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114-478: Mount Pilchuck State Park is a public recreation area located seven miles (11 km) east of Granite Falls , Washington , on the western edges of the Cascade Mountains . The state park features 1,903 acres (770 ha) of alpine scenery, recreational activities, and Mount Pilchuck itself. The main point of interest is the 3-mile (4.8 km) trail to the peak and the old fire lookout located on

228-693: A fishing pier , restrooms, picnic tables, and walking paths. The city and local school district maintain several athletic facilities for residents, as well as a skate park and dog park . The first newspaper in Granite Falls, the Post , began publishing on July 23, 1903. It was later replaced by the Record in 1922 and the Press , which later merged with a newspaper in Lake Stevens. Granite Falls

342-478: A 1,700-seat football stadium opened at the new high school campus in 2018, replacing the Hi-Jewel Stadium at the former high school, which had been converted into a middle school. Granite Falls is the terminus of State Route 92 , which connects the area to State Route 9 in Lake Stevens. A 1.9-mile (3.1 km) bypass for freight traffic was completed around the north side of the city in 2010 at

456-516: A 7,600-square-foot (710 m ) building that opened in August 2019. It cost $ 3.9 million to construct, using loans and reserve funds, and replaced a smaller building across the street that had accessibility issues. At the federal level, Granite Falls is part of the 8th congressional district , which encompasses the eastern portions of the Snohomish, King , and Pierce counties as well as

570-525: A bilingual Christian church that opened in 2015. The LDS Church established a local ward in the 1990s and opened a dedicated chapel adjacent to Granite Falls High School in 2009. Other religious institutions in the area include a Khmer Buddhist temple and an Evangelical Christian church. The city has four public schools that are operated by the Granite Falls School District , which also serves unincorporated communities to

684-653: A cost of $ 28.8 million. The scenic Mountain Loop Highway begins in Granite Falls and travels east into the Cascade Mountains before turning north to reach Darrington . It is used by an estimated 55,000 tourists annually and provides access to recreational areas in the Mount Baker–Snoqualmie National Forest . Community Transit , the countywide public transportation agency, has one bus route serving Granite Falls. It connects

798-484: A daring raid. Using his European connections and a reputation for having "bested" Jay Gould in a battle for control of the Kansas Pacific Railroad years before, Villard solicited and raised $ 8,000,000 million dollars from his associates. This was his famous "Blind Pool," Villard's associates were not told what the money would be used for. In this case, the funds were used by him to purchase control of

912-420: A digitization project in 2016, using volunteer labor to preserve photographs and newspaper records. The Granite Falls area has been home to several renowned artists, including Kenneth Callahan and Guy Anderson in the 1940s and 1950s. The city has several works of public art , including downtown murals and sculptures at local schools. Among them is a 12-foot (3.7 m) wood carving of Bigfoot created by

1026-468: A fire destroyed the Cascade Hotel in downtown Granite Falls and threatened other buildings. The historic hotel was rebuilt at the same site. At the end of World War II, things looked bleak. The opening of Miller Shingle in 1946 (now the country's largest specialty lumber mill) meant jobs both in the woods and at the mill. Construction booms through Snohomish and King counties also meant jobs at

1140-448: A fourth-class city on December 21, 1903. At the time, it had approximately 600 residents and several lumber mills. Electricity, sewers, sidewalks, telephones, cars, and all the amenities of modern life soon followed. A power plant was also constructed at the falls. By World War I, the once bustling mining towns of Monte Cristo and Silverton were no longer shipping out ore. The railroad, now owned by Northern Pacific , stopped running and

1254-525: A large area, including extensive trackage in the western Federal territories and later states of Idaho , Minnesota, Montana , North Dakota , Oregon , Washington , and Wisconsin . In addition, the N.P. had an international branch running north to Winnipeg , capital of the province of Manitoba , in the newly organized Canada . The main activities were shipping wheat and other farm products, cattle, timber, and minerals; bringing in consumer goods, transporting passengers; and selling land. The Northern Pacific

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1368-584: A local cryptozoologist . In 2000, Granite Falls erected several sculptures depicting toilets to raise funds for a public restroom as part of the annual Art in the Parks festival. The 1977 movie Joyride , set in Alaska , and the 2018 movie Outside In were partially filmed in Granite Falls. A local music venue at the Scherrer Ranch was closed in 1995 by the county government after it constructed

1482-688: A location for outdoor recreation retailers and businesses. Granite Falls is located in Snohomish County, approximately 17 miles (27 km) east of Everett , the county seat, and 45 miles (72 km) northeast of Seattle . It lies on a plateau in the western foothills of the Cascade Range between the South Fork Stillaguamish River to the north and the Pilchuck River to the south. Granite Falls

1596-562: A mile and half (2.4 km) of track each day. In early September, as the line neared completion. To celebrate, and to gain national publicity for investment opportunities in his region, Villard chartered four trains to carry guests from the East to Gold Creek in western Montana Territory No expense was spared, and the list of dignitaries included Frederick Billings, former 18th President Ulysses S. Grant (served 1869-1877), only two years before his tragic death from cancer, and Villard's in-laws,

1710-442: A short amount of time for completion, and a large penalty if the deadline were missed. While crews worked on the tunnel, the railroad built a temporary switchback route across the pass. With numerous timber trestles and grades which approached six percent, the temporary line required two M class 2-10-0s —the two largest locomotives in the world (at that time)—to handle a tiny five-car train. On May 3, 1888, crews holed through

