastguard is a Maritime Security Regimes, maritime security organization of a particular country. The term embraces wide range of responsibilities in different countries, from being a heavily armed military force with cust ...
training camp.
Post-mining era
Index entered a period of economic stagnation and reduced employment following the Great Depression and World War II, as most of its industries had closed and were not replaced.
Local families left the town and were replaced by a population of retirees and urban residents who maintained
vacation homes; by 1975, there was a permanent population of 171 residents in Index and the surrounding area. After Index's
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., ...
closed in 1942, students were moved to
Sultan Senior High School. The other school buildings were condemned by the state
fire marshal
A fire marshal, in the United States and Canada, is often a member of a state, provincial or territorial government, but may be part of a building department or a separate department altogether. Fire marshals' duties vary but usually include ...
in 1952 and replaced three years later by a new consolidated school.
From 1962 to 1964, Great Northern rebuilt its railroad through Index on an
embankment with a wider curve that cut off several streets and split the town into two halves. The original railroad depot in the town was also demolished and the lone grade crossing was made steeper, creating a blind hill.
The town has been frequented by
rock climbers since routes on the Index Town Wall, a set of granite cliffs that face the Skykomish River, were mapped in the 1950s and developed in the early 1970s by enthusiasts from Seattle.
A replacement of Index's wooden
water main
A water distribution system is a part of water supply network with components that carry potable water from a centralized treatment plant or wells to consumers to satisfy residential, commercial, industrial and fire fighting requirements.
Defi ...
and reservoir system, which are supplied by a mountain
spring, began in 1967 and was completed a decade later by the town government using federal and state grants. The Bush House, a historic hotel that opened in 1898 and closed in the 1930s,
was renovated and reopened as a restaurant in 1975 and for lodging two years later.
It was among the few active businesses in Index along with a general store and
tavern
A tavern is a type of business where people gather to drink alcoholic beverages and be served food such as different types of roast meats and cheese, and (mostly historically) where travelers would receive lodging. An inn is a tavern that ...
; the town had become a destination for retirees and vacationers by the 1970s and had few permanent residents. The
Red Men Hall, traditionally a meeting place for the local chapter of the
Independent Order of Red Men, was 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 ...
in 1973.
On December 26, 1980, heavy rainfall caused the North Fork Skykomish River to flood Index and the surrounding area with up to of water. The flood washed away seven homes, a portion of Avenue A, and the town's water main, with damage estimated at $691,000 (equivalent to $ in dollars) by local officials. Buildings and roads were later rebuilt by residents, while a temporary
riprap
Riprap (in North American English), also known as rip rap, rip-rap, shot rock, rock armour (in British English) or rubble, is human-placed rock or other material used to protect shoreline structures against scour and water, wave, or ice erosion. ...
was installed by the
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
The United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) is the military engineering branch of the United States Army. A direct reporting unit (DRU), it has three primary mission areas: Engineer Regiment, military construction, and civil wor ...
. The town government had previously requested aid to repair an existing riprap along Avenue A that had been damaged in a 1975 flood as well as remove a
log jam
A log jam is a naturally occurring phenomenon characterized by a dense accumulation of tree trunks and pieces of large wood across a vast section of a river, stream, or lake. ("Large wood" is commonly defined to be pieces of wood more than in di ...
that had formed in the river upstream from Index. The Army Corps of Engineers constructed a new, riprap along Avenue A in April 1981 but denied responsibility for the flood damage, which it described as a "natural occurrence".
Transition to recreation economy
The town recovered from the 1980 flood and had organized emergency medical services and a new
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 ...
within a few years. A total of 19
business license
Business licenses are permits issued by government agency, government agencies that allow individuals or companies to conduct business within the government's geographical jurisdiction. It is the authorization to start a business issued by the loc ...
s were issued by the town government, mostly to
cottage industries
The putting-out system is a means of subcontracting work, like a tailor. Historically, it was also known as the workshop system and the domestic system. In putting-out, work is contracted by a central agent to subcontractors who complete the p ...
and home businesses, in 1984. The reopening of the Bush Hotel was credited with the increase in local businesses, but the nearest
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 ...
and
medical clinics remained further west on
U.S. Route 2
U.S. Route 2 or U.S. Highway 2 (US 2) is an east–west United States Numbered Highway System, United States Numbered Highway spanning across the northern continental United States. US 2 consists of two segments connected ...
