Marysville is a city in Snohomish County, Washington.
It is the second-largest city in Snohomish County after Everett, with a population of 60,020 in the 2010 U.S. census. In 2015, Marysville was the fastest-growing city in Washington state, growing at an annual rate of 2.5 percent.
Marysville is oriented north–south along Interstate 5, bordering the Tulalip Indian Reservation to the west, and State Route 9 to the east. Mount Pilchuck, whose 5,300-foot-high (1,600 m) peak can be seen from various points in the city, appears in the city's flag and seal.
Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau's 2010 census, Marysville has a total area of 20.94 square miles (54.2 km2)—20.68 square miles (53.6 km2) of land and 0.26 square miles (0.67 km2) of water.
The city is located in the northwestern part of Snohomish County in Western Washington, approximately 35 miles north of Seattle. Marysville's city limits are generally bound to the south by Ebey Slough (part of the Snohomish River delta) and Sopher Hill Road, to the west by Interstate 5 and the Tulalip Indian Reservation, to the north by the city of Arlington, and to the east by the Centennial Trail and State Route 9. The city's urban growth boundary includes 158 acres (64 ha) outside of city limits, bringing the total area to 21.14 square miles (54.8 km2).
The city's topography varies from the low-lying downtown, located along the banks of Ebey Slough 5 feet (1.5 m) above sea level, rising to 160 feet (49 m) near Smokey Point and over 465 feet (142 m) in the eastern highlands. Marysville sits in the watershed of two major creeks, Quilceda Creek and Allen Creek, and approximately 70 minor streams that flow into Ebey Slough and Snohomish River. During the early 20th century, repeated controlled flooding and other engineering works in the Snohomish River delta contributed to the replenishment of the area's fertile silty soil for use in farming.
The Marysville skyline is dominated by views of Mount Pilchuck and the Cascade Mountains to the east. The 5,324-foot (1,623 m) Mount Pilchuck appears on the city's logo and flag, and is the namesake of the Marysville Pilchuck High School.
The City of Marysville's comprehensive plan defines 11 general neighborhoods within the city and its urban growth boundary: Downtown, Jennings Park, Sunnyside, East Sunnyside/Whiskey Ridge, Cedarcrest/Getchell Hill, North Marysville/Pinewood, Kellogg Marsh, Marshall/Kruse, Shoultes, Smokey Point, and Lakewood
Climate
Marysville's climate is mild during summer when temperatures tend to be in the 60's and cold during winter when temperatures tend to be in the 40's.
The warmest month of the year is August with an average maximum temperature of 73.90 degrees Fahrenheit, while the coldest month of the year is January with an average minimum temperature of 33.60 degrees Fahrenheit.
Temperature variations between night and day tend to be fairly limited during summer with a difference that can reach 19 degrees Fahrenheit, and fairly limited during winter with an average difference of 13 degrees Fahrenheit.
The annual average precipitation at Marysville is 37.54 Inches. Rainfall in is fairly evenly distributed throughout the year. The wettest month of the year is November with an average rainfall of 5.11 Inches.
History
The 1800s
Marysville was established in 1872 by government-appointed Indian agent James P. Comeford, an Irish immigrant who had served in the Civil War, and his wife Maria as a trading post on the Tulalip Indian Reservation. The reservation, located to the west of modern-day Marysville, was established by the Point Elliot Treaty of 1855, signed by local Native American tribes and territorial governor Isaac Stevens at modern-day Mukilteo. The treaty's signing opened most of Snohomish County to American settlement and commercial activities, including logging, fishing and trapping.
The timber industry was the largest active industry in the area during the 1860s and 1870s, with hillsides in modern-day Marysville cleared by loggers for dairy farms. The Comefords' trading post accepted business from the reservation and logging camps that were established near the mouth of the Snohomish River. In 1874, Comeford acquired three timber claims from local loggers for $450, totaling 1,280 acres (5.2 km2), and cleared the land in preparation for settlement. Comeford and his wife moved to the present site of Marysville in 1877, building a new store and wharf. Although Marysville remained a one-man town until 1883, a post office and school district were both established by 1879 using the names and signatures of Native American neighbors of Comeford's, who were given "Boston" names for the petition.
