Archaeology students excavate local history in Mukilteo’s Japanese Gulch

MUKILTEO — Hidden among trees, shaded from the July sun and just beyond train tracks running alongside Puget Sound, college students unearthed the history of Japanese Gulch.

In 1905, Mukilteo’s population of approximately 350 people included 150 Japanese immigrants or people of Japanese descent. Many of them worked at the Mukilteo Lumber Company, later renamed the Crown Lumber Company, which was one of the most productive mills in the Puget Sound region, according to the Mukilteo Historical Society.

Historical accounts said Mukilteo differed from many towns at the time that rampantly discriminated against Japanese immigrants. It was known for its relative acceptance of workers and families. While most Japanese immigrants left the area after the mill closed in 1930, remnants of the past