Photography

Concrete in Pictures

Conjoined monoliths, a row of massive cement silos greets visitors to Concrete. Remnants of Concrete’s cement-manufacturing past, the iconic silos made an appearance in the 1993 film “This Boy’s Life,” based on the memoirs of writer and literature professor Tobias Wolff.

Conjoined monoliths, a row of massive cement silos greets visitors to Concrete. Remnants of Concrete’s cement-manufacturing past, the iconic silos made an appearance in the 1993 film “This Boy’s Life,” based on the memoirs of writer and literature professor Tobias Wolff.

“When I moved to Concrete in December 2005, I immediately fell in love with its downtown,” said Jason Miller, a local writer and editor who has launched a fundraising drive to bring back the Concrete Herald, the community newspaper that ran from 1929 till September 1991. “Because the area has been economically challenged for decades, its traditional town center has remained largely unscarred by the conventional suburban development pattern.”

“When I moved to Concrete in December 2005, I immediately fell in love with its downtown,” said Jason Miller, a local writer and editor who has launched a fundraising drive to bring back the Concrete Herald, the community newspaper that ran from 1929 till September 1991. “Because the area has been economically challenged for decades, its traditional town center has remained largely unscarred by the conventional suburban development pattern.”


With Sauk Mountain as a backdrop, Concrete’s Main Street town center bustles during the summer tourist season. With State Route 20 closing at Ross Lake each winter, and the recent closure of the overnight camping area at Rockport State Park 10 miles to the east, however, the off-season months make economic viability a daunting challenge for area businesses. “I see the Concrete Herald as something every eastern Skagit County business can rally around, and not just in terms of advertising dollars,” said Jason Miller, the Concrete writer and editor who has launched a fundraising drive to bring back the town’s newspaper.

With Sauk Mountain as a backdrop, Concrete’s Main Street town center bustles during the summer tourist season. With State Route 20 closing at Ross Lake each winter, and the recent closure of the overnight camping area at Rockport State Park 10 miles to the east, however, the off-season months make economic viability a daunting challenge for area businesses. “I see the Concrete Herald as something every eastern Skagit County business can rally around, and not just in terms of advertising dollars,” said Jason Miller, the Concrete writer and editor who has launched a fundraising drive to bring back the town’s newspaper.


Constructed in 1918 as a Model T garage, the Concrete Herald Building in downtown Concrete was the home of the Concrete Herald for some 30 years, before being used as an antique mall and print shop. It now houses a liquor store and styling salon. “When the Concrete Herald stopped publishing in 1991, the community crumbled,” said former Herald publisher Anne Bussiere, who now owns and operates Annie’s Pizza Station.

Constructed in 1918 as a Model T garage, the Concrete Herald Building in downtown Concrete was the home of the Concrete Herald for some 30 years, before being used as an antique mall and print shop. It now houses a liquor store and styling salon. “When the Concrete Herald stopped publishing in 1991, the community crumbled,” said former Herald editor and reporter Anne Bussiere, who now owns and operates Annie’s Pizza Station.


skateboard-park_jordan-parkerConcrete skateboarder Jordan Parker grabs some air at Skateboard Park in Concrete. Built with donations and grant money, Skateboard Park provides a welcome destination for area youth. “I think the Concrete Herald can help to connect our kids with their communities,” said Jason Miller, whose Web site at www.concrete-herald.com aims to raise money to bring back the town’s venerable newspaper, which stopped publishing in 1991. “Whether they’re telling the town about a personal achievement, posing for a picture, or writing articles, I want them to know this is their newspaper, too.”

school-bus-dropoff1A mother chats with her children’s bus driver after school on Main Street, Concrete. Citizens here say they like the slower pace and quiet of this small town of 845 souls, located on State Route 20 at the confluence of the Baker and Skagit rivers, 30 miles east of Mount Vernon. Town Councilmember Marla Reed, who also drives a school bus route and owns Perks Espresso, a local coffee shop, said “something changed” in the community when the Herald stopped publishing in 1991. “We lost our connectivity when our paper went away; none of the smaller communities up here knew what the others were doing. Getting the Concrete Herald back will pull our communities together again. It will be our paper again, telling the world about all the good news that’s happening in Concrete and all the other eastern Skagit County communities.”












 
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