1824-608: A stable path to that important interchange. At the same time, E. H. Harriman , head of the Union Pacific Railroad , was also looking for a road which could connect his company to Chicago. The road both Harriman and Hill looked at was the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy. To Harriman, the Burlington was a road which paralleled much of his own and offered tantalizing direct access to Chicago. For Hill as well, there

1938-573: A stage without permits. Granite Falls is located near recreational areas along the Mountain Loop Highway in the Mount Baker–Snoqualmie National Forest , including sites for hiking, camping, and fishing. Among the major attractions on the Mountain Loop Highway are the ghost town of Monte Cristo and the Big Four Ice Caves . Other major recreational areas near Granite Falls include Lake Bosworth and Lake Roesiger to

2052-573: A threat in certain quarters. German-born former war correspondent / journalist and later newspaper / magazine publisher Henry Villard (6th President N.P.R.R. 1881-1884), had raised capital for western railroads in Europe (especially in the recently unified German Empire ), from 1871 to 1873. After returning to New York City in 1874, he invested on behalf of his clients in railroads in Oregon . Through Villard's work, most of these lines became properties of

2166-462: Is also served by two regional daily newspapers: The Everett Herald and The Seattle Times . Granite Falls has a public library that is operated by the regional Sno-Isle Libraries system, which annexed the city in 1995. The 6,500-square-foot (600 m ) library building is located east of downtown Granite Falls and was initially owned by the city government until it was transferred to Sno-Isle in 2012. The Tsubaki Grand Shrine of America

2280-811: Is also the southern entrance to the Mountain Loop Highway , a scenic highway that continues into the Cascades to Darrington . The city limits are defined to the north by the Stillaguamish River, to the east by Iron Mountain, to the south by the Pilchuck River, and to the west by 174th Avenue Northeast. According to the United States Census Bureau , the city has a total area of 2.20 square miles (5.70 km ), of which, 2.18 square miles (5.65 km )

2394-463: Is land and 0.02 square miles (0.05 km ) is water. It is situated where the South Fork of the Stillaguamish River leaves its narrow mountain valley, which includes the namesake Granite Falls. The falls has a 540-foot (160 m) fishway and a 280-foot (85 m) tunnel that were built in 1954, at the time the longest fish tunnel in the world. The area where the city was founded was called

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2508-443: Is located near several rock and gravel quarries , which created traffic congestion in downtown that was later mitigated through the opening of a truck bypass in 2010. The population was 3,364 at the 2020 census . The city's population grew rapidly in the 1990s and 2000s due to new development and annexations. The town has had an ongoing drug crisis due to the presence of meth and opioids , which earned national coverage in

2622-644: Is managed in partnership with the USFS and the Everett Mountaineers. Granite Falls, Washington Granite Falls is a city in Snohomish County , Washington, United States. It is located between the Pilchuck and Stillaguamish rivers in the western foothills of the Cascade Range , northeast of Lake Stevens and Marysville . The city is named for a waterfall north of downtown on

2736-741: The Cape Horn to the Pacific Ocean. In Minnesota, the Lake Superior and Mississippi Railroad completed construction of its 155-mile (249 km) line stretching from Saint Paul east to Lake Superior at Duluth in 1870. It was leased to the Northern Pacific line six years later in the American Centennial celebration year of 1876 and was eventually absorbed by the Northern Pacific. The famed North Coast Limited

2850-518: The Everett and Monte Cristo Railway . Granite Falls was platted in 1891 and incorporated as a fourth-class town on November 8, 1903. The Pilchuck River and Upper Stillaguamish basin was historically inhabited by the Skykomish people , who used the modern-day site of Granite Falls as a portage along with other Coast Salish tribes. Several Skykomish archaeological sites were discovered in

2964-571: The Great Lakes ). The backing and promotions of famed New York City / Wall Street financier Jay Cooke , in the summer of 1870 brought the first real momentum to the railway company. Over the course of 1871, the Northern Pacific pushed westward from Minnesota Territory into the newer Dakota Territory (present-day state of North Dakota ). Surveyors and construction crews had to maneuver through swamps, bogs, and tamarack forests. The difficult terrain and insufficient funding delayed by six months

3078-749: The Northern Securities Company , a move which would be undone by the Supreme Court in 1904 under the auspices of the Sherman Anti-Trust Act . Harriman was not immune either; he was forced to break up his holdings in the Union Pacific Railroad and the Southern Pacific Railroad a few years later. In 1903, Hill finally got his way with the House of Morgan. Howard Elliott , another veteran of

3192-606: The Snake River near Wallula, Washington . The Union Pacific and Central Pacific lines had completed the first trans-continental route 12 years earlier in 1869. Within a decade of his return, Villard was head of a transportation empire in the Pacific Northwest that had but one real competitor, the Northern Pacific Railroad. The Northern Pacific's trans-continental route completion threatened

3306-475: The Snohomish County Sheriff's Office to provide policing services for the area since 2014, when the city's police department was disbanded. Firefighting services are provided by Snohomish County Fire District 17, which covers 38 square miles (98 km ) of Granite Falls and surrounding unincorporated areas. The Granite Falls city hall is located on South Granite Avenue in downtown at

