The Anacortes American’s
founders -- Douglass Allmond and F.H. Boynton -- wrote the following words in the very first edition of their newspaper, May 15, 1890:“To publish an honest, independent, aggresive newspaper that shall
tell the story of our marvelous city and its surroundings, is the aim of its proprietors, and to accomplish this they expect the hearty support of all who have the welfare of our city at heart.”
As
“mission statements” go it’s wordy and a little clumsy. But, its sentiment cannot be faulted, and the American has been there to tell the story of this community for more than 109 years.
Through
booms and busts, triumphs and tragedies, false hopes and fulfilled dreams, this newspaper has recorded the events of the day and the thoughts of its citizens.
As each edition yellows with age, the news of the day becomes the history of a community.
We could not hope to tell the entire history of Anacortes and its surroundings in just a few pages.
Much of this
area’s history resides within the memories of the men and women who have lived and worked here and the stories they have passed down.
But, the year-by-year and decade-by-decade review that follows, taken
exclusively from the pages of the Anacortes American, we hope will give our readers a sense of what came before us, how we arrived at this point and even what might be in store for us in the future.
These, then are the stories of our marvelous city.
The American Staff
