Photo Gallery

Army Corps of Engineers Historical Pictures Courtesy of the Corps of Engineers

Downtown Burlington in 1917 Flood	Downtown Burlington in 1921 Flood	Houses right up against levees that can fail (November 1949 Flood)

Fir Island Levee Failures in February 1951	Fir Island Dike Breach, 1990	Burlington Northern Railroad Bridge in November 1995 Flood

October 2003 Landslide near Newhalem	Upper Baker Dam October 2003	Town of Hamilton October 2003 Flood

Hamilton October 2003 Flood Line	Building Sandbag Wall in Downtown Mount Vernon 2003	Downtown Mount Vernon October 2003 Flood

	South Fork Skagit River Bridge at Fir Island Road in October 2003 Flood
For the story behind the pictures - please go HERE and search our document & historical newspaper archives.

Fox Collection Historical Pictures Unless specified otherwise - pictures are of Mount Vernon

1st St. Flood, late 1800s	1st Street - 1894 or 1897	1910 - Digging Drainage Ditch No. 18

Looking Across Skagit River to Westside From Mt. Vernon During 1913 Flood	1917 Flood Damage to Railroads A	1917 Flood Damage to Railroads B

1917 Flood Event - Unspecified Location	1921 Flood 01 - Interurban RR Washed Out	1921 Flood 02 - Fairhaven, Burlington

1921 Flood 03 - Aerial View of Burlington	1921 Flood 04 - Interurban Washed Out	1921 Flood 05 - Fairhaven Looking West (in Burlington)

1921 Flood 06 - Fairhaven & Gardner	1935 Flood 01 - Westside Bridge & Logjam	1935 Flood 02 - Unspecified Location

1935, Floodwaters of	1951 01 - Hwy. 20 Between Burlington - Sedro-Woolley	1951 02 - Lafayette Road Towards Clear Lake Hill

1951 Flood 03 - West Mt. Vernon - Front Street A	1951 Flood 04 - West Mt. Vernon - Front Street B	1951 Flood 05 - West Mt. Vernon

1951 Flood 06 - West Mount Vernon 1951 - Division & Front St. Bill Harlow's Barber Shop A	1951 Flood 07 - West Mount Vernon 1951 - Division & Front St. Bill Harlow's Barber Shop B	1951 Flood 08 - West Mount Vernon 1951 - Division & Front St. Bill Harlow's Barber Shop C

1951 Flood 09 - West Mount Vernon 1951 - Division & Front St. Bill Harlow's Barber Shop D	1951 Flood 10 - Sandbagging in West Mount Vernon	1951 Flood 11 - From the Westside Bridge

	1950s-1960s Aerial View Burlington
Undated Photographs

1st Street Looking North	1st Street - Unspecified Flood Event	Above Lincoln Hill - Looking Southwest

Aerial View - Burlington	Cap Decatuer's Home	Cleaning Up After Flood - First Street

Ct. House (Matheson Bldg) 1st. St. - Unspecified Flood Event	Floodwaters about location of Lions Club Park 1990, G.N. & Interurban tracks	Looking down from 9th St. Lincoln Hill at Rt.

Looking N. on 1st. St. North	Looking Toward Lincoln Hill - Unspecified Flood Event	M.V. Floodwaters (Unknown st.)

Mill on riverfront near present site of Moose Hall 1990 - 01	Mill on riverfront near present site of Moose Hall 1990 - 02	North Mt. Vernon

North of Mt. Vernon	Railroad Depot at Whitney West on Hwy. 20	South M.V. - Unknown Year

W Mt. Vernon Looking Southeast [Towards Little Mountain]	Westside Bridge	Westside Looking Towards Hill
For the story behind the pictures - please go HERE and search our document & historical newspaper archives.

