Drive guide
US-2 — Everett to Sultan
64 things worth knowing along this corridor, in the order you meet them driving. Every one is sourced.
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Sal’s stories on US-2
Along the way
historySwalwell Cottage
Built in the winter of 1891–1892, the cottage was the home of Alfred W. Swalwell. Pine St. was Swalwell Avenue at the time of construction. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on 28 November 1978.
Source: en.wikipedia.org
developmentMill Town Trail
The Mill Town Trail, a loop of more than six miles, follows the waterfront from the Terminal Avenue area, along West Marine View Drive, around the peninsula to Riverside Park overlooking the Snohomish River on East Grand Avenue.
Source: heraldnet.com
sightSnohomish River estuary
The final few miles of the river in Everett form the Snohomish River estuary, a river delta that features wetlands and tideflats spread out across various islands and arms of the river. Several bridges carry U.S. Route 2 , Interstate 5 , and State Route 529 across the delta. The river then empties into Possession Sound, which is part of Puget Sound, between Everett and Marysville .
Source: en.wikipedia.org
historyDominic Cavelero
Dominic Cavelero immigrated with his family to the United States from Italy in 1883, landing in San Francisco. He also was a noted vegetable farmer on land in east Everett, across the Snohomish River flats. In all, Cavelero amassed 2,150 acres of fertile land.
Source: heraldnet.com
historyHewitt Avenue Trestle
The original wooden and concrete trestle was opened on January 15, 1936, carrying both directions of traffic and including a drawbridge over the Snohomish River. A parallel trestle to carry westbound traffic was partially opened on April 8, 1968, and fully opened with ceremonies on April 8, 1969, at a cost of $7.3 million.
Source: en.wikipedia.org
sightEbey Island Wildlife Area
This unit consists of approximately 400 acres of forested swamp and over 800 acres of grassland. The forested portion was logged in the 1890s and reforested naturally into one of the few remaining Sitka spruce swamps in the Snohomish River estuary.
Source: wdfw.wa.gov
developmentCavalero Hill Park
Lake Stevens’ residents gathered in Cavalero Hill Park on Tuesday to celebrate the park’s official transfer from Snohomish County to the city. The park was annexed into Lake Stevens in 2009 , but remained under county control because the city was not yet ready to take on park maintenance and development, County Council member Sam Low told The Herald in August.
Source: heraldnet.com
historyThe Feather Ballroom
Businessman Scott Swoboda fulfilled a boyhood dream of renovating the Eagles Hall in Snohomish. The building now has several businesses inside and includes wedding venue, the Feather Ballroom.
Source: heraldnet.com
historySnohomish Carnegie Building
The Snohomish Carnegie Building, paid for by industrialist Andrew Carnegie, opened in 1910 as the city's first library building; the Snohomish Atheneum (1873) and a Public Library Association (1901) came before it. It is the oldest public building in the city and served as the library until a new one opened at another site in 2003.
Source: en.wikipedia.org
institutionSnohomish Aquatic Center
The city is home to the Snohomish Aquatic Center, a public pool complex built by the Snohomish School District for its high school swim teams. It opened in 2014 at a cost of $22.2 million and was partially funded by the city government, which provides discounts for residents.
Source: en.wikipedia.org
historyBlackmans Lake logging camp
By 1876, they had established a logging operation on a small lake north of Snohomish. That lake became known as Blackmans Lake, and visitors to Hill Park can still see old pilings connected to the family’s early logging work.
Source: snohomishhistoricalsociety.org
institutionSnohomish Library
Snohomish's public library is operated by Sno-Isle Libraries, a regional system that annexed the city-run library. Located near downtown, the 23,000-square-foot (2,100 m2) building is the third-largest in the Sno-Isle system and serves over 5,000 weekly patrons. It opened in July 2003 at a cost of million, replacing an earlier Carnegie library building that was a third of the size.
Source: en.wikipedia.org
institutionAverill Field
Averill Field, a 2.3-acre site at the heart of the Pilchuck District adjacent to the Centennial Trail, has undergone significant redevelopment.
Source: snohomishwa.gov
institutionSnohomish Boys & Girls Club
The city also owns the local Boys and Girls Club and senior center, leasing them out to their respective organizations.
Source: en.wikipedia.org
sightPilchuck Park
Pilchuck Park, a 12.9-acre riverfront gem near the Pilchuck District, offers water access, sports fields, and equipment storage.
