Mount Vernon

Mount Vernon is the county seat of Skagit County, Washington, United States. It is one of two principal cities of and included in the Mount Vernon-Anacortes, Washington Metropolitan Statistical Area. In 1998, Mount Vernon was rated the #1 "Best City in America" by the New Rating Guide to Life in America's Small Cities. Downtown Mount Vernon is known for its annual Tulip Festival Street Fair, which is part of theSkagit Valley Tulip festival. The climate of Skakit County is similar to that of Northern France, with millions of tulips grown in the Skagits Valley. The city was named after Mount Vernon, the plantation estate and resting place of George Washington. It was founded in 1877 by Jasper Gates and Joseph Dwelley, who set up a logging camp in the area. The mining activity at nearby Ruby Creek spurred growth for a short time in 1880, gaining the city a new hotel. The first church, Baptist, was also established in 1884 but wouldn't build a permanent building for several years. Mount Vernon's future was secured when it was chosen for the new Skag it County seat, taking the designation from La Conner. In November 1884, the Odd Fellows Lodge was established, followed by the first newspaper, The Skagt News. In 1891, the Great Northern Railway agreed to lay their line through the city. This was completed in 1891. The same year, a large brick courthouse was built on Main street, which still stands today. The railroad's arrival brought hundreds of new businesses and residents.

History

Jasper Gates and Joseph Dwelley first settled on the banks of the Skagit River, where the city of Mount Vernon now lies, in 1870. Harrison Clothier came to the community in 1877 to teach school and join in business with a former student, E.G. English. The city was named after Mount Vernon, the plantation estate and resting place of George Washington. Mount Vernon's first industry was logging; camps were set up to log the townsite. In 1882, the Odd Fellows Lodge was established, followed by the first newspaper in 1884. That same year, a large brick courthouse was built on Main street, which still stands today. In 1910, Mount Vernon became the southern terminus for the Bellingham & Skit Railway's interurban railroad line. The line opened on August 31, 1912, with passenger trips to Bellingham every two hours during the day and freight at night during the night. In 1917, the Pacific Northwest Traction Company, since renamed Pacific Traction. Company, extended the line south to connect with the interurban line in Everett, Everett and Sedro-Woolley. The company has since renamed the line the Pacific Northern Traction company since the onset of World War I. The Bellingham and Mount Vernon Railway Company is now based in Vancouver, B.C. and operates as a commuter rail line between the cities of Everett, Seattle and Vancouver, Vancouver, and the town of Bellingham. It is also the owner of the Mount Vernon Opera House.

Notable buildings

The Historic Lincoln Theatre in Mount Vernon was built in 1926 as a vaudeville and silent movie house. Through the early 1980s, the Lincoln was a movie theater showing first-run films. The Lincoln is one of only 98 theaters in the United States that still possesses its original Wurlitzer theatre organ, which is often played prior to a show. It now hosts live theatrical performances and concerts while also showcasing classic, as well as contemporary, movies year-round. It is located on First Street in downtown Mount Vernon, New York City, about one block south of the New York State Capitol. It was originally built as a silent movie theater, but has since become a live theatrical venue. It also hosts concerts and other events, such as the annual New York Film Festival, which takes place in the theater's auditorium. The theater is now one of the last remaining examples of its kind in the U.S., along with a number of other historic theaters in New York and Los Angeles. It opened in 1926 and was originally called the Vaudevillians' Theatre. It has been known as the Lincoln since 1926. The theatre is now called the historic Lincoln Theatre, after the Lincoln's founder, Abraham Lincoln, who was a member of the Lincoln Theatre Company in the early 20th century. It's located on the corner of First Street and Main Street, in the heart of Mount Vernon's historic district. It currently hosts a variety of events, including concerts, plays and theatrical performances.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 12.61 square miles (32.66 km²) Mount Vernon falls within a cool dry-summer subtropical zone (Csb), with "cool"-summer Mediterranean characteristics. Other sources classify it as belonging in the marine west coast climate (Köppen Cfb) zone, with cool, wet winters and warm, distinctly drier summers. Mount Vernon is located in the Pacific Northwest region of the U.S. state of Washington. The city is home to the Mount Vernon Air Force Base, which was founded in 1872. The Mount Vernon Fire Department was established in 1874. The town was named after Mount Vernon, California, where the first settlers arrived in the 17th century. It is also known as Mount Vernon or Mount Vernon-Vernon, after the town's founder, William Vernon, who was born in the area in 1875. The current mayor of Mount Vernon has served as mayor since 1998. The U.N. World Heritage Center is located on the city's outskirts. The area has a population of 1,816.5, according to the US Census Bureau. It has a land area of 12.30 square miles (31.86 km²), of which, 12.30 square miles (31 km²) is land and 0.31 square mile (0.80 km²] is water.