3420-769: The city council are elected at-large to four-year terms in staggered odd years. The city council serves as the city's legislative body and selects a ceremonial mayor from its members to manage meetings. The daily operations of the city government are overseen by the city manager , who is appointed by the city council. Granite Falls switched from a "strong" mayor–council government in 2015 and hired former city administrator and public works director Brent Kirk as its first city manager. The city government had nine full-time employees and an annual budget of $ 5.2 million in 2017. Municipal services include public safety , utilities , street maintenance, and managing parks and recreational activities. Granite Falls has contracted with

3534-445: The northern Great Plains of central Canada to the northern states of the U.S . and especially its Midwestern big cities, manufacturing centers and markets. The U.S. Congress granted the Northern Pacific Railroad a generous potential bonanza of 60 million acres (94,000 sq mi; 240,000 km ) of land adjacent to the line in exchange for building rail transportation to an undeveloped western territory. Josiah Perham

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3648-438: The "portage" by native tribes in the area, who used the flat area between the two rivers to portage their canoes when traveling. Iron Mountain, which sits at 1,240 feet (380 m) above sea level, lies east of downtown and is home to a quarry . The Rogers Belt , a series of local faults, runs northwest from Granite Falls towards Mount Vernon . The climate in this area has mild differences between highs and lows, and most of

3762-483: The 1870s, began anew. Virgil Bogue , a veteran civil engineer , was sent to explore the Cascades again. On March 19, 1881, he discovered Stampede Pass . In 1883, John W. Sprague , the head of the new Pacific Division, drove the Golden Spike to mark the beginning of the railroad from what would become Kalama, Washington . He resigned a months later due to impaired health. In 1884, after the departure of Villard,

3876-537: The 1970s between modern-day Granite Falls and Lochsloy , with over 700 artifacts recovered from later excavation. The first permanent European settler was Joseph Sous Enas from the Azores , who staked a homestead claim in 1883 on land south of the present city. He was joined by other homesteaders who took advantage of open land that had been cleared by an earlier wildfire , nicknamed "the Big Burn". A school district

3990-479: The Chicago, Burlington and Quincy, became president of the Northern Pacific on October 23. Elliott was a relative of the Burlington's crusty chieftain Charles Elliott Perkins, and more distantly the Burlington's great backer, John Murray Forbes . He had spent 20 years in the trenches of Midwest railroading, where rebates, pooling, expansion and rate wars had brought ruinous competition. Having seen

4104-560: The Dakota Territory conducted expeditions to protect the railroad survey and construction crews in Dakota and Montana Territories. In 1877, construction resumed in a small way. Northern Pacific pushed a branch line southeast from Tacoma to Puyallup, Washington and on to the coal fields around Wilkeson, Washington . Much of the coal was destined for export through Tacoma to San Francisco, California , where it would be thrown into

4218-602: The East after 1873, led by the Credit Mobilier Scandal and the Union Pacific Railroad stock fraud, caused a nationwide economic recession and financial panic in New York City's Wall Street financial district, stopping further railroad building for twelve years during the latter 1870s and early 1880s. In 1886, the company restarted and put down 164 miles (264 km) of main line across the northern Dakotas, with an additional 45 miles (72 km) from

4332-588: The Eastside to work. In 2001, the Tsubaki Grand Shrine of America was given a 17-acre (7 ha) plot of land next to Kannagara Jinja (built by the Reverend of the shrine) in Granite Falls, which was built upon, combining the two places. A truck bypass around the north side of downtown Granite Falls opened in 2010 to serve several quarries to the northeast. A new high school campus was built near

4446-705: The European creditors' holding company, the Oregon and Transcontinental Company . Of the lines held by the Oregon and Transcontinental, the most important was the Oregon Railway and Navigation Company , which ran east from Portland, Oregon along the left bank of the Columbia River to a connection with the Union Pacific Railroad 's Oregon Short Line at the confluence of the Columbia River and

4560-524: The Gladstone Shops, which closed in 1915. On May 24, 1879, Frederick H. Billings became the fifth president of the company. Billings' tenure would be short but ferocious. Reorganization, bond sales, and improvement in the U.S. economy allowed Northern Pacific to strike out across the upper Missouri River by letting a contract to build 100 miles (160 km) of railroad west of the river. The railroad's new-found strength, however, would be seen as

4674-682: The Mississippi River as the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy had done, Villard chose to lease the Wisconsin Central . Some backers of the Wisconsin Central had long associations with Villard, and an expensive lease was worked out between the two companies which was only undone by the Northern Pacific's second bankruptcy. The ultimate result was that the Northern Pacific was left without a direct connection to Chicago,

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4788-502: The N.P. reached the shores of the upper Missouri River at Edwinton, Dakota Territory (now the state capital of Bismarck, North Dakota) . In the west sector, the N.P. track extended 25 miles (40 km) north from Kalama. Surveys were carried out in the Dakota Territory protected by 600 troops of the horse cavalry of the United States Army , under command of Civil War hero, General Winfield Scott Hancock , nicknamed "Hancock

4902-557: The Northern Pacific Corner. By the end of the day, he was short just 40,000 shares of common stock. Harriman placed an order to cover this, but was overridden by his broker, Jacob Schiff , of Kuhn, Loeb & Co. Hill, on the other hand, reached the vacationing Morgan in Italy and managed to place an order for 150,000 shares of common stock. Though Harriman might be able to control the preferred stock, Hill knew

