About: Stevens Pass Historic District

The Stevens Pass Historic District is an area within a large rectangle 3.2 by 18.2 miles (5.1 by 29.3 km) and extends from the Martin Creek Tunnel on the western slope of the crest to the eastern portal of the present Cascade Tunnel above Nason Creek on the eastern slope. The area is ruggedly mountainous and the terrain is covered with timber and granitic outcroppings. The Cascade Range interfered with the Great Northern Railway effort to develop a deep water western terminus in Puget Sound. A gap in the Cascade Range, at Stevens Pass, was found suitable at an elevation slightly in excess of 4,000 feet (1,200 m) about 45 miles (72 km) east of Seattle. The first effort an elaborate switchback system, replaced by a tunnel which was itself replaced by a second tunnel.