Skykomish is a town in King County,

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. The population was 161 as of the 2020 census, down from an estimated peak of "several thousand" in the 1920s. Located in the Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest, 49 miles east of Everett, Washington, on the South Fork of the Skykomish River, Skykomish was founded as a railroad town. Today, it is mainly a stopping point for recreational access to the surrounding mountains, including skiing at nearby Stevens Pass. Being located in the far northeastern corner of King County, mountains deny Skykomish any road access to the rest of the county. Instead, U.S. Highway 2 (known in the area as the Cascade Highway) connects it with

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 ...

to the north and through Stevens Pass (17 miles east of town) to Chelan County.

History

The name "Skykomish" derives from the Skykomish or Skai-whamish tribe (originally considered a subdivision of the Snoqualmies) who inhabited the area before European settlement. John Maloney, a guide for the

surveying Surveying or land surveying is the technique, profession, art, and science of determining the land, terrestrial Plane (mathematics), two-dimensional or Three-dimensional space#In Euclidean geometry, three-dimensional positions of Point (geom ...

team on the Great Northern Railway, settled a flat spot in 1892, which got the name "Maloney's Siding". The following year the railroad was completed, and when a post office was established, the place became known as Skykomish. The townsite was platted in 1889 and was officially incorporated as the town of Skykomish on June 5, 1909. Maloney opened Maloney's General Store in 1893. A hotel, the Skykomish Hotel, soon followed. In 1902 this hotel burned to the ground and was replaced by Schneider's Hotel. In 1904, a fire burned down every commercial building except the store. Maloney's General Store was placed 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 ...

on August 29, 1997. In 2000, the entire commercial district, with the historic Skykomish Hotel (erected to replace the burned-down Schneider's Hotel in 1904) as its cornerstone, was also placed on the NRHP. From the 1890s to 1974, Skykomish was a maintenance and fueling station for the Great Northern Railway, which eventually became part of the

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 ...

, and presently 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 ...

. At its peak, eight passenger trains serviced Skykomish daily, and it saw stops by several named passenger trains including the Great Northern Flyer, the Oriental Limited, the Cascadian, the Western Star and the

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 ...

. It was also once the western terminus for electric operations (1928–56) on the

Cascade Tunnel The Cascade Tunnel refers to two railroad tunnels, its original tunnel and its replacement, in the northwest United States, east of the Seattle metropolitan area in the Cascade Range of Washington, at Stevens Pass. It is approximately east of ...

route all the way to Wenatchee. Here, steam or diesel locomotives were changed or coupled to electric locomotives. The Great Northern Depot, the former Skykomish station, was moved to a new city park in 2012 and today serves as a visitors center and history museum. The town gained 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 ...

service operated by the King County Rural Library District in 1944, its library opening the following year in the

city 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 ...

. It moved to a new building in 1993, which was expanded in 2006. Skykomish's population peaked at around 8,000 in the 1920s and shrank to under 300 by 1990 due to the loss of businesses and jobs. Legal but ill-advised waste disposal practices, common during that era, resulted in the

contamination Contamination is the presence of a constituent, impurity, or some other undesirable element that renders something unsuitable, unfit or harmful for the physical body, natural environment, workplace, etc. Types of contamination Within the scien ...

of its

soil Soil, also commonly referred to as earth, is a mixture of organic matter, minerals, gases, water, and organisms that together support the life of plants and soil organisms. Some scientific definitions distinguish dirt from ''soil'' by re ...

, its

groundwater Groundwater is the water present beneath Earth's surface in rock and Pore space in soil, soil pore spaces and in the fractures of stratum, rock formations. About 30 percent of all readily available fresh water in the world is groundwater. A unit ...

, and 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 ...

oil An oil is any nonpolar chemical substance that is composed primarily of hydrocarbons and is hydrophobic (does not mix with water) and lipophilic (mixes with other oils). Oils are usually flammable and surface active. Most oils are unsaturate ...

and

heavy metals upright=1.2, Crystals of lead.html" ;"title="osmium, a heavy metal nearly twice as dense as lead">osmium, a heavy metal nearly twice as dense as lead Heavy metals is a controversial and ambiguous term for metallic elements with relatively h ...

. The video class of the local school chose to document the oil under the town, winning the 2002 President’s Environmental Youth Award. BNSF (then BN) and the Washington State Department of Ecology began remediation discussions in the mid-1980s, and in 2006, agreed to a plan whereby the railroad would pay up to $50 million to clean up the area over a three-year period (completed in 2009). This effort involved massive

excavations In archaeology, excavation is the exposure, processing and recording of archaeological remains. An excavation site or "dig" is the area being studied. These locations range from one to several areas at a time during a project and can be condu ...

