Van Zandt is an

unincorporated community 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 ...

Whatcom County Whatcom County (, ) is a county located in the northwestern corner of the U.S. state of Washington, bordered by the Lower Mainland (the Metro Vancouver and Fraser Valley Regional Districts) of the Canadian province of British Columbia to t ...

, in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...

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 ...

. There is a

community hall 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 ...

, a park, a cemetery, a volunteer firehouse, and a church located there. The community is

rural In general, a rural area or a countryside is a geographic area that is located outside towns and cities. Typical rural areas have a low population density and small settlements. Agricultural areas and areas with forestry are typically desc ...

, with most residents working in

agriculture Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created ...

lumber Lumber is wood that has been processed into uniform and useful sizes (dimensional lumber), including beams and planks or boards. Lumber is mainly used for construction framing, as well as finishing (floors, wall panels, window frames). ...

. The community also lends its name to the nearby Van Zandt Dike and Van Zandt Creek.

History

A post office called Van Zandt was established in 1892, and remained in operation until 1955. J. M. Van Zandt, the first postmaster who homesteaded there in 1883, gave the community his name. Since the post office shut down, the community now relies on the post office in Deming for its mail. A schoolhouse was built in 1925, and while it still stands today, it is in disrepair. Currently it serves as a

and a

radio station Radio broadcasting is the broadcasting of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based rad ...

hosting KAVZ-LP. As of 2024, the community has been fundraising to be able to repair the building, and the state has given the community a grant of $500,000 to do so. In the 1930s, after

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 ...

set up a rail line running through the valley, logging became much more popular in the area and many roads and small

logging railroads A forest railway, forest tram, timber line, logging railway or logging railroad is a mode of railway transport which is used for forestry tasks, primarily the transportation of felled logs to sawmills or railway stations. In most cases this f ...

were built into the sides of the valley. The community used to have a small grocer, gift shop, and gas station, named Everybody's Store, founded in 1970, and closed in 2019. It was a popular spot and a source of tourism in the community, selling gifts, clothes, artisan meats and cheeses, as well as ice cream. In 1971 an 80-acre homestead was established in Van Zandt, and in 1983 the land was donated to the Evergreen Land Trust, an organization for organizing

communes A commune is an alternative term for an intentional community. Commune or comună or comune or other derivations may also refer to: Administrative-territorial entities * Commune (administrative division), a municipality or township ** Communes of ...

in Washington. Today an

ecovillage An ecovillage is a traditional or intentional community that aims to become more socially, culturally, economically and/or environmentally sustainable. An ecovillage strives to have the least possible negative impact on the natural environment ...

commune tends the land and holds an active role in the local community. In 2016 the bridge over the

Nooksack River The Nooksack River is a river in western Whatcom County of the northwestern U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington, draining Nooksack Valley, extensive valley systems within the North Cascades around Mount Shuksan, Mount Baker and the Twin ...

on Potter Rd was replaced, as the old bridge was built in 1927 and was becoming unsafe.

Transportation

Van Zandt is located roughly between

Acme Acme is Ancient Greek (ἀκμή; English transliteration: ''akmē'') for "the peak", "zenith" or "prime". It may refer to: Arts, entertainment and games * ''Acme'' (album), an album by the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion * Acme and Septimius, a fic ...

and Deming, along the

Washington State Route 9 State Route 9 (SR 9) is a long state highway traversing three counties, Snohomish, Skagit, and Whatcom, in the U.S. state of Washington. The highway extends north from an interchange with in the vicinity of Woodinville north th ...

. The community is connected to the WTA bus line 72X via one stop in front of the community center, although this stop is only serviced twice a day. A

BNSF 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 routes that provide ...

owned railroad track cuts through the middle of the community.

Recreation

Van Zandt is home to one park, Josh VanderYacht Memorial Park, which offers courts for various sports, and a playground. Events also take place in the

, and in 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 ...

located within the park. The valley in which Van Zandt sits features a few trails and spots for hiking. One such place, Hard Scrabble Falls, used to be a popular waterfall to hike out to but the private owner of the land has since closed the trail due to unruly activity in order to preserve the land around the falls, although the falls can still be seen from the highway. Other waterfalls and creeks do dot the valley, although they are often on private property. Tubing down the South Fork Nooksack River used to be a popular summer activity in Van Zandt, and especially in neighboring

, but in 2022 the

Council voted on banning the activity to protect

salmon Salmon (; : salmon) are any of several list of commercially important fish species, commercially important species of euryhaline ray-finned fish from the genera ''Salmo'' and ''Oncorhynchus'' of the family (biology), family Salmonidae, native ...

habitat in the river.

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 ...

, however, remains a popular summer activity in the area. Van Zandt Dike used to be a spot for recreational

target shooting Shooting sports is a group of competitive and recreational sporting activities involving proficiency tests of accuracy, precision and speed in shooting — the art of using ranged weapons, mainly small arms (firearms and airguns, in forms such ...

, however after unsafe shooting practices were reported in 2024, as well as littering and timber theft, the

Department of Natural Resources This article lists subnational environmental agencies in the United States, by state. Agencies that are responsible for state-level regulating, monitoring, managing, and protecting environmental and public health concerns. The exact duties of ...

has decided to close down the area to

. Other recreational activities are still allowed, however the gate that was once used to get up the dike is now closed.

References

{{coord, 48, 47, 20, N, 122, 11, 31, W, type:city_region:US-WA_source:GNIS-enwiki, display=title Unincorporated communities in Whatcom County, Washington Unincorporated communities in Washington (state)

History

Transportation

Recreation

See also

References