Town of Index Snohomish County, Washington

Name: Town of Index
Address: Washington

Mapped Location

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

Information

General information on Town of Index

Feature Type: Incorporated

Official, historical, colloquial and alternative toponyms for Town of Index

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

Name	Description
Town of Index	Official
Index	Official

Origin Notes and History of Town of Index

References to Town of Index that document the origin of its place name

INDEX, a town in the southeastern part of Snohomish County and just north of Index Mountain. It is claimed that the mountain got its name from the sharp pinnacle at its summit, pointing upward like an index finger.

Edmond S. Meany in Origin of Washington Geographic Names

Meany, Edmond S., Origin of Washington Geographic Names, 1923 University of Washington, pp 119 | Origin of Washington Geographic Names

A Selected Bibliography of Town of Index, Snohomish County, Washington

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

The Sky Valley. Volume 2 a photographic history by Buddie Williams

Authored by local historian Buddie Williams, The Sky Valley, Volume 2: A Photographic History continues the visual documentation of Washington's rugged Skykomish River corridor through a rich collection of historic photographs and archival ephemera. The volume captures the dramatic transformation of towns like Index, Sultan, and Startup as they evolved from raw logging camps and mining outposts into established, tight-knit communities framed by the Cascade Mountains. Through vintage images of steam locomotives, timber mills, high-water floods, and local school children, the text portrays the relentless daily labor required to carve civilization out of a steep, flood-prone river valley. A keen insight drawn from the work is how visual archives of mountain valleys expose the inherent fragility of industrial frontier settlements; the recurring imagery of swollen rivers and swept-away bridges reminds readers that human infrastructure in the Pacific Northwest was always engaged in a precarious, high-stakes negotiation with an overwhelmingly powerful natural topography.

28 pages : illustrations ; 26 cm

Non-circulating [ 1 ]

History · Rev. ed · Messenger Pub., Startup, Wash., 1999
Related Catalog Items: Town of Index · City of Gold Bar · Town of Skykomish · King County · Snohomish County

Index a historical perspective by Ruth Burgstahler

Index: A Historical Perspective chronicles the founding and development of Index, Washington, a rugged pioneer settlement nestled deep within the North Fork Skykomish River valley of the Cascade Mountains. The narrative highlights how the dramatic surrounding topography—including the sheer granite walls of nearby Mount Index and the dense, steep timberlands—dictated the town's early economy, which relied heavily on precarious logging operations and hard-rock mining. By documenting the specific riverside encampments, isolated granite quarries, and mountain railroad spurs that defined the area, the book directly links the daily survival of early residents to their formidable natural environment. Ultimately, the work preserves the physical and geographic history of a remote wilderness enclave that was carved out of some of the most challenging terrain in the inland Pacific Northwest.

vii, 53 pages : illustrations ; 21 cm

Non-circulating [ 1 ]

History · 1st Edition · Privately printed by author, Index, WA, 1979
Related Catalog Items: Town of Index · Snohomish County

Snohomish County

Political Boundaries

Last updated: 2025-09-23