City of Snohomish Snohomish County, Washington

Name: City of Snohomish
Address: Washington

Mapped Location

City of Snohomish: The mapped location is an approximation and should not be used for navigation or wayfinding.

Information

General information on City of Snohomish

Feature Type: Incorporated

Official, historical, colloquial and alternative toponyms for City of Snohomish

A brief list of names that this geographic feature has been named

Name	Description
City of Snohomish	Official
Snohomish	Official

Origin Notes and History of City of Snohomish

References to City of Snohomish that document the origin of its place name

SNOHOMISH, name of a city, county, river, and tribe of Indians. The name was first applied to the Indians. Rev. Myron Eells says the word refers to "a style of union among them." (American Anthropologist, for January, 1892.) Dr. Charles M. Buchanan, for many years Indian Agent at Tulalip, says: "I have never met an Indian who could give a meaning to the word Snohomish, though I have made twenty-one years of inquiry." He says the tribe was dominant in the region about the present City of Everett and he has a theory, though no Indian has ever corroborated it. In the native language the word is Sdoh-doh-hohbsh. In the same language Sdohbsh means man. "Might not the word be the plural form signifying 'the men, the warriors, the braves.' They dominated their confederation, you know." (In Names MSS. Letters 141 and 155.) The word has been variously spelled. On December 9, 1824, John Work, of the Hudson's Bay Company, wrote it "Sinnahamis." ("Journal," in Washington Historical Quarterly, Volume III., page 213.) The Wilkes Expedition, 1841, charted the river as "Tuxpam River." (Hydrography, Volume XXIII., Atlas, chart 67.) In 1847, Captain Henry Kellett charted the river as "Sinahomis River." (British Admiralty Chart 1911.) The same spelling was used by the United States Coast Survey in 1854. (United States Public Documents, Serial Number 784, chart 51.) The present spelling was adopted by the Surveyor General of Washington Territory in 1857. (United States Public Documents, Serial Number 877.) Snohomish City was founded by K C. Ferguson and K F. Cady about 1860. (H. H. Bancroft, Works, Volume XXXI., page 367.)

Edmond S. Meany in Origin of Washington Geographic Names

Meany, Edmond S., Origin of Washington Geographic Names, 1923 University of Washington, pp 279-280 | Origin of Washington Geographic Names

A Selected Bibliography of City of Snohomish, Snohomish County, Washington

A compilation of essential readings detailing the history, geography, and culture of the region.

River reflections Part II - 1910 - 1980 by Snohomish Historical Society

x, 190 pages : illustrations ; 28 cm

Non-circulating [ 1 ]

History · 1st Edition · Snohomish Historical Society, Snohomish, Wash., 1981
Related Catalog Items: City of Snohomish · Snohomish County

River reflections Snohomish City, 1859 to 1910 : a popular narrative history of Snohomish City by Snohomish Historical Society

River reflections Snohomish City, 1859 to 1910 : a popular narrative history of Snohomish City chronicles the grueling timber extraction and early pioneer settlement situated within the flood-prone alluvial floodplain and dense lowland forests of western Washington's Snohomish River valley. The Snohomish Historical Society details how the region's formidable physical barriers—specifically the towering, impenetrable stands of old-growth coastal timber, the unpredictable, violent winter flooding of the meandering Snohomish River, and the heavily waterlogged, root-choked riparian soils—strictly dictated the margins of early human survival, agrarian expansion, and commercial logging. By mapping the immense physical labor required to painstakingly extract massive cedar and fir stumps from the damp earth, construct precarious logging booms and early mills along the muddy banks, and forcibly carve a commercial grid from the dense coastal wilderness, the narrative highlights the monumental cooperative effort necessary to anchor a permanent riverine boomtown in this demanding riparian environment. The profound geographic isolation from deeper marine anchorages initially forced these remote loggers, merchants, and homesteaders into a strict reliance on the precise topography of the Snohomish River for transportation, completely anchoring their physical survival and early timber economy to the precarious navigation of shallow-draft sternwheelers and the severe hydrological realities of the basin. Ultimately, this local historical record serves as a deeply localized spatial history, demonstrating how the extreme riverine geography, heavy maritime precipitation, and immense physical labor of this Pacific Northwest frontier fundamentally shaped the fiercely resilient, tightly knit, and strictly riverine-dependent character of early Snohomish City.

2 volumes : illustrations ; 28 cm

Non-circulating [ 1 ]

History · 1st Edition · The Society, Snohomish, Wash., 1975
Related Catalog Items: City of Snohomish · Snohomish County

Snohomish County

Political Boundaries

Last updated: 2025-09-23