Sultan

History

The area around the Sultan and Skykomish rivers was occupied by the Skykomish, a branch of the Snohomish people, prior to the arrival of American settlers. The Skykomish had a permanent village at the confluence named , along with a nearby fishery named . Following the discovery of a rich gold vein along the Sultan River, the land around the confluence was claimed for a homestead by John Nailor and his wife in 1880. Among the first arrivals to the area were Chinese prospectors, who later settled the land but were evicted in 1885. Nailor built a small store and hotel to serve miners and loggers, eventually serving as the first postmaster after the settlement received a post office in 1885. The town and river were named "Sultan", an anglicization of (also known as Tseul-dan), then chief of the Skykomish tribe. The Nailors sold of their homestead to William B. Stevens in 1889, who filed the first plat for Sultan City that October. The Great Northern Railway placed a supply depot for its railroad workers in Sultan in 1891, meeting river steamboats and contributing to the town's early growth. Sultan gained its first sawmill in 1891 and a shingle mill in 1895, as the local economy transitioned away from mining and towards logging. Sultan was officially incorporated as a city on June 28, 1905. By 1912, the city had a public library, electrical service, paved streets, and was considering a plan to build a hydroelectric dam that would also provide municipal water service. A bridge across the Skykomish River was built in 1908 to connect to new farms on the south bank. An economic slowdown after World War I led to a population decrease in the Skykomish Valley, causing Sultan voters to approve a reduction in the city's size in June 1920. The area also experienced an economic…

Geography

Sultan is located along the Skykomish River at its confluences with the Sultan and Wallace rivers in south-central Snohomish County, approximately east of Everett, the county seat. U.S. Route 2 and the BNSF Railway's Scenic Subdivision bisect the city from west to east, connecting it to Everett, Monroe, Gold Bar, and Stevens Pass. The city limits of Sultan are generally defined by the Skykomish River to the south, the Sultan River and Old Owens Road to the west, and several county roads to the north and east. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of . The city is located within the Skykomish Valley, which is flanked to the north and south by the Cascade foothills. Several prominent peaks of the mountain range are visible on the northern and eastern horizons, including Mount Pilchuck, Mount Index, Mount Persis, and Mount Stickney. The city government installed three emergency sirens to alert residents of an incoming flood or another disaster.

Race & ethnicity

Largest nearby schools

• Monroe High School
  High · Monroe · 1,552 students · 21.6:1 ratio
• Sky Valley Education Center
  Other · Monroe · 833 students · 28.7:1 ratio
• Park Place Middle School
  Middle · Monroe · 750 students · 20.3:1 ratio
• Sultan Elementary School
  Elementary · Sultan · 624 students · 16:1 ratio
• Sultan Senior High School
  High · Sultan · 583 students · 22.4:1 ratio
• Frank Wagner Elementary
  Elementary · Monroe · 564 students · 14.5:1 ratio
• Salem Woods Elementary School
  Elementary · Monroe · 455 students · 15.7:1 ratio
• Sultan Middle School
  Middle · Sultan · 442 students · 18.4:1 ratio