Alpine Falls

1930 photo and modern photo of the Alpine Falls area.

About eight miles east of Skykomish is Alpine Falls on the Tye River. US 2 crosses the river just above the falls, there is a parking area west of the bridge. Many years ago the House of Souvenier was located here.

The store is gone but the outhouse is across the highway.

South of the falls and way up on the hill is the site of Alpine, a sawmill town that vanished around 1930. Tim Raetzloff has an informative website about the town here.

The Alpine Lumber Company operated a logging railroad along the Tye River, click on the picture below to see pictures of the old railroad grade.

Drury Depot

Last week I bought this J. Boyd Ellis postcard on ebay. Titled "Stevens Pass Highway Tumwater Canyon WA" it is postmarked September 1, 1945. Highway 2 is on the right, it follows the old Great Northern Railway line through the Tumwater Canyon. The GN abandoned the Tumwater Canyon line when the Chumstick Cutoff was completed in 1929. The Drury depot was located near the fir tree to the left of the highway bridge.

This Google map shows the location of the Drury depot.

Here is a 2009 photo of the highway and bridge.

A few years ago the Skykomish Historical Society produced a CD about the Great Northern depots between Monitor and Monroe. It has many photos and maps and is well worth the $20 price if you are interested in visiting the old GN depot sites, please see their website for more info. This is a 1924 map of Drury.