Monroe is a city in Snohomish County, Washington located 29 miles Northeast of Seattle. Home to the Evergreen State Fair and the Evergreen Speedway, Monroe is located east of Everett on the Skykomish River off Highway 2 on the way to Stevens Pass, Leavenworth and Wenatchee in eastern Washington State.
The population of Monroe has more than doubled in the last decade! As of the 2003 census, the city of Monroe had a population of over 15,000. The completion of SR2 and SR 522 linked Monroe to the metropolitan areas of Everett and Seattle. People are drawn to Monroe because of its economic opportunities, natural beauty, and "small town" atmosphere.
History of Monroe, Washington
The Skykomish River Valley was first settled by Europeans in the 1860s and 1870s. These early settlers were predominately German and Irish and were attracted to the area for its abundance of trees for logging and rich, arable land for farming and ranching. The Great Northern Railroad was working its way across the Cascades and down the Skykomish River Valley. Park Place, the first settlement in the valley, was established in 1889 at the foot of Reformatory Hill, near the anticipated location of the railroad right-of-way. It included a general store, post office building and a few homes. John Vanasdlen, owner of the general store at Park Place, applied to the U.S. Postal Service for a post office and official name. At that time the Postal Service was not accepting two-word names, so Vanasdlen chose "Monroe," after President James Monroe. The railroad right-of-way was finally established a few years later, but instead at the settlement of Tye City more than a mile away. So Vanasdlen moved, buildings and all, to the Tye City location (near the current location of Downtown Monroe). Monroe was officially incorporated on January 7, 1903.
The population swelled to nearly 2,000 by 1910 due, in part, to the location of two new employers in the Monroe area ...the Pacific Coast Condensed Milk Company (Carnation Dairies) and the new Washington State Reformatory. (The smokestack near Travler's Park is a remnant of the Carnation Plant.) By 1910, a new brick building on East Main was completed to house City Hall, the Fire House, and the city's new library (now is the home of the Monroe Historical Society).
Some Information courtesy of wikipedia.org