Dike District 12 Donated Pictures Pictures kindly donated by Dike District 12 Commissioner Chuck Bennett
1951 Flood

Sandbagging boils on levees.		Sandbagging a boil on Whitmarsh

Flood-Fighting the Old-Fashioned Way		Whitmarsh Road by Hanson Farm
1995 Flood

1995-11-20 Normal Clearance of BNRR Burlington-Mt. Vernon Bridge	1995-11-30 1230 Hours BNRR Burlington-Mt. Vernon Bridge	1995-11-30 1230 Hours BNRR Burlington-Mount Vernon Bridge

1995-11-20 Captain Bennett making sure water is wet	1995-11-30 Dike District 12 Levee at Nagitami's 12:30 PM	1995-11-30 12:15 PM Whitmarsh Rd

	1995 flood damage Dike Dist. 12 levee-bank off Bennett Rd
Miscellaneous

1990-11-25 Looking at Riverside Bridge between Mount Vernon and Burlington from BNRR bridge	December 1994 Log Jam	December 1994 Log Jam - railroad crane clears logs from jam

Oct. 21, 2003 - sandbags along railroad paralleling St. Highway 20 between Sedro-Woolley and Burlington		Oct. 19, 2003 - log jam behind Burlington Northern Railroad bridge between Mount Vernon and Burlington

Pictures of 2003 Flooding
Courtesy of the City of Anacortes

Intake Station, Oct. 17, 2003	Skagit River at 32 feet from Intake Station, Oct. 22, 2003	Skagit River from Intake Station Morning of Oct. 22, 2003

Flood-Fighting the Old-Fashioned Way (Like in 1951)

Courtesy of Skagit County Public Works Department

Upper Baker Dam looking downstream	Upper Baker Dam looking upstream	Lake Shannon & Lower Baker Dam

Close-up of Lower Baker Dam	Picture of Hamilton	Skagit at Pipeline Crossing, Sedro-Woolley

Skagit at Sedro-Woolley Bridges	Oct 22 2003 log jam at Highway 9	10-21-03 Lafayette at Sterling

Looking at houses along Lafayette Road	Nookachamps looking back at Burlington Hill	Skagit at BNSF Bridge - Burlington

Looking upstream at '4-Bridge Corridor' (I-5, Two Riverside and BNSF Bridges linking Mt. Vernon and Burlington)	Aerial photograph of Skagit River at Division Street Bridge looking into Mt. Vernon	Sandbagging along the Mt. Vernon floodwall

Skagit River from Division Street Bridge	Skagit under Division Street Bridge	South Fork of Skagit (Fir Island at the top, Dike District 3 levee set-back project at left.)

Looking downstream at North Fork Bridge	Airborne shot of Fir Island & South Fork Bridge	La Conner


Courtesy of NOAA, Taken by U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Seattle District on October 22, 2003 (For 79 more pictures, start HERE)

Gages Slough and Riverbend area	Mount Vernon looking upstream at Burlington, then Nookachamps	Skagit River downstream from Sedro-Woolley bridges; Nookachamps under water on the left

Cockreham Island levee breach	Bottom up: Skagit River, mouth of Baker, Town of Concrete, Lower Baker Dam and Lake Shannon	Upper Baker Dam

Diablo Dam and Lake	Counter-clockwise: Diablo Dam, Incline Railway and Town of Diablo	Ross Dam and Lake Higher resolution picture directly from U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Seattle District
For the story behind the pictures - please go HERE and search our document & historical newspaper archives.

Aerial Pictures Taken August 27, 2006
The Dalles, Concrete, Washington

Downstream of The Dalles 1	The Finstead Location	Downstream of The Dalles 2

The Dalles Bridge	The Dalles Looking South	The Dalles Looking East
Baker River

Concrete and Baker River	Baker River Mouth Into Baker Lake	Lake Shannon and Concrete
Sauk River

Mouth of the Sauk River	Suiattle River into Sauk River	Rockport and Howard Miller Bridge
The Volcanoes

Mount Baker		Glacier Peak
For more information - please go HERE and search our archives.

Pictures of 2006 Flooding
Courtesy of William L. "Willy" LaRue of the City of Anacortes

Anacortes Water Treatment Plant intake station	Sandbag wall deployed against Skagit	Soldiers placing sandbags around the Anacortes Water Treatment Plant

November 9, 2006 Mt. Vernon Photos by Josef Kunzler, Webmaster

Skagit River Jam Memorial	Panorama from Eaton's Books to Division Street Bridge looking southwest, Skagit River at 29' elev.	Photo taken 9:15 AM from Division Street Bridge, Skagit River at Mount Vernon at 29.260' elevation.

