Thank you to all of those who participated in our Historic Homes Tour! It was a very successful event honoring the preservation of our older homes as they were originally designed.
Thank you to our sponsors
Windermere Real Estate
SAAL Brewery
Sollid Real Estate
Thanks also to Chicago Title & Escrow for their “in kind” support and research done by Quinn Marrs under the direction of Don Graham.
And to Camano Commons
Painting from a recent gift to SAHS. 2023.07
The Stanwood railroad depot was built in the 1890s when the Great Northern Railroad was connected the Puget Sound with the midwestern section of the United States.
The painting on the right captures the details of the siding. The initials of the painter are not familiar but was certainly done before 1973 when the depot was finally destroyed after the last passenger run in 1971 when Amtrak (National Railroad Passenger Corporation) took over the run. Amtrak regulations at that time did not allow service to any point outside of the United States.
Last train carrying passengers from Stanwood depot was April 30, 1971. Photo by Howard Hansen of the Stanwood News
The depot was demolished two years later in April 1973. The Stanwood Station now provides passenger service using Amtrak and connect with Vancouver B. C. and the Empire Builder from Everett.
Visit the Dave Eldridge Center (formerly called the Stanwood Camano museum) to see more photographs and maps of the community.
Among Clara Stanwood’s many accomplishments was the construction and building of public school building on North Street which she lived to see become a high school. At the time this school was thought of, Mrs. Pearson was elected director and against a large opposition she led the fight for the school and won.
For Women’s History Month, we once again honor Clara Stanwood Pearson whose influence in Stanwood deserves more recognition.
In 1877, D. O. Pearson and his wife, Clara and young children had recently arrived to establish a general merchandise store. D.O. also took over as Postmaster – he was the 7th in 7 years at this outpost. He submitted his wife’s maiden name, Stanwood, and it was made official.
Clara Jane Stanwood was born in Lowell Massachusetts and raised by her grandmother because her mother died when she was only 4 years old. Her father left to serve in the Union Army in the Civil War and never returned. She must have formed an attachment to D. O. Pearson and his family because she followed them out to Whidbey Island in 1868 on her own at the age of 19. They married and farmed for seven years until D. O. invested in the mercantile at the mouth of the Stillaguamish River and brought his family there to live.
In 2001 the Stanwood City Council proclaimed March 18th as the town’s Clara Stanwood Day. In September 2003 an honorary marker was placed at the D. O. Pearson House in her honor by the Ann Washington Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution.
Music has always been part of our history – the Stillaguamish Band was always on hand for events to celebrate our community!
Thanks to the South End String Band for their great lively music Saturday nite!
They win our local Grammy award for best band. And thank you to all of those attendees who supported the Stanwood Area Historical Society with their donations!
This weekend was also the Camano Schoolhouse Foundation’s unveiling of its new Jack Gunter mural for the former fire station building which will become an exhibit area for Camano Island history. Along with that they are preparing to raise the school bell to the roof of our local historic schoolhouse.
Support preservation of our local history ! If you couldn’t make it to the concert, you can still support our local history and its preservation with your membership or donations!
(See our paypal/credit card link on the sidebar!)
Also – note that Seattle music historian and recent SAHS speaker Peter Blecha posted a bio about local musician Zona Lillian McConnell (1884-1977) who lived on Madrona Beach on historylink.org !
Then the final in our Fall programs series:
“Leque Island – From Island to Tidal Marsh”
December 11th, 2022
Sunday afternoon
4 – 6 pm
Guest Speakers: Loren Brokaw & Lindsey Desmul –
Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) and partners transformed the landscape between Camano Island and Stanwood over the last three years by removing dikes and returning the area to tidal marsh. This area is called Leque Island and it now has an elevated walking trail that has been popular with the community. In this presentation, WDFW staff will cover the site history, the story of how the restoration project came to be, and the results of what has been observed since the project.
For a history of Leque Island, here is an article from a 2004 issue of the SAHS newsletter Stanwood Area Echoes.
This will be an in-Person program at the Floyd
2004 view of Leque Island from the old Mark Clark Bridge looking southwest. The Eide House has not yet been removed and the white in the distance are snow geese.
.This program and the three other programs were funded through the Snohomish County Historic Preservation 2022 Grant.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Stanwood Camano Arts Advisory Commission
OPEN HOUSE:
Come see what the SCAAC Community is all about!
Floyd Norgaard Cultural Center
27130 102nd Ave NW
Dec 15th from 5:30 – 7:30pm (free)
Part holiday party and part artist salon, this casual event invites everyone to celebrate all that SCAAC has done this year. We’ll be featuring the collaborative art project with the Stanwood Area Historical Society, doing kid art projects. revealing more of the MAC and so much more.
This event is open to the public – come one, come all!
[More details and RSVP on our website.]
www.scaacwa.org
facebook.com/scaacwa
instagram.com/scaac_wa
Click the image for info on the History Lecture: “Dreamland: The Lost World of James Tilton Pickett, 1857 – 1889”
Guest Speaker, Gwen Whiting, Lead Curator, Washington State Historical Society
Nov. 13, 2022,
History Lecture: “Dreamland: The Lost World of James Tilton Pickett, 1857 – 1889”
Guest Speaker:
Gwen Whiting, Lead Curator, Washington State Historical Society
4 pm Sunday Afternoon
An artist and visionary of Native ancestry born near Bellingham, James Tilton Pickett was well-known in the late 1800s for the paintings and sketches that he did for local newspapers and patrons. Today, his artistic fame is overshadowed by his more famous father, Confederate General George Pickett. This talk will explore some of the mythology around the Picketts in the Pacific Northwest, while focusing on what is currently known about James’ life and career.
Gwen Whiting is visiting from Tacoma where she works as Lead Curator at the Washington State Historical Society
This program sponsored by The Stanwood Area Historical Society with funding from the 2022 Snohomish County Historic Preservation Community Heritage Grant. Stanwood, WA