Barron, Washington

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Barron, Washington
Ghost town
Main street, Barron, Washington, 1900 (WASTATE 1222).jpeg
Main street, 1900
USA Washington location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Barron, Washington
Coordinates: 48°45′11.49″N120°42′59.39″W / 48.7531917°N 120.7164972°W / 48.7531917; -120.7164972
Country United States
State Washington
County Whatcom
Named after Alex M. Barron
Elevation
[1]
5,220 ft (1,590 m)
Time zone UTC-8 (Pacific (PST))
 • Summer (DST) UTC-7 (PDT)
ZIP Code
98862
GNIS feature ID1516166 [1]

Barron is a ghost town in Whatcom County, Washington, United States. It was a boomtown that was established during the Skagit River gold rush in the early 20th century to serve miners near Slate Peak along Slate Creek in eastern Whatcom County. It was abandoned shortly after it was built and retains most of its heavy equipment and buildings. [2]

Contents

History

In 1891, Alex M. Barron, a prospector from Anacortes, [3] struck gold on Slate Creek and discovered the Eureka Lode; by 1894 the town of Barron had a population of over 1,000 residents. [4] A 400-pound (180 kg) piece of gold-bearing quartz from the Barron mines was displayed at the 1893 Chicago World's Fair. [5] [6]

A trail was built from the east, in Okanogan County, through Hart's Pass. The trail was improved into a road by the National Forest Service in 1935. [7] A trail following the Skagit River from the west had existed but was notoriously difficult and dangerous at the time, so most effort was spent building the trail from the east. [3]

At its peak, sometime between 1897 and 1899, the town had a population of 2,500. [6] [8] Barron had many amenities despite its remote location, including hotels, saloons, a post office, a school, and a power plant. [9] [2] The rush lasted two years until many miners left for the Klondike Gold Rush in 1899, [8] but by that point $120,000 worth of gold [note 1] had been mined according to a Forest Service mining engineer. [10]

By 1899, a 10 stamp mill had been established, and in 1900 rights to the nearby Eureka Lode were sold to California businessman Charles D. Lane for $80,000. [note 2] [12] [13] In 1904, it was reported to be averaging $20,000 a month, [note 3] [14] but by 1907 the town was all but abandoned, [2] and in 1910 the post office was closed. [15] [16]

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ This amount reflects when gold was $16 an ounce. [10] As of 14 December 2025 gold is worth $4,300 an ounce [11] (rounded down), which would make the total $32,250,000.
  2. ↑ $3,000,000 in 2024
  3. ↑ $700,000 in 2024

References

  1. 1 2 U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Barron, Washington
  2. 1 2 3 "Barron Was Upper-Skagit Ghost Town" (PDF). The Concrete Herald . June 21, 1951. Retrieved December 10, 2025.
  3. 1 2 Pitzer, Paul C. (1978). "A Little Gold, A Lot of Noise". Building the Skagit: A Century of Upper Skagit Valley History 1870-1970. pp. 4–5.
  4. ↑ Thompson, Erwin N. (March 1970). "Mining". North Cascades N.P. Ross Lake N.R.A. & Lake Chelan N.R.A. History Basic Data. Office of History and Historic Architecture, Eastern Service Center: U.S. Department of the Interior National Park Service . Retrieved December 10, 2025.
  5. ↑ "Weath Of Mines Told At Meeting Of Prospectors" (PDF). The Concrete Herald . Vol. 34, no. 17. Concrete, Skagit County, Washington. March 21, 1935. p. 5. Retrieved December 10, 2025.
  6. 1 2 Roe, JoAnn (1980). "Settlers and Gold in the Methow Valley". The North Cascadians. Seattle: Madrona Publishers. pp. 34–35. ISBN   0914842498 . Retrieved December 11, 2025.
  7. ↑ Moen, Wayne S. (1969). "Slate Creek mining district: Mining history". Mines and Mineral Deposits of Whatcom County, Washington (PDF). Division of Mines & Geology: Washington Department of Natural Resources . Retrieved December 10, 2025.
  8. 1 2 Diehl, Anna (June 5, 2020). "The Ghost Towns of Whatcom: Forgotten, but Not Gone". WhatcomTalk. Retrieved December 10, 2025.
  9. ↑ Chriswell, H. C. (March 15, 1964). Manning, Betty; Coleman, Winifred; Ferber, Peggy; Kent, Grace; Miller, Nancy; Wilson, Marjorie (eds.). "Historical Sketch - Mt. Baker National Forest" (PDF). The Mountaineers. 57 (4). Seattle, Washington: 41–53. Retrieved December 10, 2025.
  10. 1 2 Wootton, Sharon (April 29, 1984). "You can't drive a car any higher in the state". The Daily Herald. No. 142. Everett, Washington. p. 17.
  11. ↑ "Gold Price Today - Live Gold Spot Price Charts". www.jmbullion.com. JM Bullion. Archived from the original on December 14, 2025. Retrieved December 14, 2025.
  12. ↑ "Mines and Mining in the Pacific Northwest". The Seattle Post-Intelligencer . Vol. 39, no. 80. February 2, 1901. p. 11.
  13. ↑ "News And Gossip Of The Mining World". The Seattle Post-Intelligencer . Vol. 38, no. 24. June 9, 1900. p. 11.
  14. ↑ "Gold Mines of Whatcom County: Marvelous Wealth of the Mount Baker and Slate Creek Gold Fields". The Bellingham Herald . Vol. 12, no. 282. Bellingham, Washington. January 25, 1904.
  15. ↑ "Post Offices of Whatcom County, WA". genealogytrails.com. Retrieved December 10, 2025.
  16. ↑ Walton, Aaron. "Barron Washington". Western Mining History. Retrieved December 10, 2025.
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