Photos of the sandbag wall built by the City of Mount Vernon

Assorted Pictures

Lower Baker Dam and Powerhouse on 7 April 2005 personal visit	Lower Baker Dam close-up on 30 June 2005 visit	Log Jams on the Skagit from mid-19th century map

Original 1866 Lower Valley Map	Original 1866 Upper Valley Map + 1897 COE Map	Ross Dam, 6 December 1975 Photograph courtesy Seattle Municipal Archives where there are more.

Gorge (Crib) Dam, April 18, 1947 Photograph courtesy Seattle Municipal Archives	Gorge (Crib) Dam, April 18, 1947 Photograph courtesy Seattle Municipal Archives	Author in front of Gorge (High) Dam, December 22, 2005

Skagit County Government iMap Aerial Photograph of the Dalles, 1937	Skagit County Government iMap Aerial Photograph of the Dalles, 2001	February 1951 flood photo of Conway, South Fork of Skagit to the left. Photo courtesy Skagit County Public Works

Ross Dam; March 25, 2006 Ross Lake elevation at time of picture: 1,501 feet	Upper Baker Dam; April 7, 2006 Baker Lake elevation at time of picture: 685 feet, NAVD 88*	Lower Baker Dam; April 7, 2006 Lake Shannon elevation at time of picture: 384.29 feet, NAVD 88*

Andrew John Johnson Farm 17322 Beavermarsh Road Nov 1909 Flood. Courtesy of Granddaughter Mary Alice Basye. Farmhouse has never had water in it.	BNSF Bridge Photograph WSDOT	2002 Avon Bypass Proposal

Sedro-Woolley Looking East (1979)	PSE Digging A Hole In Lake Shannon Before Impending Flood Nov. 5, 2006 - Around 9 AM

Snohomish River 1995 levee break at Marshland - no overtopping levee.	Snohomish River 2006 flood at Marshland- according to The Everett Herald, overtopping levees did not fail.	USGS Hydrograph showing that overtopping levees can serve as a cap on river elevations as was the case in 2006 on the Snohomish River.

	1932 aerial photo depicting old location of Sedro-Woolley bridge upstream of Great Northern Railroad Bridge. Also shows location of old sloughs.
NAVD 88 is a particular datum used in calculating elevations. On October 1st, 2004 - the federal government and Puget Sound Energy (PSE) went to that datum for measuring elevations on the Baker River reservoirs. For the story behind these pictures - please go HERE and search our document & historical newspaper archives.*

Maps of the Skagit River Basin
By Skagit County Government

Skagit River Basin Overview Map (Pink shading is the FEMA 100 Year Flood)	History of Dike & Levee Failures in the Skagit River Basin	Skagit County Diking Districts
By the Corps of Engineers

Skagit River Basin Map	Lower Basin 100-year Floodplain in Blue and Bordered in Red	Tributary Flow Contributions to the 100-year Flood (In red, yellow signifies flows entering dams that Corps control during flood events)

If you have any pictures of your own, especially of historic floods, electronic or not - please e-mail the webmaster so we can post them to the website. We will give credit to the donor, unless requested otherwise.

Clear Lake Historical Association Pictures Courtesy of Deanna Ammons

1909 Flood - looking back from Beatty's Slough south towards the Sedro-Woolley Rail Road Bridge	1909 Flood - Northern Pacific Railroad Bridge at Sedro-Woolley	1909 Flood - Northern Pacific Railroad Bridge at Sedro-Woolley
For the story behind the pictures - please go HERE and search our document & historical newspaper archives.

Concrete Herald Photographs

May 2, 1957	January 14, 1965	February 11, 1965
For the stories behind the pictures and more of them please go HERE to the historical article index

Skagit Valley Herald Skagit County Pictorial History, 2005 Edition Photographs

Early 1900s cable ferry across the Skagit at Sedro-Woolley	1916 - Mt. Vernon during the river freezing over	1926 - Devil's Elbow Bridge, near Newhalem

	1935 - Mt. Vernon during the flood See 1935 articles: 1/25/35 MVDH, 1/26/35 MVDH, 1/31/35 Argus, 1/31/35 Argus, 1/31/35 CT, 1/31/35 C.H, 1/31/35 C.H.