Fortson, Washington

It was December 1st, 1904 when Mr. L. Brooks sold 113.05 acres of land to Hugh L. McCaughey (1857-1947), Frederick J. McCaughey (1864-1937) and William H. McCaughey (1875-1940).  They took part of this land to build a sawmill along the N.F. Stillaguamish River.  The name of this mill was McCaughey Lumber Company, operations started on July 27th, 1905.  The new train from Arlington had reached Darrington in 1901.  The whole area was in a boom with sawmills developing along the tracks.  A settlement sprang up around the McCaughey mill and by 1910 the population had grown to 130 people.  By 1913 it had become a major employer for the area, the average wage for a 12 hour day was $3.50.  McCaughey sold their sawmill moving operations upriver on the Stillaguamish and leased the L.D.R. Mill.  Records show that the McCaughey Lumber Company was stricken from the list of Washington State businesses fourteenth Biennial Report, Washington State Office of Secretary of State, October 1, 1914 – September 30, 1916.  Oral histories indicate that McCaugheys continued their lease at L.D.R. Mill until the 1930s.  These conflicting dates could be resultant in discontinuation of their previous business name.

Georgia-born Seattle attorney, George Hayley Fortson (October 19, 1860 – unknown) purchased the McCaughey Lumber Company.  Stocks of $1,000 were sold and the Fortson Lumber Company incorporated May 19, 1914 capitalized at $6,000.  Trustees included Lee Erastus Dickinson (1871-1940), Joseph Kohout and Royal Herbert Lamson Sr. (1870-1934).  In the height of Fortson Lumber Company’s success it was severly damaged by fire some time around 1917.  The company dissolved on December 19, 1918.

Theodore M. Klement (1880-1957) and Charles Thomas Kennedy (1871-1935) bought Fortson Mill in 1923 which had been idle for several years.  The name changed to Klement and Kennedy Company Mill.  Even though the sawmill was once again renamed, the surrounding community continued to call it Fortson and the old site is still know as that today.  By 1923 Fortson as a town, had phone service through Pacific Telephone, there was a company store, post office, several fine homes and several bunk houses for the men.  There were three saloons in the area, but later one of these saloons was converted into a Union Sunday School.  The sawmill at Fortson was a modern mill for the day and maintained logging railroads with 2 locomotives and one skidder, 4 flat cars and 2 logging sides, large machine shop and electric light plant.

There were two other mills in the area along the N.F. Stillaguamish River.  The Fortson Shingle Mill was to the west, where the Little French Creek Road is now.  The L.D.R. Mill was located to the east, about 1/4 mile east of the Swede Heaven Road railroad crossing.

By 1926 Fortson had grown to a population of 320.  Seeing that truck traffic was increasing, the mill invested in four logging trucks, looking to the future of new logging practices.  Later, somewhere in the early 1950s, the millpond was filled in at the middle, creating a larger pond and small pond closer to the mill.  This allowed improved motor vehicle access.

With increasing motor traffic, homes also began to move closer to the Arlington – Darrington Road, now known as SR 530 N.E.  Henry and Addie Bennett owners of the Whitehorse Store, installed the first gas pump meeting the growing demands for gasoline.  Every night they would turn on their flashing lights so motorist would not miss their last chance to get gas for several miles.  Though there were a growing number of trucks on the road, the train remained the primary method of logs and lumber for several years.  Times were however changing for the valley.  Operations for the Fortson Logging Railroad ceased in 1936.

The Mill at Fortson was powered by steam.  Throughout the massive concrete ruins, you can see the round holes where steam pipes once ran.  There was a waterwheel north of the small pond where the fish ladder is now, near the railroad bridge on the Whitehorse Trail.  This was part of the old electric plant used for many years for lighting up the mill and homes.  Later when the Skagit River Hydroelectric, supplying electricity for Seattle, completed the first three dams on the Skagit River, the electrical transmission line was routed down the NF Stillaguamish Valley.  The proximity of these lines made it possible to buy electricity from Seattle City Light for powering up the mill.

Fortson, (Klement & Kennedy) was sold to Burt Barker in 1956.  The mill was dismantled and mostly moved up to Darrington by 1960, partnering with Bob and Ivan Jones, becoming part of the Three Rivers Mill.  This will later be the location of Summit Timber and now Hampton Lumber Company.  What salvage was not taken to Darrington, was sold to the Taylor Mill, down at Cicero.  Most of the buildings were moved off site becoming homes.  The old guard station was dragged across the river to Swede Heaven to become a modest dwelling.  With the constant increasing motor vehicle traffic, workers no longer needed to cluster around the mill where they worked and drove the distance to Darrington where they worked.

Once the De-Barker ran none stop feeding the sawmill with a steady stream of logs.  Now the mill pond is a quiet place as you watch the ducks come and go.  Every springtime, the Darrington Volunteer Fire Department, holds the Juvenile Fishing Derby here, a great Family tradition.  You can still see the large grooves cut into the concrete embankment where tracks ran down the to dump the logs from the De-Barker.

Fortson has drifted into the past, it leaves behind a legacy of an era of when a mill created it’s town.  You can reach out and touch the past, the big dreams, families that lived and grew here, the whirring of machinery and hear the train that connected the N.F. Stillaguamish Valley.

Over the years, nature has pressed into the ruins of Fortson creating a strange sense of the present and the past coexisting  simultaneously.  Massive concrete walls now adorned with Maidenhair Ferns, Indian Plum and Trillium grow where men once stood working to make a day’s wage, have melted into historical gardens where birds and bats call home.

Looking at Fortson today, the old mill site is owned by Snohomish County Parks, Stillaguamish Indian Tribe and Washington Fish & Wildlife.  It will become a trailhead for the Whitehorse Trail that passes through it.  There are hopes of turning this beautiful site into a park with the help of the volunteer group, Friends of Fortson.

The Old Fortson Mill is 7 miles west of Darrington on State Route NE.