Flood control and waterfront redevelopment

The downtown area of Mount Vernon bordering the Skagit River has been plagued by flooding, especially during times of heavy rain. In the spring of 2007, the city council authorized the mayor to purchase a mobile flood wall from Norway-based company AquaFence. The flood wall is 4 feet (1.2 m) high and can be assembled in as little as three hours by a handful of volunteers as opposed to the up to 12 hours and hundreds of volunteers required by the traditional sandbag wall. After adequate flood control is in place, a Citizens' Advisory Committee plans to enhance the city's use of the revetment, which is currently used mostly for parking and a seasonal farmer's market. Current plans call for a promenade with condos or mixed-use development facing the river. A two- or three-story parking garage is planned to replace the reveTment parking lost due to development. During Thanksgiving 2017 the city, as well as Lyman and Hamilton, experienced flooding; and again on November 15, 2021. A flood wall was completed in 2019 and will be fully operational by the end of the year. It will be used to protect the downtown area from future flooding. The city will also use the flood wall for flood control during the winter months of 2019 and 2020. It is expected to be fully functional by the summer of 2020. The wall will be in place by then and will protect the city from flooding in the winter of 2020 and 2021. It has a maximum height of 1.5 feet (0.5 m).

Transportation

Skagit Regional Airport, 5 mi (8.0 km) northwest, fills much of the area's general aviation needs. Bellingham International Airport, 25 miles (40 km) north, is the closest commercial airport with scheduled passenger service. Interstate 5 runs northsouth from the Mexican Border to the Peace Arch at the CanadaUS border, at Blaine, Washington and to the Surrey, British Columbia border-crossing. State Route 9 runs parallel to Interstate 5, linking Mount Vernon with Snohomish and Arlington to the south and Sedro-Woolley and the Canada US border near Sumas to the north. The new Everett Express bus route connects to the Sounder Train in Everett. The station offers stops for Skagit Transit buses, Greyhound bus, Amtrak Cascades rail and local taxi. It is served by Amtrak and bus operators, as well as Greyhound and Greyhound buses, and a local taxi service. It also has service on two cargo airlines. It connects Mount Vernon to Seattle, Portland, Eugene, Redding, Sacramento, Los Angeles and San Diego. state Route 536 runs from SR 20 into downtown Mount Vernon and Interstate 5.State Route 538 runs eastwest from Interstate 5 to SR 9 at the Baker Heights neighborhood of Mount Vernon. state. Route 534 runs east west from SR 9 to SR 20 and SR 538 to SR 536 and SR 9. state route 536 also runs fromSR 536 toSR 538 and SR 6 to SR 6.

Government and Politics

The City of Mount Vernon is a code city and uses a Mayor-Council form of government. The directly elected mayor serves a four-year term, with the next election being set to occur on November 7, 2023. Six of the seven city council members are elected by the three wards ofMount Vernon for staggered four year terms. The seventh council member is elected at-large every two years. The City staff of 235 full time employees, 56 part time/seasonal employees, and a total City budget of $70 million.Mount Vernon is represented by Representative Rick Larsen (D) in the U.S. House of Representatives representing the state's 2nd district, and represented in Olympia by the 40th, 39th, and 10th districts. Incumbent Mayor Jill Boudreau started her third term on January 1, 2020. The Mayor is the chief executive and administrative officer for the City of Mt Vernon and oversees and manages all operations including: Finance, City Attorney, Information Services, Human Resources, Development Services, Library, Public Works, Parks and Enrichment Services, Police, and Fire Department. The next election for the Mayor is set to take place in November 2023, with a four year term beginning in January 2020.

Demographics

As of the census of 2010, there were 31,743 people, 11,342 households, and 7,443 families residing in the city. The racial makeup of the city was 75.44% White, 0.73% African American, 1.02% Native American, 2.58% Asian, 0,15% Pacific Islander, 17.13% from other races, and 2.95% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 33.7% of the population. The average household size was 2.74 and the average family size was 3.33. The median income for a household in theCity was $53,496. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there are 92.9 males. The city has a population density of 2,580.7 inhabitants per square mile (996.4/km²). There were 12,058 housing units at an average density of 980.3 per squaremile (378.5/ km²) The city's median age is 32.3 years, with 28.2% of residents under the age of 18; 10.1% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 27.5% were from 25 to 44; 21.4% from 45 to 64; and 12.7%) were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup ofthe city was 49.0% male and 51.0%. The city is home to the University of New Hampshire.