Source: snohomishwa.gov
sightClaytown Kids Park
Nestled in a residential neighborhood, Claytown Park is a 0.35-acre oasis. Designed with families in mind, this fenced pocket park features playground equipment for small children, a picnic table, and benches.
Source: snohomishwa.gov
historyAldercrest Sanatorium
The facility officially opened on March 1, 1918. Construction and furnishing of the hospital cost around $30,000. The campus consisted of three buildings; a two story administrative building, one male ward and one female ward. Aldercrest was closed on April 30, 1954. The remaining patients were moved to Firland Sanatorium in Seattle .
Source: en.wikipedia.org
developmentCentennial Trail at the Pilchuck trailhead
Development of the trail began in 1989, the centennial of Washington statehood; sources differ on when the first segment opened (1989 or 1991). The final segment, between Arlington and the Skagit County line, opened in 2013.
Source: en.wikipedia.org
developmentSnohomish bypass
The present two-lane expressway north and east of Snohomish was approved in 1969 and opened in October 1983; it was originally intended to also include an unfinished bypass of Monroe .
Source: en.wikipedia.org
sightPilchuck River
It is a tributary of the Snohomish River . Course [ edit ] The Pilchuck River originates in the Cascade Range . It flows generally west until it reaches Granite Falls , then it turns and flows south, passing by Lochsloy and Machias before emptying into the Snohomish River near Snohomish .
Source: en.wikipedia.org
developmentSexton Creek
Snohomish County Surface Water Management (SWM) and Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) collaborated to remove a fish passage barrier on Sexton Creek at Sexton Rd and US-2. WSDOT replaced twin culverts under US-2 with a bridge structure and restored the stream channel between the culvert replacements.
Source: snohomishcountywa.gov
historyFryelands Elementary School
The Monroe School Board named Fryelands Elementary School in 2004 for the former Frye lettuce farm, which Charles Frye owned and operated during the Great Depression. About 1,000 people worked on its 1,200 acres during peak harvest, but Frye lost the farm to foreclosure less than 10 years after buying most of it in 1929.
Source: heraldnet.com
historyLake Tye
Lake Tye is named for Tye, a small railroad town that thrived in the 1890s, long before Monroe annexed the area. The lake is an engineered one, not a natural one.
Source: wta.org
historyFrye Lettuce Farm
Charles Frye purchased most of the lettuce farm located just west of downtown Monroe, in a foreclosure sale. In 1933, Minerva Lucken went to work on the farm. She said in an interview that there were about a thousand workers on the farm during its peak. It became the backbone of the local economy during the Great Depression of the 1930s. In the late 1930s lettuce hit a bad year and the lettuce spoiled. Frye's Monroe operation was foreclosed.
Source: historylink.org
institutionPark Place School District Two
Henry McClurg became the first county superintendent of schools in 1869 with only two school districts, one that met in the Snohomish City Blue Eagle Saloon, and the other at Park Place, organized as District Two on November 23, 1869.
Source: historylink.org
historyPark Place (Monroe)
Four years later, he moved inland a mile or so and founded the settlement of Park Place (now a Monroe suburb on the west).
Source: historylink.org
historyEvergreen State Fair
The county fair moved permanently to Monroe in 1946, opening at the modern-day fairgrounds on September 5, and took the name Evergreen State Fair in 1949. The fairgrounds cover 193 acres.
Source: en.wikipedia.org
historyShannahan Cabin
John Shannahan built the cabin of hand-hewn logs in 1887 on the west side of the Snoqualmie River. It was moved to the Tualco Valley in 1936 and to the Evergreen State Fairgrounds in 1966.
Source: monroehistoricalsociety.org
historyEvergreen Speedway
A 0.625-mile horse track was built on land the county let the Evergreen State Fair use in 1950. In 1954 Jimmie Collier convinced county officials to let him convert it for racing his Ford Model T roadster, and racing returned after the track was paved in 1963.
Source: en.wikipedia.org
institutionWestern Heritage Center
In 2017, Snohomish County took over ownership and management of the center, including the collection of agricultural, mining, railroad and household heirlooms inside. The history museum is located at the southeast corner of the Evergreen State Fairgrounds in Monroe. Jerry Senner, who created the museum with his own extensive collection, died in November 2015. Volunteers first promoted the Western Heritage collection during the 2006 Evergreen State Fair, and the museum opened soon after.