5016-736: The Northern Pacific Railway Company on July 2, 1864, with the goals of connecting the Great Lakes with Puget Sound on the northwestern coast of the United States on the Pacific Ocean , opening vast new lands for farming, ranching, lumbering and mining, and linking the Federal territories and later newly admitted to the Union as states of Washington and Oregon to the rest of the country (plus connecting

5130-410: The Northern Pacific began building toward Stampede Pass from Wallula in the east and the area of Wilkeson in the west. By the end of the year, rails had reached Yakima, Washington in the east. A 77-mile (124 km) gap remained in 1886. In January of that year, Nelson Bennett was given a contract to construct a 9,850-foot (1.9 mi; 3.0 km) tunnel under Stampede Pass . The contract specified

5244-562: The Northern Pacific closer to the orbit of James J. Hill. In the late 1880s, the Villard regime, in another one of its costly missteps, attempted to stretch the Northern Pacific from the Twin Cities to the all-important rail hub of Chicago, Illinois . A costly project was begun in creating a union station and terminal facilities for a Northern Pacific which had yet to arrive. Rather than build directly down to Chicago, perhaps following

5358-541: The Northern Pacific experienced the first competition in the form of James Jerome Hill and his Great Northern Railway . The Great Northern, like the Northern Pacific before it, was pushing west from the Twin Cities towards Puget Sound, and would be completed in 1893. Mismanagement, sparse traffic, and the Panic of 1893 sounded the death knell for the Northern Pacific and Villard's interest in railroading. The company slipped into its second bankruptcy on October 20, 1893. Oakes

5472-478: The Northern Pacific still completed the line north along the Pacific Ocean and U.S. west coast from Kalama to Tacoma, a distance of 110 miles (180 km), before the end of 1873. On December 16, the first steam locomotive train arrived in Tacoma. But by the next year in 1874 the company was approaching insolvency. Northern Pacific slipped into its first bankruptcy on June 30, 1875. President Cass resigned to become

5586-603: The Northern Pacific's bankruptcy. Things came to a head in 1896, when first Edward Dean Adams was appointed president, then less than two months later, Edwin Winter . Ultimately, the task of straightening out the muddle of the Northern Pacific was turned over to J. P. Morgan . Morganization of the Northern Pacific, a process which befell many U.S. roads in the wake of the Panic of 1893, was handed to Morgan lieutenant Charles Henry Coster. The new president, beginning September 1, 1897,

5700-401: The Northern Pacific. Despite a tough fight, Billings and his backers were forced to capitulate; he resigned the presidency June 9, 1881. Ashbel H. Barney , former President of Wells Fargo & Company (bankers and famous Western stagecoach line), served briefly as interim caretaker of the railroad from June 19 to September 15, when Villard was elected sixth president by the stockholders. For

5814-512: The PUD, which is sourced from the City of Everett system at Spada Lake and Lake Chaplain. Since 2012, the PUD has also supplied water to Granite Falls that is sourced from groundwater wells near Lake Stevens and treated to be similar to the water from the City of Everett system. The city government also manages a sanitary sewage system that terminates at a treatment plant that discharges water into

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5928-717: The Pilchuck River. Natural gas service for the city is provided by Puget Sound Energy , a regional gas utility company. The city government contracts with Waste Management to provide curbside collection and disposal of garbage , recycling , and yard waste . The Granite Falls area also has two recycling and disposal centers operated by Snohomish County. Telecommunications services are provided by Verizon and Comcast . The nearest general hospitals to Granite Falls are Providence Medical Center in Everett and Cascade Valley Hospital in Arlington. The city's medical clinic

6042-463: The Stillaguamish River, also accessible via the Mountain Loop Highway . It had a population of 3,364 at the 2010 census . The site of Granite Falls was originally a portage for local Coast Salish tribes prior to the arrival of American settlers. The settlement was founded in 1883 and prospered after the discovery of gold and silver in the Monte Cristo mines located east of Granite Falls on

6156-686: The Superlative" but defeated Democratic Party candidate in the 1880 presidential election . Fabricating shops and foundries were established in Brainerd, Minnesota Territory , a town named by the N.P. second President John Gregory Smith for Lawrence Brainerd , the father of his wife Anna Elizabeth Brainerd and a close friend and colleague. It was here further back on the line where the Railway established its first temporary offices and headquarters. A severe stock market crash and financial collapse in

6270-403: The U.S. Census and Puget Sound Regional Council . The largest providers of jobs in Granite Falls came from businesses in the education and services sectors. Several of the largest employers are located in an industrial park in the northeast corner of the city near the Mountain Loop Highway. They include electrical manufacturer B.I.C. and aerospace manufacturer Cobalt Industries. Granite Falls

6384-440: The United States and even growing exports overseas to Europe. Most of the settlers were German and Scandinavian immigrants who bought the land cheaply and raised large families. They shipped huge quantities of wheat to Minneapolis, then Milwaukee, Chicago and St. Louis connected by rail. while buying all sorts of farming equipment and home supplies (some ordered and delivered through the beginnings of published mail-order catalogs from

