On June 23, 1891, James Van Horn and his wife, Kate, platted the town and named it for Mrs. Van Horn's former home in Hartford, South Dakota. The post office department had previously rejected the proposed names of Clinton and of Ferry for the place. Clinton P. Ferry was an early Northwest capitalist who was once known as the Duke of Tacoma and was a nephew of Territorial and State...

Once an important forest products center and is now an area of young-growth timber east of Marysville near the Pilchuck River. It was originally called Portage by an early Native American trader. The city lies between the South Fork of the Stillaguamish River and the Pilchuck River, whose narrow but fertile valleys by the 1940s were being converted to agricultural uses—dairying, poultry raising, berry growing, and truck farming. In the...

Mile: 8

A trail center above which tower the peaks of the Green Mountains and Mount Pilchuck. East of Robe the country becomes increasingly rough and wild, while far below the road the Stillaguamish River dashes between walls of green-black basalt. Trees cling to the precipitous mountain flanks. Once a lumber and shingle manufacturing center, and was named for T. K. Robe, its pioneer settler. A post office operated from March 20,...

Now called the Verlot Public Service Center, the ranger station is still located near the South Fork Stillaguamish River. Constructed by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) from 1933 to 1942, this station reflects both the architectural style and fine craftsmanship of that era and are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. East of Verlot Camp, the road follows the right-of-way of the old Everett and Monte Cristo Railroad,...

A ghost town from the 1890s on the Stillaguamish River east of Hartford in central Snohomish County. The place was named on August 26, 1891 at the suggestion by James W. Hall because of silver-bearing ore he discovered in 1890. There was a post office in the community from 1892 to 1945. First known as Trout’s Marsh Homestead, Big Four Mountain lured the industrious Rucker brothers to cash in on...

A trail leads eastward to the ghost town of Monte Cristo, once a wide-open mining town in the 1890s, when it had seven saloons, a number of gambling and dance halls, and dreams of Eldorado. This old mining town is at the head of the South Fork of the Sauk River. It is in a heavily mineralized area but is most widely known as a ghost town. The trailhead is...