I first moved to Snohomish, WA in the late 1990s as a single woman with hand-me-down furniture, only enough possessions as fit in the back of my little green Ford Ranger, and an aspiration of a house of her own and cats. I was living just 20 miles south in Redmond, the growing hometown of Microsoft, which at that time was still a small town with active railroad tracks, a granary, and a tavern tucked into the woods popular with loggers. I bought an 884 square foot red house shaped like a chalet with three windows facing the street trimmed in black with white shutters, lace curtains, and a peek-a-boo view of the lake a few blocks away from the tiny back deck. I loved the town right away because it was - and still is - a real town, not a fabricated suburb. Founded in the mid-1800s due to its riverside setting, it was a logging and agricultural hub named after the Native American tribe that lived there since forever.
Today the historic main street still stretches along the high north bank of the Snohomish River and has preserved most of the original architecture, albeit with new tenants over the intervening 150+ years. Reaching north and uphill from this main street is a grid of streets lined with homes and churches built around the turn of the century and into the 1950s. The architecture ranges from simple to gingerbread, from Victorian to Craftsman to mid-Century Modern. For anyone from the East Coast, a town founded after the revolution is relatively modern, but for the Pacific Northwest - this is a historic town. Today it is considered the "Antiques Capital of the Northwest" so in a sense, it has come full circle to continue preserving its roots.
On a gorgeous early Spring day, with trees still blossoming and tulips coming into full color in front gardens, I walked through the downtown lettered streets (A-D) and captured some of the front gardens and porches. This is the briefest of glimpses of this beautiful town, so I plan to add more images as the seasons progress.
Which one would you choose to live in?
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