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| Skagit
County Historical Museum Collection Avon about 1891-92. The sternwheeler "City of Champlain" is tied up at the bank. |
| AVON |
| Founded
as a temperance town, Avon, at one time rivaled most of the settlements
along the Skagit River in importance as a trading center. A. H. Skaling
platted the town in 1883, established a post office, and advertised for
settlers. Because of the river access, in a short time they had a shingle
mill, a boat builder, and several stores. An implement company to supply
farm equipment and a stage line to connect travelers and supplies allowed
it to quickly add a restaurant, a hotel, a barber shop, and two milliners.
It even spawned a newspaper for a brief period, The Avon Record. During the next decade the river bank of Avon eroded, requiring the moving of all the buildings along the water. As roads improved the highways siphoned the farmers' trade away from the Avon boat docks and toward Burlington and Mount Vernon. As the importance of river traffic declined, the Avon School consolidated with Mount Vernon and the primary community services which remained were the grocery store and the Methodist church. By 1920 Avon became the pleasant residential village that it is today. "Where the trail
followed the river side, it was fine, but when the trail left the river
and started through the heart of the dense forest, darkness closed in.
With Douglas fir, spruce, and cedar trees 150 to 200 feet high, it wasn't
long until total darkness came. Not one ray of light reached us. The deepest
dungeon could not have been darker. We had not been in the country long
enough to learn how necessary it was never to be caught out at night without
a lantern." "It must have
been quite a busy little place for their (hotel) rooms were nearly always
full of commercial travelers and I remember Uncle Will was always busy
in the livery stable." |