Source: heraldnet.com
historyCavalcade of the Valleys
In 1941, the first Cavalcade of the Valleys was organized featuring a parade, carnival and agricultural fair at a larger site near Powell and Park Streets. In 1946, the Cavalcade of the Valleys ceased because the Snohomish County Fair resumed, this time using the old “County Poor Farm” property just northwest of Monroe.
Source: monroehistoricalsociety.org
historyStephens Hospital
The medical community grew in 1902 when Dr. L. L. Stephens announced plans to build a hospital in town with separate apartments for men and women. The three-story Stephens Hospital became a reality in 1903 and still stands at the corner of Blakely and West Main Street as an apartment house.
Source: historylink.org
historyVanasdlen's relocated store
The final plat of the Great Northern Railway put Park Place too far from trackside, so in 1892 Vanasdlen literally picked up his store along with the Monroe Post Office it contained and moved it to trackside at the corner in Monroe where a 7-11 convenience store now sits.
Source: historylink.org
historyMonroe's 1902 incorporation
Monroe's most important event in 1902 was the town's incorporation. The petition for incorporation went to the Snohomish County commissioners, who determined there were 300 inhabitants in the area. An election for incorporation and city officers was set for December 20, 1902. Monroe voted overwhelmingly for home government. Mayor N. P. Heintz won with a four to one majority.
Source: historylink.org
historyTye City and the Wales depot
The railroad built a small depot named "Wales" on the 40-acre (16 ha) homestead of Jack Stretch, who platted a settlement on the north side of the tracks that he named "Tye City" for Great Northern's locating engineer George Tye.
Source: en.wikipedia.org
historyGreat Northern Greenhouses
By 1949 there were six greenhouses on the site, and before they were closed and dismantled in 1962, after the merging of the Great Northern, Burlington, and Northern Pacific Railroads, there were ten greenhouses and six acres for growing shrubs. The greenhouses were built to provide flowers for all Great Northern passenger trains and shrubs for the landscaping of all Great Northern Depots.
Source: monroehistoricalsociety.org
institutionMonroe Monitor
Major Benjamin Franklin Smythe started Monroe's first newspaper, the Monroe Monitor, in January 1899 and it has been in continuous publication since that date.
Source: historylink.org
historyMonroe's first church
After two years of hard work, the Methodist Episcopal Church was completed in 1896 on the site of the current Monroe United Methodist Church on S Lewis Street.
Source: historylink.org
institutionMonroe Historical Society & Museum
Monroe's library moved to the second floor of the old City Hall in 1909 and operated there until 1966, after a start in a photography studio with 175 books in 1906. By 2022 the building was home to the Monroe Historical Society & Museum.
Source: heraldnet.com
sightCarnation Condensery smokestack
The condensery was built in 1908 out of locally milled lumber. It was not until about 1919 that the concrete smokestack that still stands was built to replace the two metal stacks. It is 150 feet tall and almost eleven feet in diameter at the base. The factory was finally closed in late 1929 and it remained idle throughout the Depression. The plant had only been in operation three weeks when 600 tons of flax stored in the building ignited by spontaneous combustion at 1 a.m., March 23, 1944. The Monroe Fire Department worked hard to keep the fire from spreading beyond the plant, but by dawn all that remained of the plant was the concrete smokestack.
Source: monroehistoricalsociety.org
sightAl Borlin Park
Al Borlin Park is the largest Monroe Park at 90 acres and among one of the oldest. Named after a former City Councilmember and Monroe school teacher who promoted parks and environmental education, Al Borlin Park provides the unusual opportunity to enjoy a secluded natural experience in an urban environment. A peninsula formed by the Skykomish River and Woods Creek, the park is thickly wooded and crisscrossed with a 1.2-mile network of soft-surface gravel trails.
Source: monroewa.gov
historyHolmquist shingle mill
Then he bought a site in Monroe, and in 1898 he built his shingle mill on the east side of Wood's Creek, just upstream from its confluence with the Skykomish River, near a loading spur from the Great Northern Railway main line. The mill filed incorporation papers in 1908 as the Wood's Creek Mill Company, with Holmquist as president and manager. However, all the local residents referred to it as Holmquist's mill. The mill operated into the 1930s, although the Holmquists' active participation ended in 1918.