6498-561: The Yellowstone region by Sioux , Cheyenne , Arapaho , and Kiowa native warriors in northern Dakota and Minnesota Territories became so prevalent that the company received protection from additional mounted troops in units of the U.S. Army. In 1886, the Northern Pacific also opened colonization / emigration offices in Europe especially the newly unified German Empire and north to the kingdoms of Scandinavia , with good reliable steamship lines, attracting Nordic farmers with package deals of cheap land and transportation and purchase deals in

6612-404: The average family size was 3.31. In the city, the age distribution of the population shows 33.2% under the age of 18, 7.5% from 18 to 24, 36.8% from 25 to 44, 15.6% from 45 to 64, and 6.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 30 years. For every 100 females, there were 98.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 98.1 males. The median income for a household in

6726-493: The big cities warehouses, to be shipped in by rail. The N.P. used its federal land grants as security to borrow money to build its system. The federal government kept every other alternate section of land, and gave it away free to native and immigrant homesteaders / farmers under the Homestead Act of 1862. At first the railroad sold much of its holdings at low prices to land speculators in order to realize quick cash profits, and also to eliminate sizable annual tax bills. By 1905,

6840-490: The bypass, along with a housing development with 327 homes in the late 2010s. A downtown revitalization project began in the 2000s with renovations to buildings and a small city park. A new civic center is planned along South Granite Avenue, including a city hall that opened in 2019, a public plaza, a community center, and a gymnasium for the Boys & Girls Club that will also serve as an emergency shelter. The city government has also proposed promoting Granite Falls as

6954-437: The city commute to other areas for employment, including 19 percent to Everett, 11 percent to Seattle, and 5 percent to Marysville . Approximately 5.2 percent of Granite Falls residents work within the city limits. Over 80 percent of workers commute in single-occupant vehicles, while 4 percent take public transportation or carpools . The city had 202 registered businesses with 849 total jobs, according to 2012 estimates by

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7068-416: The city to Lake Stevens and Everett Station , with extended service to the Boeing Everett Factory during peak hours. The nearest airport to Granite Falls is Paine Field in Everett. Electric power in Granite Falls is supplied by the Snohomish County Public Utility District (PUD), a consumer-owned public utility that serves all of Snohomish County. The city government purchases its tap water from

7182-451: The city was $ 47,643, and the median income for a family was $ 52,150. Males had a median income of $ 40,469 versus $ 26,809 for females. The per capita income for the city was $ 17,425. About 5.1% of families and 7.2% of the population were below the poverty line , including 6.7% of those under age 18 and 11.3% of those age 65 or over. Granite Falls is a non-charter code city with a council–manager system of government. The five members of

7296-404: The city. The population density was 1,372.9 people per square mile (529.9/km ). There were 873 housing units at an average density of 510.7 per square mile (197.1/km ). The racial makeup of the city was 90.84% White, 0.68% African American, 2.09% Native American, 1.53% Asian, 0.09% Pacific Islander, 1.28% from other races, and 3.49% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 6.56% of

7410-571: The civilian Pennsylvania Railroad , organized the Northern Pacific Beneficial Association in 1881. Inspired by the progressive medical care and insurance program then being introduced in the German Empire in Europe and a forerunner of the modern health maintenance organization , the N.P.B.A. ultimately established a series of four medical hospitals across the N.P.R.R. route system in Saint Paul, Minnesota ; Glendive, Montana ; Missoula, Montana ; and Tacoma, Washington , to care for its railroad employees, retirees, and their families. On January 15, 1883,

7524-481: The company bylaws allowed for the holders of the common stock to vote to retire the preferred. In three days, the Harriman-Hill imbroglio managed to wreak havoc on the stock market. Northern Pacific stock was quoted at $ 150 a share on May 6 and is reported to have traded as much as $ 1,000 a share behind the scenes. Harriman and Hill now worked to settle the issue for brokers to avoid panic. Hill, for his part, attempted to avoid future stock raids by placing his holdings in

7638-418: The construction phase in Minnesota. The N.P. also began building its line north from Kalama, Washington Territory , on the Columbia River just outside of Portland, Oregon , towards the Puget Sound . Four small construction locomotive engines were purchased, the Minnetonka , Itaska , Ottertail and St. Cloud , the first of which was shipped to Kalama by ship all around the continent of South America and

7752-433: The court-appointed receiver of the company, and Charles Barstow Wright became its fourth president. Frederick Billings , namesake of future Billings, Montana , formulated a reorganization plan which was put into effect. Throughout 1874 to 1876, elements of the 7th Cavalry Regiment of the U.S. Army under the command of Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer , operating out of Fort Abraham Lincoln and Fort Rice in

7866-444: The decade between 1881 and 1890. The Northern Pacific reached Dakota Territory at Fargo in 1872 and began its career as one of the central factors in the economic growth of the future Dakotas Territory and later its twin states North and South. The climate, although very cold in the continental interior heartland was still suitable for wheat, which was in high demand in the eastern and Mid-Western rapidly developing industrial cities of

7980-526: The early 2000s. As of the 2010 census , there were 3,364 people, 1,222 households, and 831 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,543.1 inhabitants per square mile (595.8/km ). There were 1,344 housing units at an average density of 616.5 per square mile (238.0/km ). The racial makeup of the city was 87.6% White, 0.7% African American, 1.2% Native American, 1.5% Asian, 0.3% Pacific Islander, 3.2% from other races, and 5.5% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 7.5% of

