MY EDMONDS NEWS Posted: December 12, 2020 1492
Shellabarger house in 1921 from the Edmonds Tribune-Review, Nov. 25, 1921. (Source: the newspaper collection at Sno-Isle Genealocal Society, Heritage Park, Lynnwood)
Recently, a reader commenting on my April 9, 2019 article, “Looking Back: South Snohomish County place names from the past,” asked how Shell Creek got its name?
In my reply to the reader’s question, I reached back to some of my own memories from well over 80 years ago, when I was a child of Edmonds before development of the land covered over portions of the creeks by piping their flow of water underground.
Of course, since Edmonds is a waterfront town with its creeks flowing into Puget Sound, it does seem logical to assume that the naming of Shell Creek is related to sea shells. However, I don’t recall the waterfront beach or the creeks of Edmonds having any noticeable or unusual shells, and question that the Shell Creek name came from that source.