Source: historylink.org
historyReptile Zoo
The Reptile Zoo, a longtime roadside attraction along U.S. Highway 2 in Monroe, closed permanently on Monday, Feb. 16, 2026, marking the end of a 30-year run for the family-owned facility. The Petersen family operated the zoo for three decades. It was founded by Scott Petersen, a former biology teacher known as “The Reptile Man.”
Source: komonews.com
historyMonroe railroad logging boom
When the Great Northern Railway arrived in Monroe in 1893, it set off a logging boom. Until then the only way to get logs to market was by floating them down the river to the mills around Puget Sound. Now the logs could be milled locally and the lumber and shingles shipped by rail to markets all across the country.
Source: monroehistoricalsociety.org
historyStevens Pass Greenway
The road over Stevens Pass opened in July 1925, "a one-lane road averaging 14 feet in width" (historical marker, hmdb.org 156201). The Stevens Pass Greenway, a National Forest Scenic Byway from April 14, 1992, was re-designated a National Scenic Byway on September 22, 2005.
Source: en.wikipedia.org
quirkWayside Chapel
The chapel was built by a Monroe church, now New Hope Fellowship, as an outreach to witness visitors to the 1962 World’s Fair in Seattle. A church member who owned a dairy farm on the property donated a section. The chapel was dedicated Oct. 12, 1962, the day of the epic Columbus Day windstorm.
Source: heraldnet.com
developmentOsprey Park
A once neglected parcel of forest along the Sultan River just north of the small community of Sultan is now thanks to many concerned citizens and government officials, a wonderful park and productive wildlife habitat. Osprey Park’s transformation came about as a result of the relicensing of the Jackson Hydroelectric Dam upriver, requiring that salmon habitat downriver be enhanced. This resulted in the Snohomish County Public Utilities District constructing new channels in the park favoring the spawning fish.
Source: hikeoftheweek.com
historyJohn Nailor's Pioneer Hotel
Settler John Nailor and his wife claimed land at the mouth of the Sultan River in 1880, opened a small store, and built a ferry and the Pioneer Hotel, catering to prospectors, visitors, and a growing number of loggers, farmers, and ranchers. Fifty settlers signed a petition in 1885 to establish a post office, and Nailor became postmaster for the settlement they called Sultan City, after the river on which it was located.
Source: historylink.org
historySteamer Minnie M
The arrival of the Minnie M, a paddle-wheeler, in Sultan in 1890 was heralded as a most memorable event. The celebration included a coronet band and was followed by dinner and a dance. It plied the river carrying freight and passengers until 1893 or 1894, when the Great Northern railroad served the valley. The maiden voyage to Sultan took seven hours from Snohomish.
Source: historylink.org
sightChief Tseul-ted Statue
Non-Native settlers named the Sultan River after Skykomish chief Tseul-ted. Monroe resident Jerry Carter (d. 2010) created it by hand out of sawdust and polyester resin. The statue, weighing 4,000 pounds, had to be moved with a forklift. The artist wanted to honor the man while conveying pride and strength in the city of Sultan.
Source: historylink.org
institutionSky Valley Historical Society Museum
It all began in the 1960s when an energetic group of community members came together once a month meeting at one another’s homes collecting donated artifacts from people in Sultan and the Sky Valley. In the 1980s they were invited to move the museum in the empty space above the Post Office, where they reside today.
Source: sultanwa.gov
sightTravelers Park Douglas Fir Log
Douglas Fir 1000 years old from the Sultan Basin Donated by Roesler Timber Co. & Sky Valley Lions - 1976 Marker and log are in Travelers Park.
Source: hmdb.org
historySultan Railroad Supply Station
Railroad building was at its height in 1891 in anticipation of the Great Northern Railway reaching Puget Sound. Sultan was already bustling with nearby mining activity when it was designated to serve as a rail construction supply station. It employed 800 to 1,000 men. When the rail line reached Sultan in 1892, the town had 17 saloons, three with dance halls, to serve the men working in and around town.
Source: historylink.org
historyTown of Sultan Incorporation
On June 28, 1905, the town of Sultan in Snohomish County is officially incorporated as a town of the fourth class. The voters of the small logging community, located at the confluence of the Sultan and Skykomish rivers a few miles east of Monroe, unanimously approved incorporation on June 10, 1905, and also elected their first mayor, Hartford M. Meredith (1840-1907), and other town officials.