Sister cities

Mount Vernon has the following Sister Cities, according to the Washington State Lt. Governor's office: Chilliwack, British Columbia, Canada and Spokane, Washington. Mount Vernon is also home to the Mount Vernon Museum. The museum is located in the town of Mount Vernon, Washington, in the U.S. state of Washington. It is also known as Mount Vernon in the United States and Mt. Vernon in Canada. It has a population of 2,000,000 (2,100,000 in Canada) and 1,500 (1,500,000) people in the Washington state area. It also has a sister city in Spokane, WA, which is located on the other side of the Columbia River. The Mount Vernon museum is also located in Washington state, and is called Mount Vernon. It was founded in 1881. It's located in Mount Vernon and is known as the "Mount Vernon Museum" It is home to a number of historic buildings, including Mount Vernon's oldest building, the 18th-century Mount Vernon House. The Museum also has an outdoor museum, which dates back to the 17th century, and a museum in the 19th century. It stands on the site of a formerpox hospital, which was built in the early 1900s. The current museum is named after the town's founder, William Vernon, who was a member of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). It is located at the base of a mountain, and was once known as "The Mount Vernon Memorial Building".

Air Quality, Water Quality, Superfund Sites & UV Index

The Air Quality index is in Mount Vernon, Skagit County, Washington = 96.8. These Air Quality index is based on annual reports from the EPA. Higher values are better (100=best). The number of ozone alert days is used as an indicator of air quality, as are the amounts of seven pollutants including particulates, carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, lead, and volatile organic chemicals. The Water Quality Index is 52. A measure of the quality of an area’s water supply as rated by the EPA. Higher values are better (100=best). The EPA has a complex method of measuring the watershed quality, using 15 indicators such as pollutants, turbidity, sediments, and toxic discharges. The Superfund Sites Index is 98. Higher is better (100=best). Based upon the number and impact of EPA Superfund pollution sites in the county, including spending on the cleanup efforts. The UV Index in Mount Vernon = 2.6 and is a measure of an area's exposure to the sun's ultraviolet rays. This is most often a combination of sunny weather, altitude, and latitude. The UV Index has been defined by the WHO (www.who.int/news-room/questions-and-answers/item/radiation-the-ultraviolet-(uv)-index) and is uniform worldwide.

Employed

The most recent city population of 35,219 individuals with a median age of 32.3 age the population grows by 17.59% in Mount Vernon, Skagit County, Washington population since 2000 and are distributed over a density of 2,863.33 residents per square mile of area (1,105.78/km²). There are average 2.81 people per household in the 10,683 households with an average household income of $46,807 a year. The unemployment rate in Alabama is 9.40% of the available work force and has dropped -2.97% over the most recent 12-month period and the projected change in job supply over the next decade based on migration patterns, economic growth, and other factors will increase by 24.66%. The number of physicians in Mount Vernon per 100,000 population = 228.8.

Weather

The annual rainfall in Mount Vernon = 32.3 inches and the annual snowfall = 3.7 inches. The annual number of days with measurable precipitation (over .01 inch) = 154. The average number of days per year that are predominantly sunny = 156. 73 degrees Fahrenheit is the average daily high temperature for the month of July and 33.6 degrees Fahrenheit is the average daily low temperature for the month of January. The Comfort Index (higher=better) is 79, where higher values mean a more pleasant climate. The Comfort Index measure recognizes that humidity by itself isn't the problem. (Have you noticed nobody ever complains about the weather being 'cold and humid?) It's in the summertime that we notice the humidity the most, when it's hot and muggy. Our Comfort Index uses a combination of afternoon summer temperature and humidity to closely predict the effect that the humidity will have on people.

Median Home Cost

The percentage of housing units in Mount Vernon, Skagit County, Washington which are owned by the occupant = 55.02%. A housing unit is a house, apartment, mobile home, or room occupied as separate living quarters. The average age of homes = 25 years with median home cost = $222,950 and home appreciation of -12.76%. This is the value of the years most recent home sales data. Its important to note that this is not the average (or arithmetic mean). The median home price is the middle value when you arrange all the sales prices of homes from lowest to highest. This is a better indicator than the average, because the median is not changed as much by a few unusually high or low values. The property tax rate of $10.94 shown here is the rate per $1,000 of home value. If for simplification for example the tax rate is $14.00 and the home value is $250,000, the property tax would be $14.00 x ($250,000/1000), or $3500. This is the 'effective' tax rate.

Study

The local school district spends $4,826 per student. There are 20.5 students for each teacher in the school, 464 students for each Librarian and 464 students for each Counselor. 8.40% of the area’s population over the age of 25 with an Associate Degree or other 2-year college degree, 12.16% with a master’s degree, Ph.D. or other advanced college degree and 6.48% with high school diplomas or high school equivalency degrees (GEDs).