.
After
Burlington Northern Railroad
The Burlington Northern Railroad was a United States–based railroad company formed from a merger of four major U.S. railroads. Burlington Northern operated between 1970 and 1995.
Its historical lineage begins in the earliest days of railroad ...
proposed the use of herbicide
2,4-D
2,4-Dichlorophenoxyacetic acid is an organic compound with the chemical formula . It is usually referred to by its ISO common name 2,4-D. It is a systemic herbicide that kills most broadleaf weeds by causing uncontrolled growth, but most gra ...
along their tracks through the town, local residents protested by blocking access until the railroad agreed to not spray near Index. A total of 11 residents were randomly selected by the
Washington State Department of Social and Health Services
The Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS) is Washington (state), Washington's social services department. The agency has its headquarters in Office Building Two (OB-2) in Olympia, Washington, Olympia, the state capital. Annually, 2.2 m ...
for
urine test
A urine test is any medical test performed on a urine specimen. The analysis of urine is a valuable diagnostic tool because its composition reflects the functioning of many body systems, particularly the kidneys and urinary system, and specimens ...
ing, which found the herbicide was not present in their bodies. The town council adopted a resolution to support the
Nuclear Freeze campaign, which proposed a halt to development of new nuclear weapons, in 1983 amid rumors that some nuclear warheads would be transported on the railroad through Index.
The Index Town Wall was the site of a drilling experiment in 1984 for a local company that planned to supply a new machine to an Australian
diamond mine. The experiment created a tunnel that ran deep into the granite face of the Town Wall; the tunnel was later repurposed by the
University of Washington
The University of Washington (UW and informally U-Dub or U Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington, United States. Founded in 1861, the University of Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast of the Uni ...
for physics experiments.
The use of the Town Wall for the experiment and the expedited environmental review process for the project was criticized by
The Mountaineers and other outdoor recreation groups. The Skykomish River around Index began to attract
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 ...
excursions and operators in the 1980s, which led to conflicts with local residents due to increased traffic and litter as well as the use of town facilities without payment. In 1986, the town government approved a plan to build a paid
boat ramp and parking facilities for rafting companies as part of a compromise to address the traffic and litter issues.
From 1980 to 1990, the town's population declined by 5.4percent despite a boom in the number of new vacation homes built in Index and the surrounding area. Most permanent residents continued to commute out of Index to job centers in western Snohomish and King counties.
The town's lone road crossing over the Skykomish River, a one-lane
timber bridge
A timber bridge or wooden bridge is a bridge that uses timber or wood as its principal structural material. One of the first forms of bridge, those of timber have been used since ancient times.
History
The most ancient form of timber bridge is ...
, was replaced in September 1999 by a modern concrete bridge. The $4million project (equivalent to $ in dollars) was primarily funded by the county and federal governments and had been initially opposed by local residents.
Index's population had declined to approximately 150 by 1997, but the town government began planning infrastructure projects that would accommodate future population growth, including the replacement of
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 with a modern sewage system and a
wastewater treatment plant
Wastewater treatment is a process which removes and eliminates contaminants from wastewater. It thus converts it into an effluent that can be returned to the water cycle. Once back in the water cycle, the effluent creates an acceptable impact on ...
. A new hiking trail to
Lake Serene was constructed by the United States Forest Service with a large parking lot and other amenities in anticipation of high demand.
The state government began purchasing land around the Index Town Wall in the early 1990s and formally proposed the creation of a new
state park
State parks are parks or other protected areas managed at the sub-national level within those nations which use "Federated state, state" as a political subdivision. State parks are typically established by a state to preserve a location on accou ...
. It was named
Forks of the Sky State Park and the Town Wall was donated to expand the park in 2010.