Source: historylink.org
historySky Harbor Airport
This small grassroots airport was evidently established at some point between 1952-62, as a 1952 aerial photo just showed forested vacant land and it was not yet depicted on the April 1957 Seattle Sectional Chart. According to Bob Bogash, Sky Harbor Airport “closed in approximately summer 2018.” A sad sight for anyone who appreciates grassroots aviation: a 2018 aerial view looking northwest showed Sky Harbor's hangar removed, and the property being redeveloped presumably for ever more houses.
Source: airfields-freeman.com
historyStartup
Startup was homesteaded by F.M. Sparling in the 1880s. He left the area in 1889 after getting married and sold his property to William Wait, who filed a plat for the town of Wallace on March 22, 1890. The town's name caused confusion with mail being mistakenly sent to Wallace, Idaho, and in 1901 the name was changed to Startup to honor George G. Startup, manager of the Wallace Lumber Company.
Source: en.wikipedia.org
institutionGold Bar state fish hatchery
A state fish hatchery was added nearby, one of three in Snohomish County, and the logging industry continued to be strong through the 1920s.
Source: historylink.org
historyWallace River
The Wallace River, with its headwaters in the snowy ridges of the Wild Sky Wilderness above the falls, takes its name from Skykomish Indigenous homesteaders Joe and Sarah Kwayaylsh (misspelled and mispronounced as “Wallace”), whose allotment homestead was located on the river below the falls.
Source: parks.wa.gov
historySkykomish villages at Gold Bar
There were seven villages between what are now Monroe and Index, including a large permanent village where Gold Bar is today.
Source: historylink.org
historyOtto Lewis and the Gold Bar Lumber Company
The town's most prominent early settler was Otto Lewis (1861-1926), who had been postmaster at Wallace (now Startup) before moving with his family to Gold Bar in 1898. Purchasing a large amount of land, Lewis built a home, donated land for a two-story schoolhouse and a church, and developed the Gold Bar Lumber Company, which soon became the town's main employer. In 1906, he sold the company to a buyer from Alaska, and the Lewises moved to California.
Source: historylink.org
historyGoldbar post office
By 1899 there were enough settlers in town to establish a post office under the name "Goldbar," spelled as one word, and Otto Lewis became its first postmaster. Post-office listings for the town continued to be spelled as one word until 1951.
Source: historylink.org
seasonalGold Dust Days
The city hosts an annual festival, named Gold Dust Days, over a weekend in late July that includes a parade, a street fair with vendors and food, live music, a car show, and a beauty pageant. It was founded in 2007 and also has events to commemorate the history of the Skykomish Valley, such as gold panning demonstrations and historical reenactments of battles.
Source: en.wikipedia.org
historyGreat Northern construction camp at Gold Bar
In 1892, Gold Bar was the site of one such camp. The railroad had become a steady presence, maintaining extensive shops and a railyard in the town.
Source: historylink.org
historyGold Bar incorporation
On September 16, 1910, Gold Bar officially becomes a municipal corporation of the fourth class. Three months earlier on June 12, local voters approved a measure to incorporate the small Snohomish County logging, railroading, and mining town.
Source: historylink.org
Landscape you can see from the road
| Feature | Type |
|---|---|
| Bear Creek | Stream |
| Blackmans Lake | Lake |
| Burri Creek | Stream |
| Deadwater Slough | Bay |
| Ebey Island | Island |
| May Creek | Stream |
| North Fork Wallace River | Stream |
| Olney Creek | Stream |
| Olney Falls | Falls |
| Panther Lake | Lake |
| Pilchuck River | Stream |
| Richardson Creek | Stream |
Stops along this corridor
| Kind | Count |
|---|---|
| restaurant | 210 |
| park | 117 |
| grocery | 88 |
| coffee | 80 |
| bar | 68 |
| fast food | 59 |
| museum | 8 |
| memorial | 7 |
| viewpoint | 7 |
| waterfall | 2 |
| peak | 1 |
| attraction | 1 |
Where to eat along this corridor
Town by town, what is actually within a short detour of the highway.
- Airway Heights — 41 places to eat
- Davenport — 7 places to eat
- Gold Bar — 8 places to eat
- Leavenworth — 73 places to eat
- Monroe — 69 places to eat
- Newport — 10 places to eat
- Skykomish — 5 places to eat
- Spokane — 39 places to eat
- Sultan — 18 places to eat
- Waterville — 8 places to eat
Coverage
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