Comeford completed construction of a two-story hotel in 1883 to welcome new settlers. Among the first residents to arrive were James Johnson and Thomas Lloyd of Marysville, California, who suggested the town's name be used for Comeford's new town. Comeford sold his store and wharf to settlers Mark Swinnerton and Henry B. Myers in 1884, and moved north to the Kellogg Marsh (now part of Marysville) to farm 540 acres (220 ha) of land he purchased.
Marysville was formally platted on February 25, 1885, filed by the town physician J. D. Morris and dedicated by the Comefords. More settlers began to arrive after the completion of the town's first sawmill in 1887, joined by three others by the end of the decade. Marysville was officially incorporated as a fourth-class city on March 20, 1891, with a population of approximately 400 residents and Mark Swinnerton serving as the city's first mayor. The Great Northern Railway also completed construction of its tracks through Marysville in 1891, building a drawbridge over Ebey Slough and serving the city's sawmills. A town newspaper named the Marysville Globe was established by Thomas P. Hopp in 1892 and continues to be published for the city.
Early 20th Century
By the turn of the century, the city's population had grown to 728, and social organizations began to establish themselves in Marysville, including a lodge of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and a Crystal Lodge of the Free and Accepted Masons. The first city hall was opened in late 1901, at a cost of $2,000; the building also housed the city's fire department, and later the first public library in 1907. Electrical and water supply systems were both inaugurated in 1906, alongside the construction of a high school building.
The timber industry in Marysville peaked in 1910, at which point the city's population reached 1,239, with 10 sawmills producing lumber on the shores of Ebey Slough. Agriculture began to grow in Marysville, with its fertile land suited for the growing of strawberries in particular. By 1920, the city had more than 2,000 acres (810 ha) of strawberry fields, leading to the coining of the city's nickname of "Strawberry City" and the establishment of the annual Strawberry Festival in 1932.
An automobile bridge across Ebey Slough and the Snohomish River estuary to Everett was completed in 1927, with funding from the state department of highways to complete the Pacific Highway (later part of U.S. Route 99, and present-day State Route 529). The city remained relatively unchanged through the Great Depression, with the diversity of industries credited for Marysville avoiding the worst of economic hardship experienced by other nearby communities. During World War II, an ammunition depot was built on the Tulalip Reservation near present-day Quil Ceda, later being re-used as a Boeing test site after the aerospace company expanded in Everett.
Late 20th Century
Marysville began to grow into a bedroom community of Everett and Seattle in the late 1950s, spurred by the completion of Interstate 5 in stages from 1954 to 1969. The new freeway bypassed the town, causing a minor decline in tourist revenue at businesses that later rebounded to normal levels, also eliminating a major traffic bottleneck that paralyzed the city's downtown. The city annexed its first area outside its original city limits in 1954, growing to over 2,500 residents. Marysville was re-classified as a third-class city in 1962 and the local Chamber of Commerce boosted the city during the Century 21 Exposition held in nearby Seattle, hosting a UFO exposition in Smokey Point that summer.
On June 6, 1969, a freight train operated by Great Northern rammed into several disconnected train cars in front of the Marysville depot, destroying the building, killing two men in an engine on a nearby siding and injuring two others. The crash, blamed on the engineer failing to adhere to the track's speed limit, caused $1 million in damage to railroad property and resulted in the demolition of the depot, which had served the city since 1891 and was not rebuilt.
After the initial wave of suburbanization, which built homes in former strawberry fields to the north and east of Marysville, the city's population totaled 5,544 in 1980. The city's growth was concentrated in outlying areas, leaving downtown to weaken economically. In 1981, the Marysville City Council declared that the downtown area was "blighted" and in need of a facelift. The council presented a $30 million urban renewal plan in November 1982 that would add new retail and office space, mixed-use development, public parks and improve pedestrian conditions in downtown, along with a large public parking lot and an expanded public marina. The plan was opposed by the marina's owner and other downtown property owners and produced lengthy public hearings that lasted until the following year. Mayor Daryl Brennick vetoed the plan in June 1983, citing public outcry and the high cost of the proposal, and the city council failed to overturn the decision. The city instead developed a downtown shopping mall that involved the demolition of a water tower (one of two in the city) and a major portion of historic downtown buildings in 1987.
