H&H Railroad was the shortest of American railroads running a mile from Norwegian Stanwood to Swedish East Stanwood. These towns’ 2 peoples* did not much like each other. Stanwood, originally Centerville, was a Norwegian harbor town with fishing boats and docks until destroyed by logging silt runoff. East Stanwood was a community that grew with builders of the railroad that passed north/south 1.2 miles east of original port
city. “Give me snuff, whiskey, and Swedes and I will build a railroad to Hell” (James J. Hill). The Swedes irked the Norwegians who boycotted the new north-south railroad and in 1893 acquired a steamboat, the City of Stanwood, for trade with Seattle. It mysteriously burnt one night. To transport commerce, the west-east H&H Railroad connected the towns to lessen the social contact required. The 2 small towns supported a vicious decades-long football rivalry between their high schools (in 1929 this writer’s father recalled an opposing lineman’s switchblade). In 1952 a formal merger of the 2 cities was proposed; in 1954 the merger was placed on the ballot, it was rejected. Twin Cities was created in 1960 when the State forced the building of an updated sewage system. The URL’s below paint a kind history noting that “the competitiveness between merchants and citizens of both Stanwoods had softened.”
*The Swedish–Norwegian War, also known as Sweden’s 1814 Campaign against Norway (in East Stanwood) or the Norwegian War of Independence (in old Stanwood), ended with a Swedish victory. That led to Norway being forced into the United Kingdoms of Sweden and Norway after 400 years of domination by Denmark. Most Norwegians immigrated here as subjected people – before Norway won its independence from Sweden. Many hated the Swedes (and Danes) when they left Norway (and after they arrived). But America presented a “shuffling of the deck.” The Homestead Act, the G.I. Bill, public education, some churches, and the U.S. Army (especially) mixed the cards.
https://www.historylink.org/File/8557
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H_and_H_Railroad
https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Stanwood,_Washington
https://www.plc215.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/HH-Railroad.pdf
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