8094-417: The easy access of cheap lumber. The Brainerd Shops to the east remained as the largest locomotive repair facility throughout the steam era. Another shops / foundry site was located at the center mid-way of the mainline in Livingston, Montana , which became the primary diesel engine maintenance facility after 1955. In St. Paul, Minnesota were the Como Shops, which maintained most of the passenger car fleet, and

8208-488: The effects of having multiple railroads attempt to serve the same destination, he was very much in tune with James J. Hill's philosophy of "community of interest," a loose affiliation or collusion among roads in an attempt to avoid duplicating routes, rate wars, weak finances and ultimately bankruptcies and reorganizations. Elliott would be left to make peace with the Hill-controlled Great Northern;

8322-517: The entirety of Chelan and Kittitas counties. The city was part of the 1st congressional district until 2022. At the state level, Granite Falls shares the 39th legislative district with Lake Stevens, Darrington , and eastern Skagit County . The city lies in the Snohomish County Council 's 1st district, which includes most of the county north of Everett and Lake Stevens. Granite Falls has several annual community events,

8436-539: The family of famed longtime abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison , who had just died four years earlier. On September 8, 1883, the Gold Spike was driven near Gold Creek in the Montana Territory . Villard's fall was swifter than his ascendancy. Like Jay Cooke, he was now consumed by the enormous costs of constructing the railroad. Wall Street bears attacked the stock shortly after the Golden Spike, after

8550-429: The fireboxes of Central Pacific Railroad 's steam engines locomotives. This small amount of construction was one of the largest projects the company would undertake in the years between 1874 and 1880. That same year the company built a large shop complex at Edison, Washington (now part of south Tacoma metropolitan area ). The Edison Shops became the largest on the system for building and repairing freight cars due to

8664-514: The first N.P.R.R. train reached Livingston, Montana , at the eastern foot of the Bozeman Pass . Livingston, like Brainerd and South Tacoma before it, would grow to encompass a large backshop handling heavy repairs for the Northern Pacific Railroad equipment. It would also mark the east–west dividing line on the Northern Pacific route system. Villard pushed hard for the completion of the Northern Pacific in 1883. His crews laid an average of

8778-416: The first non-Japanese people to be ordained as a priest; he retired in 2023 and the shrine was closed. The Holy Cross Catholic Church in downtown Granite Falls was built in 1903 and served as a satellite parish of St. Michael's Catholic Church until 2004. The church's congregation was split between Granite Falls and Lake Stevens until a new church was constructed in 2008. The old building was renovated for

8892-516: The gravel pits dotted around Granite Falls. The city later became a bedroom community for commuters working in Everett and Lake Stevens for large companies. Hard times would come again. In 1986, the United States Forest Service severely limited logging in old-growth forests under its protection in an effort to save the northern spotted owl from extinction. In June, 1990, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Department declared

9006-576: The holdings of Villard in the Northwest, and especially in Portland. Portland unfortunately could possibly become a second-class city if the Puget Sound 's deeper and larger ports at Tacoma and nearby Seattle, Washington , were further developed and connected to the East by rail. Villard, who had been building a monopoly of river and rail transportation in Oregon for several years, now launched

9120-491: The largest of which is Railroad Days in early October. The Railroad Days festival was established in 1965 by a schoolteacher and celebrates the city's local history. It attracts about 5,000 visitors and includes a parade , a street fair , carnival rides, and tours. The city's historical society opened its museum in October 2007 at a two-story building with 30,000 square feet (2,800 m ) of space. The museum launched

9234-517: The mounting construction costs. Cooke overestimated his managerial skills and failed to appreciate the limits of a banker's ability to be also a promoter, and the danger of freezing his assets in the bonds of the Northern Pacific. Cooke and Company went bankrupt on September 18, 1873. Soon the financial Panic of 1873 engulfed the United States, business and financial community extending to numerous industries beginning an economic depression that

9348-480: The next four years, until the return of the Villard group, Harris worked at improving the property and ending its tangled relationship with the Oregon Railway and Navigation Company. Throughout the mid-1880s, the Northern Pacific pushed to reach Puget Sound directly, rather than by means of a roundabout route that followed the Columbia River. Surveys of the Cascade Mountains , carried out intermittently since

9462-405: The next two years, Villard and the Northern Pacific rode the whirlwind. In 1882, 360 miles (580 km) of main line and 368 miles (592 km) of branch line were completed, bringing totals to 1,347 miles (2,168 km) and 731 miles (1,176 km), respectively. On October 10, 1882, the line from Wadena, Minnesota , to Fergus Falls, Minnesota , opened for service. The upper Missouri River

9576-468: The northwest and near the Mountain Loop Highway. The school district had an enrollment of over 2,100 students in 2018 and employed 107 teachers and 80 other staff members. Granite Falls has two elementary schools (Mountain Way and Monte Cristo), Granite Falls Middle School, Granite Falls High School, and Crossroads High School, an alternative school program. Andrea Peterson of Monte Cristo Elementary School

9690-443: The population. There were 1,222 households, of which 42.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 49.5% were married couples living together, 12.5% had a female householder with no husband present, 6.0% had a male householder with no wife present, and 32.0% were non-families. 25.6% of all households were made up of individuals, and 10.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size