A nearby portion of the
Mount Baker–Snoqualmie National Forest was designated as the
Wild Sky Wilderness by the federal government in 2008 to protect over of alpine habitat for wildlife. The Skykomish River flooded portions of Index on November 6, 2006, and caused $7million in recorded damage locally, including washouts on portions of Index–Galena Road that were not fully repaired until 2023.
Additional recreation areas around the town were developed in the 2000s through a nonprofit conservation group that was organized in response to a 2006 proposal to begin
clearcutting
Clearcutting, clearfelling or clearcut logging is a forestry/logging practice in which most or all trees in an area are uniformly cut down. Along with Shelterwood cutting, shelterwood and Seed tree, seed tree harvests, it is used by foresters t ...
for timber harvesting on Heybrook Ridge. The group raised $600,000 to acquire the land and partnered with the county government to develop Heybrook Ridge County Park, which opened in 2017.
The
Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, in a partnership with the
Tulalip Tribes, published plans in 2021 to construct a
fish hatchery
A fish hatchery is a place for artificial breeding, hatching, and rearing through the early life stages of animals—finfish and shellfish in particular.Crespi V., Coche A. (2008) Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) Gloss ...
near
Sunset Falls. The hatchery aims to increase the population of native
steelhead trout in the Skykomish River, which had been stocked with imported trout from the
Columbia River
The Columbia River (Upper Chinook language, Upper Chinook: ' or '; Sahaptin language, Sahaptin: ''Nch’i-Wàna'' or ''Nchi wana''; Sinixt dialect'' '') is the largest river in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. The river headwater ...
basin.
Geography
Index lies in the western 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 ...
on the north side of the
North Fork Skykomish River, just above its confluence with the main channel of the
Skykomish River
The Skykomish River is a long river in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington which drains the west side of the Cascade Mountains in the southeast section of Snohomish County and the northeast corner of King County, Washington, K ...
. The town is in southeastern
Snohomish County, approximately east of
Gold Bar
A gold bar, also known as gold bullion or a gold ingot, is a quantity of refined metallic gold that can be shaped in various forms, produced under standardized conditions of manufacture, labeling, and record-keeping. Larger varieties of gold ...
and west of
Stevens Pass.
It is connected to nearby areas by
U.S. Route 2
U.S. Route 2 or U.S. Highway 2 (US 2) is an east–west United States Numbered Highway System, United States Numbered Highway spanning across the northern continental United States. US 2 consists of two segments connected ...
, a major highway that runs south of the town and travels west to
Everett and east across the Cascades.
Index is bisected by the
Scenic Subdivision of the
BNSF Railway
BNSF Railway is the largest freight railroad in the United States. One of six North American Class I railroads, BNSF has 36,000 employees, of track in 28 states, and over 8,000 locomotives. It has three Transcontinental railroad, transcontine ...
,
a railroad originally built by the
Great Northern Railway that carries freight trains and
Amtrak
The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, Trade name, doing business as Amtrak (; ), is the national Passenger train, passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates intercity rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous United Stat ...
's ''
Empire Builder
The ''Empire Builder'' is a daily long-distance passenger train operated by Amtrak between Chicago and either Seattle or Portland via two sections west of Spokane. Introduced in 1929, it was the flagship passenger train of the Great North ...
'' passenger service.
The town has a total area of , all of it land, according to the
United States Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...
.
Index and its outlying
unincorporated area
An unincorporated area is a parcel of land that is not governed by a local general-purpose municipal corporation. (At p. 178.) They may be governed or serviced by an encompassing unit (such as a county) or another branch of the state (such as th ...
s are surrounded by the
Mount Baker–Snoqualmie National Forest and other protected lands; the
Wild Sky Wilderness area is east of the town. The southern boundary is the North Fork Skykomish River, while the northern border is defined by the Index Town Walls and
Forks of the Sky State Park.
The Town Walls are a series of granite cliffs in Forks of the Sky State Park that rise above the valley and are popular with
rock climbers.
The cliffs are also home to nests for
peregrine falcon
The peregrine falcon (''Falco peregrinus''), also known simply as the peregrine, is a Cosmopolitan distribution, cosmopolitan bird of prey (raptor) in the family (biology), family Falconidae renowned for its speed. A large, Corvus (genus), cro ...
s, which necessitate occasional closures to climbing for protection.
