Editing Granite Falls, Washington (section)

==History==

The [[Pilchuck River]] and [[Stillaguamish River|Upper Stillaguamish]] basin was historically inhabited by the [[Skykomish people]], who used the modern-day site of Granite Falls as a [[portage]] along with other [[Coast Salish]] tribes.<ref name="Hollenbeck">{{cite book |last1=Hollenbeck |first1=Jan L. |last2=Moss |first2=Madonna |year=1987 |title=A Cultural Resource Overview: Prehistory, Ethnography and History: Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest |pages=159, 168–169 |publisher=[[United States Forest Service]] |oclc=892024380 |url=https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/005998596 |via=[[HathiTrust]] |access-date=June 26, 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Whitfield |first=William M. |year=1926 |title=History of Snohomish County, Washington |page=618 |publisher=Pioneer Historical Publishing Company |location=Chicago |oclc=8437390 |url=https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/102122401 |via=HathiTrust |access-date=April 30, 2020}}</ref> Several Skykomish [[archaeological site]]s were discovered in the 1970s between modern-day Granite Falls and [[Lochsloy, Washington|Lochsloy]], with over 700 artifacts recovered from later excavation.{{sfnp|Hollenbeck|Moss|1987|p=49}}

The first permanent European settler was Joseph Sous Enas from the [[Azores]], who staked a homestead claim in 1883 on land south of the present city. He was joined by other homesteaders who took advantage of open land that had been cleared by an earlier [[wildfire]], nicknamed "the Big Burn".<ref name="Interstate1906">{{cite book |editor1-last=Hastie |editor1-first=Thomas P. |editor2-last=Batey |editor2-first=David |editor3-last=Sisson |editor3-first=E.A. |editor4-last=Graham |editor4-first=Albert L. |title=An Illustrated History of Skagit and Snohomish Counties |pages=[https://archive.org/details/illustratedhisto00inte/page/365 365]–366 |chapter=Chapter VI: Cities and Towns |publisher=Interstate Publishing Company |location=Chicago |year=1906 |lccn=06030900 |oclc=11299996 |url=https://archive.org/details/illustratedhisto00inte |via=[[The Internet Archive]] |accessdate=January 4, 2022}}</ref> A [[school district]] was established in 1886, initially using an abandoned cabin as a [[one-room school]]house until a permanent school was built in 1893. The discovery of gold and silver in the Cascades, particularly around [[Monte Cristo, Washington|Monte Cristo]], lured miners and settlers to the Granite Falls area.<ref name="HistoryLink">{{cite web |last=Oakley |first=Janet |date=April 1, 2008 |title=Granite Falls — Thumbnail History |url=https://www.historylink.org/File/8532 |work=[[HistoryLink]] |access-date=November 11, 2010}}</ref>{{sfnp|Whitfield|1926|p=620}}

A general store and [[post office]] were established in 1890 at the corner of four homesteads, which would later form the center of the townsite [[plat]]ted in August 1891. The name "Granite Falls" was chosen for the settlement to replace the earlier name of "Portage".<ref name="Interstate1906"/> The [[Everett and Monte Cristo Railway]] reached Granite Falls on October 16, 1892, building a station for the town on the route between Monte Cristo and the county seat of [[Everett, Washington|Everett]].{{sfnp|Whitfield|1926|p=620}}

On November 8, 1903, Granite Falls voted to become a city. It was officially incorporated as a fourth-class city on December 21, 1903.<ref name="HistoryLink"/>{{sfnp|Whitfield|1926|p=621}} At the time, it had approximately 600 residents and several lumber mills.<ref>{{cite news |date=January 4, 1904 |title=Granite Falls Grows |page=5 |work=The Seattle Times}}</ref> Electricity, sewers, sidewalks, telephones, cars, and all the amenities of modern life soon followed. A power plant was also constructed at the falls.

By World War I, the once bustling mining towns of Monte Cristo and Silverton were no longer shipping out ore. The railroad, now owned by [[Northern Pacific Railroad|Northern Pacific]], stopped running and the tracks were torn out in the early 1930s to make way for the Mountain Loop Highway.

