![]() ![]() Smith chose a location at a bend in the Snohomish River since the bend created an undercutting current that naturally held the log booms against the bank. New residents found it entertaining to watch as the logs dangerously descended from logging camp to the Snohomish River. By the end of the 1880s, Smith had built a $60,000 sawmill, which produced 75,000 feet of lumber per day, and machinery for the production of lath and shingles as well. A 2,000-foot chute allowed the logs to race rapidly to the river below, and they were transported on the river to regional mills. Here Smith built a timber-planked railroad to transport the huge cut trees out of the woods. The Smith camp at Lowell was situated on a hill, about a mile and a half from the river. With solid experience behind him by this time, Smith set up a logging camp in Lowell.Īt one time Smith operated three logging camps in the region, employing about a hundred men. By summer of 1863, he established himself at Lowell, claiming land from squatters Frederick Dunbar (1829-1906) and Bellingham Brown (b. Partnering with Otis Wilson, Smith worked in the Brown’s Bay area that became Edmonds. After four years of logging there, he tried mining in the Caribou, but within the year, he had returned to the Puget Sound and logging. Smith settled in Port Gamble in September of 1858. It is probable that he followed in the tracks of Pope and Talbot families who were from his home state of Maine. Smith appears to have come to the region to engage in logging. Unlike many young men seeking adventure in the west, E. Smith (1837-1909) and Margaret Getchell Smith (1840-1909) for the creation of Lowell. Prudden contacted Tulalip tribes and returned the relics to them for burial, and the reporter speculated that Lowell may have been a burial site.Ĭredit is given to Eugene D. The story was reported in an issue of the Everett News. Prudden (1855-1939) discovered human relics while clearing to build his own home at the corner of 3rd Street and Main Street. The Lowell area does not appear to have been a native settlement area, but there is evidence that it was once a burial ground. The spot was perfect for berry picking and gathering salmonberry sprouts along the river bank in the spring as they were more plentiful here than on the beaches. Snohomish tribes called the place Chi-Cha-dee-a (ccadi?-Hess), and their canoes undoubtedly passed the spot daily on their way upriver to inland locations. The year 2013 will mark Lowell’s 150th anniversary. Even though Lowell is only a few miles away from downtown Everett, it has retained a sense of its heritage. Lowell is now a residential community with modest homes, a few dating back to the 1890s and early 1900s. Construction of Interstate 5 in the 1960s cut through Lowell and the paper mill closed in 1972, leaving the town with an uncertain future. ![]() Due to its geography and a strong economic base, Lowell has been a self-sufficient community for much of its history, daily life centering around work at the Everett Pulp and Paper Company, the Sumner Iron Works, and the Walton Lumber Mill. Smith set up an early logging camp here and, with his wife Margaret Getchell Smith and Martin and Olive Getchell, began creating a town. The town’s namesake was Lowell, Massachusetts, the home town of an early settler. The site is believed to have once been a burial ground for the Snohomish tribes. The town was platted in 1873 but never incorporated. Annexed into Everett in the 1960s, Lowell dates to 1863, predating Everett by nearly 30 years. Lowell is located along the west bank of the Snohomish River, south of 41st Street in Everett.
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