Index sits at an elevation of ,
while the surrounding mountains range from in height.
These include
Mount Index to the south at and
Gunn Peak to the east at .
The mountains around Index are primarily
batholith
A batholith () is a large mass of intrusive rock, intrusive igneous rock (also called plutonic rock), larger than in area, that forms from cooled magma deep in the Earth's crust. Batholiths are almost always made mostly of felsic or intermediate ...
s that formed from cooled magma lifted to the surface approximately 34million years
before present
Before Present (BP) or "years before present (YBP)" is a time scale used mainly in archaeology, geology, and other scientific disciplines to specify when events occurred relative to the origin of practical radiocarbon dating in the 1950s. Because ...
. The town also lies near the
Straight Creek Fault, a major
strike-slip fault
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 generates seismic activity. The area southeast of Index includes several waterfalls on the South Fork Skykomish River.
Sunset Falls is south of Index and comprises a drop in a granite chute.
Eagle Falls is southeast of the town and is the site of frequent rescues due to its popularity and fast-moving rapids.
The Index area has a moderate summer climate with approximately 213 frost-free days and average annual precipitation of .
It receives more snowfall than most populated areas of the county, with an annual average of from 1948 to 1957. The area north of the town is designated a "high risk" area for
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, while other areas are within the 100-year flood zone for the Skykomish River.
Index and neighboring areas were placed under mandatory evacuation orders on September 10, 2022, due to the nearby
Bolt Creek Fire. The order was modified two days later to allow residents to return to their homes, but U.S. Route2 remained closed to most travel for several days. The fire burned approximately and was contained in late October.
Economy
The area had several granite
quarries
A quarry is a type of open-pit mine in which dimension stone, rock, construction aggregate, riprap, sand, gravel, or slate is excavated from the ground. The operation of quarries is regulated in some jurisdictions to manage their safet ...
that were used to supply building materials for the
Washington State Capitol Building and the base of the
Smith Tower in Seattle.
Since the 20th century, the local economy has transitioned from resource extraction industries to tourism, particularly outdoor recreation in the summer months.
Index's residents are a mix of retirees, commuters to other areas, and those who work in
cottage industries
The putting-out system is a means of subcontracting work, like a tailor. Historically, it was also known as the workshop system and the domestic system. In putting-out, work is contracted by a central agent to subcontractors who complete the p ...
and businesses that cater to tourists.
Paradise Sound maintained a recording studio where albums were recorded by
Alice in Chains
Alice in Chains (often abbreviated as AiC) is an American rock band formed in Seattle in 1987. Since 2006, the band's lineup has comprised vocalist/guitarists Jerry Cantrell and William DuVall, bassist Mike Inez, and drummer Sean Kinney. Voca ...
and
The Walkabouts.
As of the 2023 ''
American Community Survey
The American Community Survey (ACS) is an annual demographics survey program conducted by the United States Census Bureau. It regularly gathers information previously contained only in the long form of the United States census, decennial census ...
'' estimates, the most common employers for Index residents are in the
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 ...
sector, followed by construction and educational services.
Approximately 62 residents are employed outside of the town; the most common commuting destinations are
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 ...
(17.7%),
Monroe
Monroe or Monroes may refer to:
People and fictional characters
* Monroe (surname)
* Monroe (given name)
* James Monroe, 5th President of the United States
* Marilyn Monroe, actress and model
Places United States
* Monroe, Arkansas, an unincorp ...
(14.5%), and
Everett (11.3%). The mean one-way commute for the town's workers was 39.3minutes; 81percent of commuters drove alone to their place of employment.
Demographics
Index has a permanent population of 155 residents as of the
2020 census, many of whom are retirees or work locally.
The town also has seasonal residents living in
vacation homes or other accommodations, bringing the area's population to an estimated 500 people during the summer months.
Index is the smallest municipality in Snohomish County and Western Washington.
The town's population had peaked at 1,000 residents near 1900 and declined since, remaining relatively unchanged since 1960.
