Pitching La Conner's benefits in the 1950s

Strange as it may sound today, there was a time when having a parking problem in La Conner meant more cars were wanted on First Street to spur retail shopping – and when retail meant purchases for home use.

It was also a period when home builders were being actively recruited to develop vacant lots to grow a town census that barely rose above 625 residents.

The year was 1957.

Dwight Eisenhower was in the White House. The space race was launched with Sputnik 1 orbiting the earth. The Fortran computer programming language was created. And the birth control pill was introduced.

Locally, Rainbow Bridge was opened amid formal dedication ceremonies that July. Salmon weighing 50-70 pounds were being caught off Hope Island. Dunlap Towing was conveying logs on Swinomish Channel.

Dreams were afloat in and around La Conner of developing permanent moorage along an inviting waterfront for "hundreds of boat owners from as far away as Seattle."

Economic development beyond traditional resources-related industries such as fishing, farming and logging was being touted for "Little La Conner," a community whose total payrolls and bank deposits each flirted around $1 million annually but had "far greater value than all that as a place for pleasant living."

La Conner's Chamber of Commerce sought to promote the town's potential with a glossy 16-page brochure published by legendary Puget Sound Mail Publisher Pat O'Leary and whose orange cover matched the color of the new "scenic bridge" linking the town and Swinomish Reservation.

The arching span, the brochure noted, was already being hailed "as one of the most beautiful bridges in the nation." It replaced a swing bridge at the west end of Morris Street that opened nearly 5,000 times in 1955 for boat traffic to pass through.

"La Conner's beautiful new high-level bridge," the brochure proudly proclaimed, "is on the Scenic Bridge Route which includes colorful bridges across the south and north forks of the Skagit River and the famous Deception Pass Bridge.

"The Scenic Bridge Route," the brochure account continued, "offers you views of unparalleled beauty. (There are) scenes of the green farmland of the rich La Conner flats, wooded hills, both peaceful and turbulent waterways, beautiful beaches and picturesque and historic La Conner."

Nearly 67 years after its construction, Rainbow Bridge is now somewhat faded in daylight but its north side shines brightly at night due to lights installed during the mayoralty of Ramon Hayes, who formerly owned a gallery in the First Street building that previously housed Cecil Glenn's funky Den of Antiquity.

The Chamber brochure, like the bridge, was made to last. Several copies remain in existence, including the one owned by local realtor Rebecca Chamberlain, who loaned hers to the Weekly News.

With its thick stock cover protecting slick pages bearing numerous black-and-white photos of local scenes and detailed text outlining the history of the town and surrounding environs – including the Swinomish Indian Tribal Community – the brochure sold for 35 cents. The minimum wage in 1957, by comparison, was $1 an hour.

The booklet's pages welcome readers to a La Conner which then was the epicenter of the Skagit Valley Tulip Show (held on the school campus the first weekend in May); where plywood fishing craft were produced at the downtown Channel Boat House; and the community's various enterprises, service clubs and youth organizations were said to offer a "great place for real living."

The tulip show, the brochure justifiably boasted, drew "thousands from all over the Northwest" with some exhibits in the old high school gym containing as many as 5,000 blooms.

Among the brochure's gems are photos of fisherman Al Herrold holding a 62-pound King Salmon caught on the north fork of the Skagit; tribal healer and master carver Andrew Joe dancing in full regalia; 11-man tribal racing canoes on Swinomish Channel; and the original Swinomish totem pole, carved by Charlie Edwards, bearing the image of President Franklin Roosevelt.

The brochure encouraged visitors to follow "The Totem Trail" to La Conner, platted in 1872 by J.S. Conner and named for his wife, Louisa Ann Conner. In its earliest days, readers learned, the town was site of Washington state Territorial Court sessions and a key point on a planned coastal telegraph line to Europe via Siberia.

The histories of Town Hall, built in 1885 as a bank and the Civic Garden Club, constructed a decade earlier as a Grange Hall, are featured at length. The garden club embraced many uses, including as site of public debates, one of whose participants was Judge Thomas Burke for whom the famed Burke Museum at the University of Washington is named.

Burke, according to the brochure, was not the only luminary associated with early La Conner. Washington governor Henry McBride was active here before his rise in politics.

Yet, for all the town's history, the brochure's focus was on the future – one that in hindsight could hardly have been predicted in the 1950s.

Now a bustling and popular destination point and a crown jewel of the Pacific Northwest, La Conner nonetheless must cope with modern issues such as traffic congestion, overflow parking, income inequality, growth management and limited workforce housing.

The vibe was much different in the Ozzie and Harriett years, a generation before La Conner was discovered.

"We invite you to come to La Conner to live," the brochure offered in a universal plea. "This area abounds with beautiful home sites and pleasant living."