Granite Falls between the world wars was a lumber town; logging companies felled trees, sawmills created lumber and shingle mills created shingles. The Great Depression, however, took its toll. By 1935, the population of Granite Falls was half what it was in 1925. Mills closed and people left to find work elsewhere. On April 26, 1933, a fire destroyed the Cascade Hotel in downtown Granite Falls and threatened other buildings. The historic hotel was rebuilt at the same site.<ref>{{cite news |date=September 21, 2019 |title=1933 blaze damaged historic Granite Falls hotel |url=https://www.heraldnet.com/news/1933-blaze-damaged-historic-granite-falls-hotel/ |work=The Everett Herald |access-date=June 1, 2020}}</ref>

At the end of World War II, things looked bleak. The opening of Miller Shingle in 1946 (now the country's largest specialty lumber mill) meant jobs both in the woods and at the mill. Construction booms through [[Snohomish County, Washington|Snohomish]] and [[King County, Washington|King]] counties also meant jobs at the gravel pits dotted around Granite Falls. The city later became a [[bedroom community]] for commuters working in [[Everett, Washington|Everett]] and Lake Stevens for large companies.<ref name="PI-1998">{{cite news |last=Denn |first=Rebekah |date=October 19, 1998 |title=Growth hasn't changed logging town |page=D1 |work=[[Seattle Post-Intelligencer]]}}</ref>

Hard times would come again. In 1986, the United States Forest Service severely limited logging in [[old-growth forest]]s under its protection in an effort to save the [[northern spotted owl]] from extinction.<ref>U.S. Forest Service protects the northern spotted owl by limiting timber sales on August 7, 1986. HistoryLink.org Essay 5319; accessed Nov. 11, 2010 at http://www.historylink.org/index.cfm?DisplayPage=output.cfm&file_id=5319</ref> In June, 1990, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Department declared the spotted owl an endangered species, and in 1991, a federal court judge ruled the Forest Service's logging plan to save the owl was inadequate. Over one-fourth of old-growth forest on both public and private land were put off-limits to logging.<ref>"The Northern Spotted Owl", Forest History Society Website (www.lib.duke.edu/ forest/usfscoll/policy /northern_spotted_owl /index.html).</ref>

In the 21st century, Granite Falls has focused on attracting visitors to the natural environment and recreational opportunities along the Mt. Loop Highway.{{citation needed|date=February 2019}} Expanded housing development has brought an increased population of families who commute to Everett, Seattle, and the Eastside to work. In 2001, the [[Tsubaki Grand Shrine of America]] was given a 17-acre (7 ha) plot of land next to Kannagara Jinja (built by the Reverend of the shrine) in Granite Falls, which was built upon, combining the two places.<ref>Tsubaki Grand Shrine of America website (http://www.tsubakishrine.com/history/index.html).</ref>

A truck [[bypass (road)|bypass]] around the north side of downtown Granite Falls opened in 2010 to serve several [[quarry|quarries]] to the northeast. A new high school campus was built near the bypass, along with a housing development with 327 homes in the late 2010s.<ref>{{cite news |last=Bray |first=Kari |date=December 5, 2016 |title=Granite Falls housing development starts to take shape |url=https://www.heraldnet.com/news/granite-falls-housing-development-starts-to-take-shape/ |work=The Everett Herald |access-date=May 29, 2020}}</ref>

A downtown revitalization project began in the 2000s with renovations to buildings and a small city park. A new [[civic center]] is planned along South Granite Avenue, including a [[city hall]] that opened in 2019, a public plaza, a community center, and a [[gym]]nasium for the [[Boys & Girls Clubs of America|Boys & Girls Club]] that will also serve as an emergency shelter.<ref>{{cite news |last=Bray |first=Kari |date=February 21, 2018 |title=Downtown Granite Falls will be transformed |url=https://www.heraldnet.com/news/downtown-granite-falls-will-be-transformed/ |work=The Everett Herald |access-date=May 17, 2020}}</ref> The city government has also proposed promoting Granite Falls as a location for outdoor recreation retailers and businesses.<ref>{{cite news |last=Morris |first=Scott |date=March 25, 2005 |title=Granite Falls mayor looks to cater to outdoor crowd |url=https://www.heraldnet.com/news/granite-falls-mayor-looks-to-cater-to-outdoor-crowd/ |work=The Everett Herald |access-date=May 31, 2020}}</ref>