2020 census
As of the
2020 U.S. census, there were 155 people living in the town, which had a
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 ...
of . The
racial makeup of Index was 85.2% White, 1.9% American Indian and Alaskan Native, 0.6% Black or African American, 0.6% Asian, and 11.6% from two or more races.
Hispanic
The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...
or
Latino people of any race was 4.5% of the population.
2010 census
As of the
2010 U.S. census, there were 178 people, 80 households, and 44 families living 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 116 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the town was 95.5%
White
White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...
, 1.7%
Asian, 0.6%
Pacific Islander
Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe th ...
, 0.6% from
other races, and 1.7% from two or more races.
Hispanic
The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...
or
Latino of any race were 4.5% of the population.
There were 80 households, of which 26.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 41.3% 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, 12.5% had a female householder with no husband present, 1.3% had a male householder with no wife present, and 45.0% were non-families. 41.3% of all households were made up of individuals, and 12.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.23 and the average family size was 3.02.
The median age in the town was 42 years. 22.5% of residents were under the age of 18; 5.6% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 24.1% were from 25 to 44; 35.5% were from 45 to 64; and 12.4% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the town was 47.2% male and 52.8% female.
Government and politics
Index 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 ...
with a
mayor–council form of government. The
mayor
In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...
and five-member
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 ...
are elected to four-year terms by residents who are eligible to vote.
, Norm Johnson is the town's mayor. Index's government has three employed positions: a
clerk
A clerk is a white-collar worker who conducts record keeping as well as general office tasks, or a worker who performs similar sales-related tasks in a retail environment. The responsibilities of clerical workers commonly include Records managem ...
for day-to-day management, a maintenance person, and a water distribution manager to oversee the water supply. The town contracts with the county government to provide additional services such as fire and building inspections and land use planning.
The
Snohomish County Sheriff's Office provides
law enforcement
Law enforcement is the activity of some members of the government or other social institutions who act in an organized manner to enforce the law by investigating, deterring, rehabilitating, or punishing people who violate the rules and norms gove ...
and
search-and-rescue services, while Sky Valley Fire is contracted for
firefighting
Firefighting is a profession aimed at controlling and extinguishing fire. A person who engages in firefighting is known as a firefighter or fireman. Firefighters typically undergo a high degree of technical training. This involves structural fir ...
and protection in a partnership with the
volunteer firefighter district.
The town had the highest
voter turnout
In political science, voter turnout is the participation rate (often defined as those who cast a ballot) of a given election. This is typically either the percentage of Voter registration, registered voters, Suffrage, eligible voters, or all Voti ...
of any municipality in Snohomish County from 2013 to 2023, with 60percent of residents returning a ballot in the 2023 general election. At the federal level, Index 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. It was part of the
1st congressional district until 2022, when the 8th district was extended into Snohomish County. At the state level, the town is part of the
12th legislative district, which also crosses the Cascade Mountains and includes
Skykomish, part of
Snoqualmie, and all of Chelan County except for
Wenatchee. Index was previously part of the
39th legislative district until it was moved into the cross-mountain district as part of a redistricting compromise in 2022. The town also lies within 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 5th district, which includes the Skykomish Valley, Snohomish, and
Lake Stevens.
Culture
The town's museum, the Index-Pickett Historical Museum, opened in June 1986 and is maintained by the Index Historical Society. The museum is named for Dorothy Pickett, a local schoolteacher and wife of Great Northern Railway photographer Lee Pickett.
It was originally located in a toolshed the Picketts used until the museum was moved to their former home.
The
Red Men Hall, a fraternal lodge and the largest building in Index, was constructed in 1903 and served as the center for social life in the town.
It was 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 ...
in 1973 but collapsed in 2009 after a severe snowstorm and was subsequently demolished. Another historic building in Index, the Bush House, was opened as a hotel in 1898 and closed multiple times throughout its history, leading to its listing as an endangered landmark by the
Washington Trust for Historic Preservation in 2009.
A major renovation began in 2012 and the Bush House reopened for use as a hotel and event venue in 2017; a new restaurant at the hotel was opened in June 2023.
