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Skagit River JournalSubscribers Edition The most in-depth, comprehensive site about the Skagit Covers from British Columbia to Puget Sound. Counties covered: Skagit, Whatcom, Island, San Juan, Snohomish & BC. An evolving history dedicated to committing random acts of historical kindness |
Home of the Tarheel Stomp Mortimer Cook slept here & named the town Bug |
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Skagit River Journal ed. note: While researching at the University of Washington several years ago, we happened upon a one-line reference to a woman named Muriel Waxman Weissberg, who had donated copies of advertisements for the department store of her grandfather, Morris Schneider, of Woolley, Washington. No contact information was given and the University could not legally provide her address, if she were indeed still alive, but the representative gave me a hint that she had also been a resource for other people studying the Volunteer Park area of Seattle. We guessed that she would have to be her late 80s or 90s. After nearly three years of searching, a chain of kind people finally connected us with Muriel, who is now a widow living in Redding, California. Serendipity struck once again. Yes, she was nearly as old as we guessed but she is still hale and hearty and she loves to travel, and she has always wanted a tour of her grandfather's town. So, in September 2008, she and her son, Bob Weissberg, and his wife, Miriam, visited Sedro-Woolley and we conducted a tour for her of the area. Meanwhile, she supplied this profile of her grandfather and family and she also passed on scans of breathtaking photos of Woolley that no one outside her family has seen for more than a century. Thus we share her story exactly a century after Morris moved his family from Sedro-Woolley to Seattle. Muriel is a daughter of his eldest daughter, Rebecca Schneider Waxman.
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This colorized postcard shows Los Angeles Street near the time when Morris Schneider had a tailor shop there. See Brent C. Dickerson's site of old LA for many more such postcards, photos and stories of 19th and early-20th Century Los Angeles. |
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This photo of the original Schneider Building at the southwest corner of Northern Avenue and Metcalf Street was probably taken sometime between the family's arrival in Woolley, in 1892, and 1900. The photographer was standing near the Seattle & Northern railroad tracks, looking south. The avenue was planked at that time. We have no confirmed photos of either Metcalf or Ferry Street, so we are unsure if those streets were also planked. Muriel explains that her mother, Rebecca Schneider, took these photos of the area surrounding the store, from 1900-09. |
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Muriel found this terrific photo in her mother's collection, the original of a photo we only had as a second-generation copy. The photographer is standing on the Seattle & Northern Railroad tracks, looking east down Northern Avenue. We know it is sometime before the summer of 1901, because the Union Depot at the left was moved to Eastern Avenue near the corner of Ferry Street on Aug. 1, 1901. The building on the corner to the right is the Keystone Hotel and Schneider's building was at the far end of the block. Read about the famous Woolley Triangle. |
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This photo from Muriel's collection was probably taken circa 1903 and shows details of clothing and dry goods that are packed in tight in every nook and cranny of the woodframe store. |
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Far left: This photo was taken by the photographer looking east from the south end of the Schneider Building. The double-awning was on the front of the W.B. Pigg Confectionery, which was advertising cashews. One of the buildings to the right was the Klondike Saloon, which opened during the Alaska Gold Rush, circa 1898. On the corner to the right was the Osterman House, the "classy" hotel in town where salesmen showed their wares. See the Osterman story for the spectacular photo of the Osterman that Muriel also shared. All we had before this was a drawing from 1890 when it was built as the St. Clair Hotel.. Center: This photo shows the arch where the parade traditionally began. It was made of wood and located just south of the Seattle & Northern tracks. If you look at the larger version, you will see an artillery piece on the top that was apparently loaned by a veteran of a former war who lived in the area, possibly one of the vets who are drilling in the photo to the right. . Right: The building to the right beside the drilling soldiers was the Frye-Bruhn Butcher Co.. |
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Would you like information about how to join them? Peace and quiet at the Alpine RV Park, just north of Marblemount on Hwy 20, day, week or month, perfect for hunting or fishing Park your RV or pitch a tent by the Skagit River, just a short drive from Winthrop or Sedro-Woolley Joy's Sedro-Woolley Bakery-Cafe at 823 Metcalf Street in downtown Sedro-Woolley. Check out Sedro-Woolley First section for links to all stories and reasons to shop here first or make this your destination on your visit or vacation. Are you looking to buy or sell a historic property, business or residence? We may be able to assist. Email us for details. |
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Tip: Put quotation marks around a specific name or item of two words or more, and then experiment with different combinations of the words without quote marks. We are currently researching some of the names most recently searched for — check the list here. Maybe you have searched for one of them? |
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Mail copies/documents to Street address: Skagit River Journal, 810 Central Ave., Sedro-Woolley, WA, 98284. |