Mount Vernon is the county chair of Skagit County, Washington, United States. The population was 31,743 at the 2010 census. It is one of two principal cities of and included in the Mount Vernon-Anacortes, Washington Metropolitan Statistical Area. Downtown Mount Vernon is known for its annual Tulip Festival Street Fair, which is ration of the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival. The climate of Skagit County is thesame to that of Northern France, with millions of tulips grown in the Skagit Valley. In 1998, Mount Vernon was rated the #1 “Best Small City in America” by the New Rating Guide to Life in America’s Small Cities.

Jasper Gates and Joseph Dwelley first settled upon the banks of the Skagit River, where the city of Mount Vernon now lies, in 1870. Later on, Harrison Clothier came to the community in 1877 to teach school and partner in thing with a former student, E.G. English. They were later credited as the city’s founders and opportunist businessmen. A say office was normal in November 1877 later than Clothier appointed postmaster. The city was named after Mount Vernon, the plantation land and resting place of George Washington. The two men laid out the city’s first ambition while the Place was still heavily timbered.

Mount Vernon’s first industry was logging; camps were set happening to log the townsite. The community grew speedily following the loggers, and hotels and saloons opened happening along the Skagit River adjoining English & Clothiers’ store. While poised to grow, river permission to the community was stymied by a omnipresent and ancient log jam in the river which prevented large ships from being practiced to port. Mail carriers on the other hand had to paddle canoes down-stream to welcoming Skagit City. The mining to-do at user-friendly Ruby Creek spurred deposit for a unexpected time in 1880, gaining the city a additional hotel, but Tiny else was clever when the mines proved to be shallow. More logging operations were usual but were not profitable due to the low price of logs at the time. By 1881, Mount Vernon’s long-lasting population was 75.

Growth in the 1880s was steady. In 1882, the Odd Fellows Lodge was established, followed by the first newspaper in 1884, The Skagit News. The first church, Baptist, was also acknowledged in 1884 but wouldn’t construct a permanent building for several years. In November 1884, Mount Vernon’s sophisticated was secured taking into account it was selected for the extra Skagit County seat, taking the designation from La Conner. The Odd fellows building, built the when year, served the county’s needs until a steadfast building was built.

Mount Vernon’s addition was helped by its central location in reference to the mining, logging and gardening communities of the eastern and central parts of the county as with ease as its entry to Puget Sound. The only issue it was lacking was a railroad relationship to the external world, especially, Everett, Seattle and Vancouver, B.C.. A committee was appointed in 1889 to negotiate later than railroads upon line placement. Their efforts paid off later than the Great Northern Railway definitely to lay their pedigree through the city. This was completed in 1891. The city was furthermore in the process of convincing the Seattle, Lake Shore and Eastern Railway to allow Mt. Vernon. This pact fell through after the railroad was acquired by Northern Pacific Railway who chose to lay tracks new east through Sedro-Woolley in 1896.