The Index Arts Festival was founded in 2004 and is held annually at Doolittle Pioneer Park during the first weekend in August. It includes exhibitions, outdoor musical performances, poetry, and live demonstrations of specialty arts. The Index area has been used for several film and television productions, including the 1987 film ''
Harry and the Hendersons
''Harry and the Hendersons'' is a 1987 American fantasy comedy film directed and produced by William Dear and starring John Lithgow, Melinda Dillon, Don Ameche, David Suchet, Margaret Langrick, Joshua Rudoy, Lainie Kazan, and Kevin Peter Hal ...
'' and 2016 film ''
Captain Fantastic''.
Religion
The town is home to the
Aquarian Tabernacle Church, a
Wicca
Wicca (), also known as "The Craft", is a Modern paganism, modern pagan, syncretic, Earth religion, Earth-centred religion. Considered a new religious movement by Religious studies, scholars of religion, the path evolved from Western esote ...
church that was established in Seattle and moved to Index in 1979.
The church was among the first
modern Pagan
Modern paganism, also known as contemporary paganism and neopaganism, spans a range of new religious movements variously influenced by the Paganism, beliefs of pre-modern peoples across Europe, North Africa, and the Near East. Despite some comm ...
institutions to be recognized by the state government; it also operates an online
seminary
A seminary, school of theology, theological college, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called seminarians) in scripture and theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as cle ...
based in Index.
The Aquarian Tabernacle also organizes Wiccan holiday events at nearby state parks that draw more than 200 worshippers. The town is also home to a Protestant Christian church.
The Snow Mountain Monastery, a
Buddhist
Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...
monastery
A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of Monasticism, monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in Cenobitic monasticism, communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a ...
and retreat, moved from Skykomish to Index in 2013.
Parks and recreation
Index lies along the
Cascade Loop Scenic Byway and is west of
Stevens Pass, which has a
ski area and other winter activities.
The Index Town Wall, a set of granite cliffs that face the town, is among the most popular
crags in Washington and draws climbers from the Puget Sound region.
It includes 402
routes for climbing and
bouldering
Bouldering is a form of rock climbing that is performed on small rock formations or Climbing wall, artificial rock walls without the use of ropes or Climbing harness, harnesses. While bouldering can be done without any equipment, most climbers ...
that range in difficulty, including beginner's courses that are nicknamed the "classroom".
Most of the area was acquired by private climbing organizations, who collected $250,000 in pledges, and donated in 2010 to the state government for inclusion in
Forks of the Sky State Park.
The Lower Town Wall was acquired by the Washington Climbers Coalition in 2010 to prevent it from being sold to a quarry operator; it was added to the state park later that year.
Non-profit climbing groups have purchased parcels near the Town Wall for recreation and conservation, including donations to expand the state park.
The Skykomish River is a popular 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 ...
corridor with several companies based out of Index that operate along the river and within the
Wild Sky Wilderness area.
The river includes sections that are rated from Class III to V on the
international scale. The river is also used for fishing, particularly for
steelhead trout, and has swimming areas around waterfalls east of the town.
The sole
urban park
An urban park or metropolitan park, also known as a city park, municipal park (North America), public park, public open space, or municipal gardens (United Kingdom, UK), is a park or botanical garden in cities, densely populated suburbia and oth ...
in Index is Doolittle Pioneer Park, which includes a
picnic shelter and public barbeque. Doolittle Pioneer Park was opened in 1976 for the
national bicentennial and displays a rock-cutting saw from the former granite quarry near Index.
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 ...
, named Crescent Trail, follows the former trackbed of the Great Northern Railway west of the town.
The surrounding area also includes several hiking trails maintained by the
United States Forest Service
The United States Forest Service (USFS) is an agency within the United States Department of Agriculture, U.S. Department of Agriculture. It administers the nation's 154 United States National Forest, national forests and 20 United States Natio ...
and the Snohomish County Parks & Recreation Department.
