Census snapshot: Darrington

This is one of a series of looks at Snohomish and Island county communities based on data from the U.S. Census of 2010.

The upper Stillaguamish valley where Darrington is located was once settled by the local Sauk-Suiattle Tribes in the drainage of the Sauk, Suiattle and Whitechuck rivers. In 1870, surveyors for the Northern Pacific railroad came to chart a pass over the Cascades to the Wenatchee Valley. A suitable route was found, but the railroad chose one to the south.

Gold was discovered at Monte Cristo in 1889 and prospectors flooded into the Cascades. A road was built to Monte Cristo from Sauk City on the Skagit River. Where Darrington is now became a halfway point, then a boomtown called “Starve Out.”

At one point called “The Portage,” the town was renamed Barrington in 1895 following a community meeting. The U.S. Postal Service mistakenly changed the first letter to a “D,” resulting in the current name.

Darrington was incorporated in 1945. Today the town is a gateway to Cascade Mountains recreation.

Darrington population vs. Snohomish County and Washington

	Darrington	County	Washington
Population, 2010	1,347	713,335	6,724,540
Population change, 2000 to 2010	18.6%	17.7%	14.1%
Population, 2000	1,136	606,024	5,894,121
Persons under 5 years	6.0%	6.6%	6.5%
Persons under 18 years	22.7%	24.4%	23.5%
Persons 65 years and over	16.6%	10.3%	12.3%
Female persons	49.1%	50.0%	50.2%
White persons	92.4%	78.4%	77.3%
Black persons	0.0%	2.5%	3.6%
American Indian and Alaska Native persons	2.4%	1.4%	1.5%
Asian persons	0.4%	8.9%	7.2%
Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islanders	0.0%	0.4%	0.6%
Persons reporting two or more races	4.2%	4.6%	4.7%
Persons of Hispanic or Latino origin	3.2%	9.0%	11.2%
White persons not Hispanic	90.8%	74.3%	72.5%