9804-405: The population. There were 846 households, out of which 45.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 55.7% were married couples living together, 10.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 29.7% were non-families. 23.8% of all households were made up of individuals, and 7.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.77 and

9918-430: The previous three years the financial house of Jay Cooke and Company in New York City had been throwing money into the construction of the Northern Pacific. As with many western transcontinentals , the staggering costs of building a railroad into a vast wilderness prairie had been drastically underestimated. Cooke had little success in marketing the N.P.R.R. bonds in Europe and overextended his house in meeting overdrafts of

10032-505: The primary interchange point for most of the large U.S. railroads. Fortunately, the Northern Pacific was not alone. James J. Hill , controller of the Great Northern Railway , which was completed between the Twin Cities and Puget Sound in 1893, also lacked a direct connection to Chicago. Hill went looking for a road with an existing route between the Twin Cities and Chicago which could be rolled into his holdings and give him

10146-509: The railroad company's land policies changed, after it was judged a costly mistake to have sold much of the land at wholesale prices. With better railroad service and improved more educated and scientific methods of farming and soil conservation in future decades in the special unique conditions on the Great Plains. The Northern Pacific then easily sold what had been heretofore termed "worthless" land directly to farmers at good prices. By 1910

10260-559: The railroad's holdings in the new state of North Dakota had been greatly reduced. In 1873, Northern Pacific made impressive strides before a terrible stumble. Rails from the east reached the Missouri River on June 4. After several years of study, Tacoma, Washington Territory near the Pacific Coast and Puget Sound for waterborne shipping port facilities was selected as the road's western terminus on July 14, 1873. For

10374-689: The rainfall occurs between October and May. Temperatures in the summer can be up to 10 degrees warmer than nearby Everett, due to its slightly inland location. According to the Köppen Climate Classification system, Granite Falls has a marine west coast climate , abbreviated "Cfb" on climate maps. As of 2018 , Granite Falls has an estimated workforce population of 1,816 people, of which 1,746 are employed. The largest sectors of employment are educational and health services (21.6 percent), followed by construction (17.0%), manufacturing (16.6%), and retail (10.7%). The majority of workers in

10488-480: The realization that the Northern Pacific was a very long road with very little business. Villard himself suffered a nervous breakdown in the days after the driving of the Golden Spike, and he left the presidency of the Northern Pacific in January 1884. Again, the presidency of the Northern Pacific was handed to a professional railroader, Robert Harris , former head of the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad . For

10602-586: The similar cold higher latitudes of climate of the north-central North America continent, but with richer unplowed expansive soil. The success of the N.P. was based on the abundant crops of wheat and other grains already grown and the attraction to settlers of the lower Red River Valley of the Red River of the North, Minnesota, Missouri and Mississippi Rivers basins along the Minnesota-Dakota border in

10716-478: The south, which are both stocked by the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife. The city government owns eight parks and nature preserves , ranging from small neighborhood parks to city recreational areas. The largest is Frank Mason Park, which encompasses the 10-acre (4.0 ha) Lake Gardner and 32.4 acres (13.1 ha) of surrounding land that has been partially developed. The park has

10830-632: The spotted owl an endangered species, and in 1991, a federal court judge ruled the Forest Service's logging plan to save the owl was inadequate. Over one-fourth of old-growth forest on both public and private land were put off-limits to logging. In the 21st century, Granite Falls has focused on attracting visitors to the natural environment and recreational opportunities along the Mt. Loop Highway. Expanded housing development has brought an increased population of families who commute to Everett, Seattle, and

10944-498: The summit, 5,324 feet (1,623 m) above sea level. The name "Pilchuck" originated from the Native American name of "red water" for a creek in the area. The U.S. Forest Service built a fire lookout on the summit in 1918 which was staffed until the 1960s. Washington State Parks administered a concessionaire-run ski area on the slopes of Mt. Pilchuck from 1957 to 1980, when it was closed due to poor snow conditions. The park

11058-414: The townsite platted in August 1891. The name "Granite Falls" was chosen for the settlement to replace the earlier name of "Portage". The Everett and Monte Cristo Railway reached Granite Falls on October 16, 1892, building a station for the town on the route between Monte Cristo and the county seat of Everett . On November 8, 1903, Granite Falls voted to become a city. It was officially incorporated as

11172-425: The tracks were torn out in the early 1930s to make way for the Mountain Loop Highway. Granite Falls between the world wars was a lumber town; logging companies felled trees, sawmills created lumber and shingle mills created shingles. The Great Depression, however, took its toll. By 1935, the population of Granite Falls was half what it was in 1925. Mills closed and people left to find work elsewhere. On April 26, 1933,

11286-608: The tunnel, and on May 27 the first train passed through directly to Puget Sound. Despite this success, the Northern Pacific, like many U.S. roads, was living on borrowed time. From 1887 until 1893, Henry Villard returned to the board of directors. Though offered the presidency, he refused. An associate of Villard dating back to his time on the Kansas Pacific, Thomas Fletcher Oakes , assumed the presidency on September 20, 1888. In an effort to garner business, Oakes pursued an aggressive policy of branch line expansion. In addition,

11400-620: The west in Washington Territory. On November 1, General George Washington Cass (formerly of the U.S. Army), became the third president of the company. General Cass had been a vice-president and on the board of directors earlier of the Pennsylvania Railroad , one of the major dominant Eastern lines and would lead the Northern Pacific through some of its most difficult times in the later 19th century. Attacks on survey parties and construction crews as they approached