Marysville underwent further population changes in the late 1980s and 1990s, continuing to build more housing and new retail centers after the lifting of a building moratorium. The city continued to annex outlying areas, growing to a size of 9.8 square miles (25 km2) and population of 25,315 by 2000. Tulalip Tribes opened its first casino in 1992, the second Indian casino in the state, and began development of a large shopping mall at Quil Ceda Village in the early 2000s.
Marysville attempted to attract regional facilities in the late 1990s and 2000s, with varying degrees of success. The U.S. Navy opened Naval Station Everett in Everett in 1994, which was accompanied by a support annex in northern Marysville near Smokey Point the following year. The Puget Sound Regional Council explored the expansion of Arlington Municipal Airport into a regional airport in the 1990s to relieve Seattle–Tacoma International Airport, but decided instead to build a third runway at Sea-Tac because of existing traffic and local opposition.
Early 21st Century
From 2000 to 2006, the city annexed 23 additional areas, totaling 1,416 acres (573 ha), lengthening the city to border Arlington at Smokey Point. The largest single annexation came in 2009, with Marysville absorbing 20,000 residents and 2,847 acres (1,152 ha) from North Marysville, an unincorporated area that comprised the majority of the urban growth area. New retail centers in North Lakewood and at 116th Street were built in 2007, leading to increased sales tax revenue for the city and increased traffic congestion in areas of the city.
In September 2004, Marysville won a bid to build a 850-acre (340 ha) NASCAR racetrack (to be operated by the International Speedway Corporation) near Smokey Point. The project was cancelled two months later after concerns about traffic impacts, environmental conditions, and $70 million in required transportation improvements arose. The NASCAR site was later pitched as a candidate for a new University of Washington satellite campus (known as UW North Sound) in the late 2000s, competing with a site in downtown Everett. The project was put on hold in 2008 after continued disagreements over the campus's location, before being cancelled entirely in 2011, replaced by a new Washington State University branch campus in Everett.
The opening of the city's waterfront park and public boat launch in 2005 spurred interest in redevelopment of downtown Marysville. The closure of the final waterfront sawmill in 2005, followed by its acquisition and demolition by the city in 2008, led city planners to propose a downtown master plan. The 20-year plan, released and adopted by the City Council in 2009, proposed the redevelopment of the Marysville Towne Center Mall into a mixed-use, pedestrian-oriented area with a restored street grid. The waterfront area would include trails, residential buildings, and retail spaces, along with a new city hall and civic center. In 2015, the city of Marysville was also the recipient of grants and consultation from the Environmental Protection Agency's smart growth program, identifying strategies for infill development in downtown.
By 2010, Marysville had grown to a population of 60,020 and surpassed Lynnwood and Edmonds to become the second-largest city in Snohomish County. In 2015, the city grew at a rate of 2.5 percent, the largest rate of any city in Washington state. The city's school district opened a second high school, Getchell, in 2010 to serve students living in the eastern area of Marysville. The school includes a Bio-Med Academy and an Academy of Construction and Engineering in separate buildings on the campus.
On October 24, 2014, the cafeteria of Marysville Pilchuck High School was the site of a school shooting, in which five students (including the perpetrator) were killed and another was left seriously injured. The shooting garnered national attention amidst a debate about gun violence and gun restrictions. After the shooting, the cafeteria was closed and replaced by a new building opened in January 2017, funded by $8.3 million from the state legislature and school district.
Demographics
Until the post-World War II population boom of the 1950s, Marysville's population never rose above 2,000 residents, who were all located within the original city limits. The city began annexing surrounding areas in the 1950s, anticipating suburban development that would replace existing farmland and forest lands. From 1950 to 1980, the city doubled in population, growing to over 5,000 residents, with an additional 15,000 residents in surrounding areas. Marysville's population grew five-fold between 1980 and 2000, increasing to 25,000 through natural growth and annexation of developed areas. From 2000 to 2010, the city's population increased to over 60,000 after the annexation of the urban growth area and continued development, making Marysville the second-largest city in Snohomish County behind Everett. In 2015, Marysville was the fastest-growing city in Washington, growing at a rate of 2.5 percent to an estimated population of 66,773.
Economy
Marysville has an estimated 33,545 residents who are in the workforce, either employed or unemployed. Only 10 percent of residents work within Marysville city limits, with the majority commuting south to employers in Everett, Downtown Seattle and the Eastside, including Boeing, Naval Station Everett, Amazon.com and Microsoft. The average one-way commute is approximately 30 minutes; 79 percent of workers drive alone to their workplace, while 12 percent carpool and 3 percent used public transit.
