Stanwood

History

The Stillaguamish, a Coast Salish tribe, have inhabited the area around the Stillaguamish River delta for several thousand years. There were several other villages around the delta that totaled approximately 800 people, as well as graveyards that were later destroyed by settlers. meaning strait or slough in Lushootseed. The first permanent American settlement at the mouth of the Stillaguamish River was Centerville, a trading post established in 1866 by Robert Fulton on the south side of the river. Centerville gained a post office in 1870, and the settlement was moved to the north side of the river three years later. The post office was renamed to Stanwood in 1877 by its sixth postmaster Daniel O. Pearson, after his wife Clara's maiden name; Pearson also ran a general store and built a new steamboat wharf on the Stillaguamish River shortly after arriving. Pearson had arrived from Lowell, Massachusetts, in 1866; two of his sisters were among the original "Mercer Girls". Stanwood suffered from a major fire on June 2, 1892, which destroyed the church and thirteen buildings and caused damages of approximately $26,100 ( dollars); several businesses and the town's liquor supply were saved by volunteers from the town's Good Templars lodge, who had been at a regular meeting. By the end of the decade, the town had rebuilt its main street and gained a weekly newspaper, cannery, horse racing track, creamery, and a shingle mill. Stanwood was officially incorporated on October 19, 1903, a month after the town's men voted 74–16 in favor of becoming a city. Stanwood's businesses relocated a block away from the riverfront in the 1920s and 1930s after the main flow of the Stillaguamish River shifted to another slough. The change in the river rendered the wharf too shallow for steamboats…

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city of Stanwood has a total area of , of which is land and is water. The city is at the northwestern corner of Snohomish County, It is west of its nearest neighboring town, Arlington, and north of Everett, the county seat. The city is also north of Seattle and south of Mount Vernon. Stanwood's city limits are generally defined to the south by the Stillaguamish River; to the west by 104th Drive Northwest; to the north by 276th Street Northwest and 290th Street Northwest; and to the east by 68th Avenue Northwest. Approximately 59 percent of land within Stanwood city limits is used for housing, while 10 percent is zoned for commercial use and 7 percent for industrial uses. The urban growth area of Stanwood consists of an additional outside city limits, including the unincorporated area of Northwest Stanwood. The city is located at the mouth of the Stillaguamish River, where it flows into Port Susan, an arm of the Puget Sound, and Skagit Bay, the mouth of the Skagit River. and forms the border between Snohomish and Island counties. Elevations in Stanwood range from above sea level near the Stillaguamish River to in the northeastern hills. Much of downtown Stanwood is located in a 100-year flood zone and is at risk of flooding from the Stillaguamish River, as well as the Skagit River. Much of the Stillaguamish delta was reclaimed using a series of levees and dikes that were built in the 1870s and improved by the Works Progress Administration in the 1930s and the city government in the 1990s. Some of the failure-prone dikes were later removed in the 2010s and 2020s to restore habitat areas for native wildlife, including a wetland owned by the Stillaguamish Tribe of Indians. Several civic buildings have also been…

Race & ethnicity

Largest nearby schools

• Stanwood High School
  High · STANWOOD · 1,332 students · 22.6:1 ratio
• Lakewood High School
  High · Arlington · 850 students · 25.8:1 ratio
• Lakewood Middle School
  Middle · Marysville · 599 students · 20:1 ratio
• Cedarhome Elementary School
  Elementary · STANWOOD · 597 students · 18.1:1 ratio
• Port Susan Middle School
  Middle · STANWOOD · 516 students · 19.8:1 ratio
• Stanwood Elementary School
  Elementary · STANWOOD · 512 students · 17.7:1 ratio
• Lakewood Elementary School
  Elementary · Marysville · 494 students · 19.8:1 ratio
• Stanwood Middle School
  Middle · STANWOOD · 477 students · 21.7:1 ratio