Sedro Woolley, Washington

How Sedro Woolley is governed

Form of government not yet listed.

0 of 14 positions listed. Gray dashed boxes are placeholders waiting for a name.

• Mayor

  Executive

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  The city's chief elected official. Presides over the executive branch, proposes the budget and represents the city.

  • City Manager / Administrator

    Executive

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    The professional administrator who runs day-to-day operations (in some cities appointed by the council instead of the mayor).

    • Police Chief

      Administration & departments

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      Leads the police department.

    • Fire Chief

      Administration & departments

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      Leads the fire and emergency services department.

    • Public Works Director

      Administration & departments

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      Streets, water, sewer, and city buildings.

    • Finance Director

      Administration & departments

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      The budget, taxes, and city accounts.

    • Planning & Zoning Director

      Administration & departments

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      Land use, zoning, building permits.

    • Parks & Recreation Director

      Administration & departments

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      Parks, programs, and public facilities.

• City Council

  Legislative

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  The elected body that passes ordinances, sets the tax rate and approves the budget.

  • City Clerk

    Administration & departments

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    Keeps the official records, runs meeting agendas and, often, local elections.

  • City Attorney

    Administration & departments

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    The city's lawyer; advises officials and prosecutes ordinance violations.

  • Boards & Commissions

    Legislative

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    Citizen advisory bodies, such as planning, zoning appeals and library boards.

• Municipal Court

  Judicial

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  Hears traffic, ordinance and other minor cases.

  • Municipal Judge

    Judicial

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    Presides over the municipal court.

Website

ci.sedro-woolley.wa.us

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Population over time

From 10,540 in 2010 to 12,421 in 2020 (+17.8%).

History

Incorporated on December 19, 1898, Sedro-Woolley was formed from neighboring rival towns of Sedro (once known as Bug) and Woolley in Skagit County, northwestern Washington, 25 miles (40 kilometres) inland from Puget Sound, 40 miles (64 kilometres) south of the border with Canada and 65 miles (105 kilometres) north of Seattle.

Four British bachelors, led by David Batey, homesteaded the area in 1878, the time logjam obstructions were cleared downriver at the site of Mount Vernon. In 1884–85, Batey built a store and home for the Mortimer Cook family from Santa Barbara, California where Cook had been mayor for two terms. Cook intended to name his new Pacific Northwest town Bug due to the number of mosquitoes present, but his wife protested along with a handful of other local wives. Cook was already the namesake for the town Cook's Ferry on the Thompson River in British Columbia. With "Bug" being so unpopular, Cook derived a town name from Spanish; knowing "cedro" was the word for cedar, he replaced one letter to make the name unique, settling on "Sedro".

Sedro, on the northern banks of the Skagit River, proved susceptible to floods. In 1889, Northern Pacific Railway developer Nelson Bennett began laying track from the town of Fairhaven, 25 miles (40 kilometres) northwest on Bellingham Bay, and real estate developer Norman R. Kelley platted a new town of Sedro on high ground a mile northwest of Cook's site. The Fairhaven and Southern Railroad arrived in Sedro on Christmas Eve, 1889, in time for Bennett to receive a performance bonus from the towns at both ends, and a month after Washington became the 42nd state in the Union.

Within months, two more railroads crossed the F&S roadbed a half mile north of new Sedro, forming a triangle where 11 trains eventually arrived daily. Railroad developer Philip A. Woolley moved his family from Elgin, Illinois, to Sedro in December 1899 and bought land around the triangle. He built the Skagit River Lumber & Shingle Mill next to where the railroads crossed and he started his namesake company town there that was based on sales of railroad ties to the three rail companies, including the Seattle and Northern Railway (forerunner of the Great Northern Railway) and the Northern Pacific Railroad.

Meanwhile, a fourth town rose nearby when the F&S laid rails on a "wye" that led northeast from Sedro about four and a half miles to coal mines. Bennett bought the mines, along with Montana mining financier Charles X. Larrabee, and they soon sold their interests to James J. Hill, owner of the Great Northern. The resulting ore soon turned out to be more suitable for coking coal and a town began there named Cokedale. Cokedale faded in importance when the mine declined and the other towns all merged on December 19, 1898, as Sedro-Woolley.

On July 24, 1911, a fire of unknown origin began near the Fritsch Brothers Hardware store at the northwest corner of Metcalf and Woodworth Streets in the business center of the recently incorporated city. The fire quickly spread, and all but four structures within the area bounded by Eastern Avenue to the west, Ferry Street to the north, Murdock Street to the east and Woodworth Street to the south were destroyed by the flames. Twenty-five businesses sustained $200,000 in damage. Historic buildings in downtown Sedro-Woolley are now primarily composed of brick as a testament to the disaster.

On May 15, 1922, a circus elephant known as Tusko rampaged through the town after it escaped from the traveling Al G. Barnes Circus. He was the largest circus elephant in captivity at the time, measuring 10 feet 2 inches (3.10 m) tall and weighing 7.5 short tons (6,800 kg). Tusko demolished several fences, knocked down telephone poles, and destroyed a Model T. He was chased by local residents for 30 miles (48 km) in the surrounding countryside, and was captured the following morning.

After logging and coal-mining declined, the major employers and industries became the nearby Northern State Hospital (a mental-health facility) and Skagit Steel & Iron Works, which rose from the back room of a local hardware store to become a major supplier of implements and parts for logging and railroad customers. The firm manufactured machines and parts for the war effort in World War II and artillery shells, starting in 1953. By 1990, the company was gone and the hospital was closed but new industry, including robotics and aerospace, is developing north of town and on the campus of the old hospital. Current large employers in the town include BYK Construction Inc, Cascades Job Corps Center, Janicki Logging & Construction, Janicki Industries, PeaceHealth United General Medical Center District, Rothenbuhler Engineering, the Sedro-Woolley Innovation for Tomorrow (SWIFT) Center, the Sedro-Woolley School District, Sedron Technologies, Truck Vault, and the Upper Skagit Indian Tribe.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

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• Vancouver 190,915
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