Marysville's economy historically relied on lumber production and agriculture, including the cultivation of strawberries, hay and oats. During the Great Depression of the 1930s, Marysville was not adversely impacted unlike other cities in the county and country because of its diverse industries, including sawmills, grain mills, a tannery, a fertilizer plant, and a berry packing plant. The city's largest employer in the early 1950s, the Weiser Lumber Company, was destroyed in a fire on May 6, 1955, causing $300,000 in damage. The lumber mill at the site was later acquired by Welco Lumber, who closed the plant in 2007.
Suburban development and the rise of long-distance commuting in the 1950s led Marysville to transition toward a service-based economy. One of the largest employers of Marysville residents is the Boeing Company and their Everett assembly plant. While farms still operate in the area around the city, since 1980 the lumber industry has all but ceased and is no longer a major factor in the local economy. Since the late 1980s, the economy of Marysville has centered around retail areas, including the downtown Marysville Towne Center Mall (opened in 1987) and the Naval Support Complex (opened in 1995). The Tulalip Tribes built a new casino and new shopping center in the early 2000s to the west of Marysville, contributing to a fall in sales tax revenue. In the latter half of the decade, Marysville opened two large retail centers of its own in the annexed Lakewood neighborhood and at 116th Street NE, bringing additional jobs and sales tax revenue to the city.
Marysville is also home to a small manufacturing industry based in the northern part of the city near Smokey Point and Arlington's manufacturing center at Arlington Municipal Airport. The cities of Arlington and Marysville plan to pursue a Manufacturing Industrial Center designation for the area from the Puget Sound Regional Council in 2017, allowing it to support 25,000 jobs by 2040. The city's second-largest employer is C&D Zodiac, an aerospace parts manufacturer tied to Boeing, with 670 employees at an office in northern Marysville. In 2016, outdoor footwear manufacturer Northside USA opened a new headquarters and 110,000-square-foot (10,000 m2) warehouse in northern Marysville.
Services
The Marysville Police Department provides policing to the city.
Marysville does not have any general hospitals, but is located near the Providence Regional Medical Center in Everett and Cascade Valley Hospital in Arlington. The city has several community clinics, including two operated by The Everett Clinic and one operated by Providence. A 75-bed, $22 million psychiatric hospital opened in Smokey Point in 2017.
Culture
he Red Curtain Foundation for the Arts was founded in 2009 to offer art, music and theatre classes in Marysville, including the staging of community theatre productions. The Red Curtain renovated a former lumber store in 2012 to house a community arts center, but moved in 2015 to a new location at a shopping center in central Marysville in 2015, which will be renovated into a 10,000-square-foot (930 m2) arts center with a 130-seat theatre, classrooms, and other amenities. Other local arts organizations include the Marysville Arts Coalition, and the Sonus Boreal women's choir.
Marysville was formerly home to a children's museum from 1993 to 1995, located at the Marysville Towne Center Mall. The museum relocated to a temporary space in Everett before opening a permanent downtown Everett location in 2004 as the Imagine Children's Museum. The city also hosts a historic telephone museum located in downtown since 1996.
The 1980 made for TV movie Trouble in High Timber Country was filmed in Marysville.
Parks and Recreation
The City of Marysville operates and maintains 487.4 acres on 35 public recreational facilities within city limits, including parks, playgrounds, sports fields, nature preserves, community centers, a golf course and other facilities.
Transportation
Marysville is located along the east side of Interstate 5 (I-5), which connects the city to Vancouver, British Columbia to the north and Seattle to the south.
There is no railroad station in Marysville, even though train tracks run through it.
Media
Two weekly newspapers, the Marysville Globe and the North County Outlook, are based in Marysville and serve northern Snohomish County. The Globe has been published since 1891 and began delivering free newspapers to all Marysville residents on November 28, 2007. The Herald in Everett serves the entire county, including Marysville, and prints daily editions.
Marysville is also part of the Seattle–Tacoma media market, and is served by Seattle-based media outlets including The Seattle Times; broadcast television stations KOMO-TV, KING-TV, KIRO-TV, and KCPQ-TV; and various radio stations.
The city also owns a public-access television station that is operated by the Marysville School District.