The
Mount Baker–Snoqualmie National Forest includes the
Lake Serene Trail, which records 45,000 visitors annually and leads to the base of Mount Index. An outdoor
shooting range
A shooting range, firing range, gun range or shooting ground is a specialized facility, venue, or field designed specifically for firearm usage qualifications, training, practice, or competitions. Some shooting ranges are operated by milita ...
on national forest property near Index was opened in 1947 and operated until 2004, including for several decades without a valid special use permit from the Forest Service. The range was permanently closed due to
lead contamination. Heybrook Ridge County Park, which has several trails and a historic
fire lookout, opened in 2017 after nine years of development by the county government.
The land was acquired in a
public–private partnership
A public–private partnership (PPP, 3P, or P3) is a long-term arrangement between a government and private sectors, private sector institutions.Hodge, G. A and Greve, C. (2007), Public–Private Partnerships: An International Performance Revie ...
with a volunteer conservation group in 2008 to prevent the area from being
clearcut.
Another trail in the county park, Erinswood Trail, opened at the bottom of the ridge in 2021 with full
accessibility for wheelchairs.
Education
The Index School District serves the town and surrounding areas in the southeast corner of Snohomish County. It has a single
combined elementary–middle school with an enrollment of 23 students and three full-time teachers .
The school district was established in 1892 and built its first schoolhouse in 1899 for a class of 40 students; the schoolhouse was replaced in 1908 by the Index School, a larger building with four classrooms.
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., ...
was opened in 1918, but was only used until 1942 as enrollment declined; high school students have been bused to
Sultan Senior High School since Index High School was closed.
A new school building was constructed in 1955 to replace the condemned Index School and remains in use;
its original courtyard was later replaced with an indoor
computer lab. Most of the building was renovated in 2019 using a grant from the state government.
The town is part of the
Sno-Isle Libraries system, which operates a twice-monthly
bookmobile
A bookmobile, or mobile library, is a vehicle designed for use as a library. They have been known by many names throughout history, including traveling library, library wagon, book wagon, book truck, library-on-wheels, and book auto service. Boo ...
service to Index. Index's original
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 ...
was established in 1913 and was one of several small-town libraries to receive a donation of used books from the
Seattle Public Library
The Seattle Public Library (SPL) is the public library system serving the city of Seattle, Washington (state), Washington. Efforts to start a Seattle library had commenced as early as 1868, with the system eventually being established by the ci ...
system. It was later dissolved due to low patronage and the collection was donated to a nearby resort.
Infrastructure
Transportation

Index is located northeast of
U.S. Route 2
U.S. Route 2 or U.S. Highway 2 (US 2) is an east–west United States Numbered Highway System, United States Numbered Highway spanning across the northern continental United States. US 2 consists of two segments connected ...
(US2), which connects
Everett to the Skykomish Valley and
Stevens Pass. The town is connected to US2 by Index–Galena Road,
which continues northeast into the
Wild Sky Wilderness. A flood in November 2006 washed out a section of the road beyond Index at
milepost
A milestone is a numbered marker placed on a route such as a road, railway, railway line, canal or border, boundary. They can indicate the distance to towns, cities, and other places or landmarks like Mileage sign, mileage signs; or they c ...
6.4. The road was reopened in November 2023 after a three-year repair project that relocated sections to higher ground and added new
culvert
A culvert is a structure that channels water past an obstacle or to a subterranean waterway. Typically embedded so as to be surrounded by soil, a culvert may be made from a pipe (fluid conveyance), pipe, reinforced concrete or other materia ...
s and bridges. The project cost $29 million to complete and was mostly funded by the federal government.
The town's bridge over the North Fork Skykomish River is the Smith Bridge, a
tied-arch bridge
A tied-arch bridge is an arch bridge in which the outward-directed horizontal forces of the arch(es) are borne as tension by a chord tying the arch ends rather than by the ground or the bridge foundations. This strengthened chord may be the deck ...
that carries two lanes of 5th Street to Index–Galena Road. It opened in September 1999 and was the first tied-arch bridge in Snohomish County, with a height of . The Smith Bridge replaced the earlier Index Bridge No. 122, a
timber bridge
A timber bridge or wooden bridge is a bridge that uses timber or wood as its principal structural material. One of the first forms of bridge, those of timber have been used since ancient times.
