Editing Monroe, Washington (section)

===Renaming and relocation===
[[File:Construction of the Wagner & Wilson Inc mill in Monroe, circa 1900 (INDOCC 1506).jpg|thumb|right|The Wagner and Wilson sawmill, one of the largest in Monroe at the beginning of the 20th century]]

The original Park Place post office and [[general store]] were abandoned and replaced by a new building that opened in 1890. John Vanasdlen, operator of new store, petitioned for the reopening of the post office but was rejected by the [[United States Post Office Department|U.S. Post Office Department]], which only allowed a single-word name for new offices. "Monroe" was chosen by Vanasdlen, with the input of McClurg, to honor of U.S. President [[James Monroe]].<ref name="HistoryLink"/>{{sfnp|Robertson|2004|pages=19–21}} The new post office for Monroe was granted by the U.S. Post Office Department on March 19, 1890.{{sfnp|Wojciechowski|2015|p=10}}

The [[Great Northern Railway (U.S.)|Great Northern Railway]] chose a route over [[Stevens Pass]] in the late 1880s for its transcontinental railroad connecting [[Seattle]] to [[St. Paul, Minnesota]], bringing new development to the Skykomish Valley. Monroe at Park Place was [[plat]]ted in 1890 and gained several new businesses, including a [[blacksmith]], [[grocery store]], a second [[hotel]], and a [[butcher]].{{sfnp|Robertson|2004|pages=19–21}} The final survey for Great Northern in 1891 placed the railroad tracks {{convert|1|mi|km|spell=in}} northeast of Park Place, bypassing the settlement in favor of a straighter alignment to cross the [[Snohomish River]] south of downtown Snohomish.{{sfnp|Robertson|2004|pages=19–21}}

The railroad built a small [[train depot|depot]] named "Wales" on the {{convert|40|acre|ha|adj=mid}} homestead of Jack Stretch, who platted a settlement on the north side of the tracks that he named "Tye City" for Great Northern's locating engineer George Tye.{{sfnp|Robertson|2004|pages=19–21}} Great Northern completed their railroad through the Skykomish Valley in January 1893, following additional work near Snohomish to rebuild a bridge that had been destroyed in a flood.<ref>{{cite news |date=January 7, 1893 |title=Last Nail Driven – The Great Northern Railroad Is Completed |page=1 |work=[[Seattle Post-Intelligencer]] |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/36753692/last_nail_driven_gn/ |via=[[Newspapers.com]] |access-date=October 4, 2019}}</ref> In late 1892 and early 1893, several merchants in Park Place moved their buildings to the south side of Tye City using teams of oxen, horses, and a [[Threshing machine|steam thresher]].{{sfnp|Robertson|2004|pages=23–24}} After the relocation of Vanasdlen's general store and post office, the settlement became known as Monroe.<ref name="Timeline"/>

The completion of the railroad attracted lumber operations to the Monroe area, boosted by the opening of the first [[wood shingle|shingle]] mill in 1894 and the first [[sawmill]] on Woods Creek in 1897. A bridge across the Skykomish River was opened in 1894 to replace the ferry and the town's first church was established two years later.<ref name="Timeline"/> The county government chose a {{convert|40|acre|ha|adj=mid}} site north of Monroe for a 20-bed [[poor farm]] at the modern-day site of the [[Evergreen State Fair]]grounds; it later became the [[Valley General Hospital]].{{sfnp|Wojciechowski|2015|p=22}} A [[cooperative]] of Monroe-area farmers built the city's first [[creamery]] in 1895, which was destroyed in a fire four years later and later rebuilt. By the end of the decade, Monroe had also gained a new school building, [[telephone]] service, a local [[newspaper]], a full-time doctor, and paved [[sidewalk]]s.{{sfnp|Robertson|2004|pages=29–33}}