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The map above is
of relative locations in western Skagit
County, Washington
State.
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History
Very few cities owe their beginning to a log jam. The log jam limited river navigation to
that point. The City of Mt. Vernon
began as a trading post below that log jam on the Skagit River
where the stern wheelers landed. The
log jam was eventually cleared allowing stern wheelers to go further up the
river but by that time Mount
Vernon’s future had been established. Mount Vernon
was officially founded in 1877 but had to wait until Washington became a State in 1899 to be
incorporated as a city.
Mount Vernon became a
mill town milling the logs that came down the Skagit River
from the upland forests. It also
became the hub of the farming community that came to occupy the fertile Skagit River Valley.
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Location
Mount Vernon is located
at the junction of the Skagit River and Interstate-5 sixty miles north of Seattle and sixty
miles south of the Canadian Border.
Four miles to the north the North Cascades Highway (WA-20) heads
east. At the same exit WA-20 heads
west connecting with the Washington State Ferries to the San
Juan Islands in Anacortes.
Its location puts Mount
Vernon right in the middle of a vast array of Tourist
activities. This makes the city a
great place to stay and take day trips into the San
Juan Islands or the North Cascades from here..
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The Skagit River and the bridge from downtown to west Mount Vernon as viewed from Lions Park.
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The Skagit
Valley Farmlands
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From looking at the fields shown in the photo to the
left one would never know that in the spring these fields would be vibrant
with the colors of millions of tulips.
The Skagit Valley Tulip Festival brings
people from hundreds of miles away to view the awesome colors.
Visit their web site:
http://www.tulipfestival.org/
Visit the Mount Vernon Chamber of Commerce visitors
web site:
Visit
their web site.
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