History
The most ancient form of timber bridge is ...
that was constructed in 1918 and only carried one lane of traffic.
The old bridge had been moved from its original site in April 1998 to be used during construction of the new bridge;
the relocated bridge was also closed entirely for several days in October 1998 to prepare for flood control measures, leaving Index with only a winding gravel road to connect to the rest of the world.
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 Index is provided by the
Snohomish County Public Utility District (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 utility derives most of its electricity from
hydroelectricity
Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is Electricity generation, electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies 15% of the world's electricity, almost 4,210 TWh in 2023, which is more than all other Renewable energ ...
that it purchases from the federal
Bonneville Power Administration
The Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) is an American federal agency operating in the Pacific Northwest. BPA was created by an act of United States Congress, Congress in 1937 to market electric power from the Bonneville Dam located on the Col ...
or generates on its own. The PUD's plan to build an
inflatable dam near Sunset Falls east of Index was abandoned in 2018 due to opposition from environmentalists and local residents, who sought a
wild and scenic designation for the river. Another plan by the PUD to harness
geothermal energy
Geothermal energy is thermal energy extracted from the crust (geology), crust. It combines energy from the formation of the planet and from radioactive decay. Geothermal energy has been exploited as a source of heat and/or electric power for m ...
northeast of Index at Garland Mineral Springs was shelved in 2012 after test drills found bedrock instead of more favorable underground conditions.
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 ...
for the town's residents and businesses is provided by
Puget Sound Energy
Puget Sound Energy, Inc. (PSE) is an energy utility company based in the U.S. state of Washington that provides electrical power and natural gas to the Puget Sound region. The utility serves electricity to more than 1.2 million customers in I ...
, a private company that serves most of the
Seattle metropolitan area
The Seattle metropolitan area is an urban conglomeration in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington that comprises Seattle, its surrounding Satellite city, satellites and suburbs. The United States Census Bureau defines the Seattle–T ...
.
The town's main
water
Water is an inorganic compound with the chemical formula . It is a transparent, tasteless, odorless, and Color of water, nearly colorless chemical substance. It is the main constituent of Earth's hydrosphere and the fluids of all known liv ...
source is a
spring that draws from groundwater and is collected by
well
A well is an excavation or structure created on the earth by digging, driving, or drilling to access liquid resources, usually water. The oldest and most common kind of well is a water well, to access groundwater in underground aquifers. The ...
s and stored in an underground vault. The drinking water is not treated or filtered due to its minimal contact with human contamination and is regularly monitored for safety.
In the 1980s, the town government considered a proposal to collect and sell
bottled water
Bottled water is drinking water (e.g., Water well, well water, distilled water, Reverse osmosis, reverse osmosis water, mineral water, or Spring (hydrology), spring water) packaged in Plastic bottle, plastic or Glass bottle, glass water bott ...
from its municipal source. The water supply has 129 connections, including 119 residential customers.
Index lacks a sewage treatment plant and instead relies on individual
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's curbside
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 pickup is contracted out 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 ...
.
Index has limited telecommunications service that is primarily provided by
satellite
A satellite or an artificial satellite is an object, typically a spacecraft, placed into orbit around a celestial body. They have a variety of uses, including communication relay, weather forecasting, navigation ( GPS), broadcasting, scient ...
and
mobile broadband
Mobile broadband is the marketing term for Wireless broadband, wireless Internet access via mobile network, mobile (cell) networks. Access to the network can be made through a portable modem, wireless modem, or a Tablet computer, tablet/smartp ...
companies.
Ziply Fiber provides landline telephone and internet service to customers in the town.
In 2024, the county government approved a contract with Ziply Fiber to provide
broadband internet
In telecommunications, broadband or high speed is the wide- bandwidth data transmission that exploits signals at a wide spread of frequencies or several different simultaneous frequencies, and is used in fast Internet access. The transmission m ...
service to Index using an existing
fiber line. The $4.3 million program, which also includes
Verlot, is funded by the
American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 and is expected to be completed in 2025.
References
External links
*
Index Historical Society
{{Authority control
Towns in Washington (state)
Towns in Snohomish County, Washington