The Blackman House, Snohomish, Guía del visitante y qué hacer cerca

The Blackman House is a Victorian home at 118 Avenue B in Snohomish, Washington, built in 1878 for lumberman Hyrcanus Blackman. It is the only surviving home of the Blackman brothers, whose mills helped shape the town, and it now serves as a museum run by the Snohomish Historical Society.

The story behind it

The Blackman brothers grew up working in their grandfather's mill in Maine. They headed west, set up a logging operation north of Snohomish, and went on to build a large sawmill at the western end of First Street. They are also remembered for developing an automated shingle cutting machine, a response to how dangerous hand shingle cutting was in the 19th century.

Each brother once had a home along Avenue B, but only this one remains. Hyrcanus Blackman built it in 1878, and he and his wife Ella raised two children here. Their daughter Eunice eventually inherited the house and, in the 1970s, donated it and its contents to the Snohomish Historical Society. That gift is why visitors can still see how a prosperous mill family lived.

What to look for

• Look at the house itself from the sidewalk: it is the last survivor of the row of Blackman family homes that once lined Avenue B.
• Notice the Victorian-era styling of the exterior, which tells you how much a successful mill owner was willing to invest in a family home in the 1870s.
• Think about the scale of the neighbourhood around you, and picture the brothers' other houses standing on the same street.
• Walk a short way to the brick Blackman Building, which carries the family name, and look at the tiled floors outside its doorways, a leftover from the shops that once traded there.

Tips for your visit

• Allow 15 to 20 minutes to see the house from outside, and more if you plan to go in as a museum visit. Check current opening hours and tour arrangements first, as they vary.
• Late morning or afternoon in dry weather suits a stroll along Avenue B, with good light on the facade.
• Snohomish's historic downtown, with its antique shops and cafes along First Street, is a short walk away, so the house fits easily into a half day.
• The streets are flat and easy on foot, so you can combine the house with other stops without a car.

See it on a quest

The Blackman House is one stop on Secrets of Snohomish: An Interactive History Game, a self-guided history walk through the town. You reach the house on foot as part of a longer route, the app tells you about each place as you arrive, and you solve a puzzle based on what is in front of you. There is no guide and no group to join, so you can start whenever you like. One ticket covers the whole group.