—essentially removing the contaminated soil and replacing it with clean soil—and the rebuilding of a

levee A levee ( or ), dike (American English), dyke (British English; see American and British English spelling differences#Miscellaneous spelling differences, spelling differences), embankment, floodbank, or stop bank is an elevated ridge, natural ...

. (The eventual total cost of the cleanup exceeded $100 million.) Twenty two of Skykomish's buildings – both homes and business – were temporarily moved during the cleanup process. After the contaminated soil under them was removed, the buildings were moved back to their original locations on new foundations and utilities connections. The town was restored with modern conveniences such as sidewalks and street lights, but the historic character of Skykomish was maintained. The greatest benefit of the cleanup to every resident and business in town was the installation of the new

wastewater treatment 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 ...

system connected to every building. Led by point guard John Best, the Skykomish basketball team won the 1954 State B championship beating the highly favored 3A Bainbridge. In 1954, Skykomish had a total of 51 students, while Bainbridge had an enrollment of 266.

Geography

Skykomish has no direct road connection to the rest of King County, with access 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 ...

through

. The relative isolation of Skykomish from the rest of the county and its services has led to calls for secession or joining Snohomish County. 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 ...

, the town has a total area of , of which, is land and is water.

Climate

Skykomish has a '' Cfb'' (bordering on ''Dsb'', ''Dfb'', and ''Csb'') climate, with warm, sunny summers and cold, snowy winters.

Demographics

2020 census

As of the 2020 census, there were 161 people, 49 households in the town.

2010 census

As of the 2010 census, there were 198 people, 95 households, and 45 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 168 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 ...

, 1.0%

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

, 1.5% Native American, 1.5% Asian, and 0.5% 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 1.5% of the population. There were 95 households, of which 20.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 34.7% 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, 4.2% had a female householder with no husband present, 8.4% had a male householder with no wife present, and 52.6% were non-families. 44.2% of all households were made up of individuals, and 14.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.08 and the average family size was 2.87. The median age in the town was 51.3 years. 18.2% of residents were under the age of 18; 6.1% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 18.7% were from 25 to 44; 38.4% were from 45 to 64; and 18.7% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the town was 57.1% male and 42.9% female.

2000 census

As of the 2000 census, there were 214 people, 104 households, and 58 families living in the town. The

was 623.2 people per square mile (243.0/km²). There were 162 housing units at an average density of 471.8 per square mile (184.0/km²). The racial makeup of the town was 94.39%

, 0.47%

, 1.40% Native American, 0.93% Asian, and 2.80% from two or more races.

Hispanics The term Hispanic () are people, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an ethnic or meta-ethnic term. The term commonly appli ...

Latinos Hispanic and Latino Americans are Americans who have a Spanish or Latin American background, culture, or family origin. This demographic group includes all Americans who identify as Hispanic or Latino, regardless of race. According to th ...

of any race were 2.80% of the population. There were 104 households, of which 20.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them. 48.1% were

living together, 2.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 44.2% were non-families. 34.6% of all households were made up of individuals, and 17.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.06 and the average family size was 2.66. 18.2% of the town's population was under the age of 18, 5.1% from 18 to 24, 23.8% from 25 to 44, 34.1% from 45 to 64, and 18.7% 65 or older. The median age was 46 years. For every 100 females, there were 96.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 103.5 males. The median income for a household in the town was $45,357, and the median income for a family was $48,500. Males had a median income of $42,500 versus $25,938 for females. The

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 ...

for the town was $22,829. About 3.0% of families and 9.0% of the 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 8.6% of those under the age of 18 and none of those 65 or over.

Infrastructure

The town's residents mainly relied on

dial-up Dial-up Internet access is a form of Internet access that uses the facilities of the public switched telephone network (PSTN) to establish a connection to an Internet service provider (ISP) by dialing a telephone number on a conventional telepho ...

service for internet access until the full rollout of

DSL Digital subscriber line (DSL; originally digital subscriber loop) is a family of technologies that are used to transmit digital data over telephone lines. In telecommunications marketing, the term DSL is widely understood to mean asymmetric di ...

in the 2010s—far later than the rest of King County. A $1.3 million project to add

fiber-optic An optical fiber, or optical fibre, is a flexible glass or plastic fiber that can transmit light from one end to the other. Such fibers find wide usage in fiber-optic communications, where they permit transmission over longer distances and at ...

service to Skykomish was announced in 2021 by Ziply Fiber with funding from the state government. An existing

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 ...

runs underground through parts of the town but did not serve its residents.

References

External links

Town of Skykomish -- Official Website

Skykomish Historical Society
{{Authority control Towns in King County, Washington Towns in Washington (state) 1909 establishments in Washington (state)