Index: The Mountain Town That Stayed
Near Stevens Pass Area, Washington
The town of Index, Washington sits at the base of a sheer granite wall in the North Cascades, so deep in the mountains that getting here at all required serious intention. Amos and Persis Gunn platted the townsite in eighteen ninety-three on their mining claim, and the railroad's arrival turned it briefly into a legitimate boom town. By nineteen hundred the population had hit about one thousand, drawn by gold and silver mining in the nearby Monte Cristo range, then by a granite quarry that opened in nineteen oh four and supplied building stone for prominent structures in Seattle, Spokane, and Everett, and for the state capitol in Olympia.
The mines eventually played out. The quarry closed. Today Index has a population of one hundred fifty-five and holds the distinction of being the smallest incorporated municipality in Snohomish County.
The granite wall behind it still draws rock climbers. The mountain above, Mount Index, tops out near six thousand feet, named for the peak that gave the town its name.
