Travel back in time on a transit tour of local museums

Pictured above: A park and picnic area at the Stillaguamish Valley Pioneer Museum in Arlington.

Snohomish County is rich with the history of hardworking families who moved west and built the communities we’re proud to call home today. Some of the most unique museums that are open to the public in Snohomish County today hold treasures that tell interesting stories of how the region was established. Step aboard a Community Transit bus and relax on the drive to a world gone by. Don’t just read about history (although you can take a bus to a library if you want to read about history). Transit makes it easy to experience it yourself.

Stanwood Area Historical Society museums - home of the Snow Goose & Birding Festival
27122 102nd Ave NW – Stanwood
Route 240
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If you haven’t visited the town of Stanwood, it’s in the northwest corner of Snohomish County. There you will find the Stanwood Area Historical Society campus, with historical exhibits at the D.O. Pearson House, the former home of Stanwood’s first mayor; The Floyd Norgaard Cultural Center (”The Floyd”); and the Dave Eldridge Center, originally named the Stanwood Camano History Museum. In addition to regional relics and art, Stanwood is home to one of Western Washington’s most spectacular events, the Stanwood Camano Snow Goose & Birding Festival. This annual event takes place Feb. 24, 2024, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Step aboard a transit bus and enjoy the views of wildlife. Discover the Snow Geese, Trumpeter Swans, and why this community is internationally recognized.

Stillaguamish Valley Pioneer Museum – where coho salmon still spawn
20722 67th Ave NE, Arlington
Routes 220 & 230
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Be sure to wear comfortable walking shoes when you take the bus to Arlington to explore this museum’s campus which includes Pioneer Hall, a park and picnic area, outdoor displays, and three ponds. Kids and adults alike will enjoy the life-size animal displays and a model train depicting the Darrington Logger chugging along the north fork of the “Stilly” (Stillaguamish River). Fishing is a big part of the economy and culture for local tribes. The ponds at the museum are networked with Portage Creek and the Stilly, which flows into Puget Sound. From the museum’s observation deck overlooking the creek, you’ll have an excellent view of the Coho salmon working their way up the fish ladders, along with muskrats, beavers, and river otters, depending on the time of year.

Blackman House Museum – inventor of roof shingles
118 Avenue B, Snohomish
Routes 109, 270 & 271
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The Blackman House Museum occupies the former home of a pioneer logging family who invented the process of cutting and drying roof shingles so they could be mass-produced and carried by train across the country. The Blackman family was part of a community that homesteaded from Snohomish north to the Stillaguamish. They launched an empire shipping boatloads of Pacific Northwest cedar and fir lumber. If you walk out on the dock at Hill Park and look to the right, on the northeast shore of Blackman Lake, you can see pilings that date from 1876. Three bus routes stop within a half-mile of the Blackman House Museum in Snohomish.

If you enjoy your tour and want to keep exploring, here’s a list of ten more interesting museums throughout Snohomish County. To find out which destinations are near the bus routes add the address here.

Route information is accurate as of this article’s publication date. As our communities grow, Community Transit makes changes to stops and routes to best serve riders. For the most updated route information use our Plan My Trip tool.