11514-510: Was Charles Sanger Mellen . Though James J. Hill had purchased an interest in the Northern Pacific during the troubled days of 1896, Coster and Mellen would advocate, and follow, a staunchly independent line for the Northern Pacific for the next four years. Only the early death of Coster from overwork, and the promotion of Mellen to head the Morgan-controlled New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad in 1903, would bring

11628-431: Was 2.75 and the average family size was 3.33. The median age in the city was 34.4 years. 29.4% of residents were under the age of 18; 8.4% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 30.9% were from 25 to 44; 23.1% were from 45 to 64; and 8.4% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the city was 50.2% male and 49.8% female. As of the 2000 census , there were 2,347 people, 846 households, and 594 families residing in

11742-511: Was bridged with a million-dollar span on October 21, 1883. Until then, crossing of the Missouri had had to be managed with a ferry boat service for most of the year; in winter, when ice was thick enough, rails were laid across the river itself. Former Union Army General Herman Haupt , another veteran of the Civil War , builder then of the wartime United States Military Railroad lines and

11856-504: Was elected its first president on December 7, 1864. It could not use all the land and in the end took just under two-thirds of the allotted grant of 40 million acres. For the next six years, backers of the road struggled to find financing. Though John Gregory Smith , succeeded Perham as second president on January 5, 1865, groundbreaking did not take place until February 15, 1870, at Carlton, Minnesota Territory , 25 miles (40 km) west of Duluth (western port town on Lake Superior of

11970-404: Was established in 1886, initially using an abandoned cabin as a one-room schoolhouse until a permanent school was built in 1893. The discovery of gold and silver in the Cascades, particularly around Monte Cristo , lured miners and settlers to the Granite Falls area. A general store and post office were established in 1890 at the corner of four homesteads, which would later form the center of

12084-517: Was headquartered in Minnesota, first in Brainerd , then in the territorial / state capital of Saint Paul . It had a tumultuous financial history; the N.P. merged with other lines over a century later in 1970 to form the modern Burlington Northern Railroad , which in turn merged with the famous Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway to become the renamed BNSF Railway in 1996, operating in the western U.S. The 38th United States Congress chartered

12198-417: Was located west of Granite Falls on 25 acres (10 ha) overlooking the Pilchuck River. The Shinto shrine was one of a few in the United States and was dedicated in 2001 after moving from Stockton, California . The Tsubaki Grand Shrine was open to the public and hosted several annual festivals and religious ceremonies, as well as aikido lessons. The shrine's head priest was Lawrence Koichi Barrish, among

12312-682: Was named receiver and Brayton Ives , a former chairman of the New York Stock Exchange , became president. In 1894, the 10th Cavalry Regiment of the U.S. Army was involved in protecting property of the Northern Pacific Railroad from striking workers. For the next three years, the Villard-Oakes interests and the Ives interest feuded for control of the Northern Pacific. Oakes was eventually forced out as receiver, but not before three separate courts were claiming jurisdiction over

12426-600: Was named the 2007 National Teacher of the Year . The first schoolhouse in Granite Falls opened in 1893 and was replaced by a new building at the site in 1910. A larger building opened in 1938 for Granite Falls High School , which later moved to a nearby building in 1964 and opened at its new campus in January 2008. The high school's athletic teams, nicknamed the Tigers, compete in the North Sound Conference;

12540-476: Was one of the worse in American history prior to the infamous Great Depression of the 1930s, sixty years into the future. The downturn ruined or nearly paralyzed newer railroads throughout the country.. The Northern Pacific however luckily survived bankruptcy that year, due to austerity measures put in place by President Cass. In fact, working with last-minute loans from Director John C. Ainsworth of Portland,

12654-670: Was part of the Cascade Valley system, which was absorbed into Skagit Regional Health in 2016. Northern Pacific Railroad Construction began in 1870 and the main line opened all the way from the Great Lakes to the Pacific Ocean , just south of the United States-Canada border when Ulysses S. Grant , drove in the final "golden spike" completing the line in western Montana Territory (future State of Montana in 1889), on September 8, 1883. The railroad had about 6,800 miles (10,900 km) of track and served

12768-504: Was the Northern Pacific's flagship passenger train and the Northern Pacific itself was built along the trail first blazed by the famed Lewis and Clark expedition first exploring the new Louisiana Purchase and the further American West in 1804 and 1805. The Northern Pacific reached Fargo, Dakota Territory (now North Dakota) on the border between Dakota and Minnesota Territories / states, early in June 1872. The following year, in June 1873,

12882-474: Was the possibility of a high-speed link directly with Chicago. Though the Burlington did not parallel the Great Northern or the Northern Pacific, it would give them a powerful railroad in the central West. Harriman was the first to approach the Burlington's aging leader, the irascible Charles Elliott Perkins . The price for control of the Burlington, as set by Perkins, was $ 200 a share, more than Harriman

12996-441: Was willing to pay. Hill met the price, and control of the Burlington was divided equally at about 48.5 percent each between the Great Northern and the Northern Pacific. Not to be outdone, Harriman now came up with a crafty plan: buy a controlling interest in the Northern Pacific and use its power on the Burlington to place friendly directors upon its board. On May 3, 1901, Harriman began his stock raid which would become known as

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