Cinnamon rolls and cowboys hats in Clearview and Maltby

CLEARVIEW/MALTBY — My dad used to call south Highway 9 as it runs up out of Snohomish Valley the “forever hill.”

That description probably was shared by the newcomers who logged and settled the top of that hill.

Clearview was first a little community that was platted, built (and named Cathcart) in 1913 on Isaac Cathcart’s logged-off land.

Farmers down in the valley wanted a shorter route to market in Seattle and the logging roads were lousy. In 1925 a precursor to Highway 9, the Snohomish-Woodinville Road, was built, and by the time it was opened the community included a real estate office, a cafe and a gas station. People settled there to establish poultry operations and other sorts of small farms.

By 1930, the Cathcart area had about 600 residents and a clear (mostly treeless) view of the Cascade and Olympic mountains. So on Armistice Day 1931, it became Clearview. During the Great Depression, the hilltop community had a butcher shop, stores and a grocery, a few gas stations, a cafe, a community hall, a church, Christmas tree farms and firewood businesses.

Much has changed since then, but Clearview continues to be a community, with numerous businesses and Willis Tucker County Park on the north end.

A good place to stop in Clearvew is the Beth West Western Store at 16315 Highway 9. Even if you don’t wear Western apparel, you might want to check out the shop’s 3,000 pairs of cowboy/girl boots (including the beautiful Nocona boots from a little town in Texas) and its 1,000 cowboy hats, along with lots of other leather goods, jeans, belts and buckles, saddles and tack.

Owned by the Brewer family, the store had its start in Electric City near Grand Coulee Dam and was located for 25 years on the Bothell-Everett Highway until it moved to Clearview about seven years ago. “Our specialty is properly fitting our customers with just the right boot,” Cheryl Brewer Shandera said.

Another Clearview area must-see in the late summer and early fall is Bob’s Corn and Pumpkins stand on the east side of the hill at Fales and Elliott Roads.

And don’t forget Clearview Nursery and Stone, 16918 Highway 9, where you can get a Christmas tree and see 10,000 Christmas lights displayed, and have a look at the owner’s collection of old tractors, road graders and oddball stuff such as a steel dinosaur, bowling alley signs, a huge globe, a ball of driftwood and an old, giant Ivar’s clam. In May, enjoy the company’s 11th annual tractor show.

Travel south on Highway 9 to Maltby Road and head east.

First settled in 1887 and named for a real estate dealer named Robert Maltby, this little community has one huge draw: the house-made cinnamon rolls sold at the Maltby Cafe, probably one of the most popular breakfast spots in the region, open 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. daily at 8809 Maltby Road.

For about $8 a roll, you can feed four people. But you won’t want to stop at just a roll. Big breakfasts are served through mid-afternoon and the lunch sandwiches are good, too.

Mount Vernon friends Mary Edelman, Janet Powell and Vicki LeCroy ate a combination breakfast/lunch during a stop at the cafe earlier this month. All of them bought a cinnamon roll to go.

“Maltby Cafe is a central meeting place for many of our friends,” LeCroy said.

The cafe is housed in the basement of the old Maltby School Gym, built during the Depression by the Works Progress Administration. Next door is the community’s 1907 school classroom building. The school now houses a church and several shops, but go in the front door during the day, climb the stairs and have a look at some great old historical photos of Maltby’s train depot, classes and Oscar Holstrom in his buggy, circa 1919.

Nearby is Maltby Antiques and Collectibles, which has an amazing collection of tools, signs, taxidermy, comics, lights, telephones and much, much more.

Across the street is the Snoqualmie Ice Cream tasting room, which is closed now until spring. But when it’s open, be sure to stop by to try all of the company’s flavors.

At the Maltby community/grange hall, 8711 206th St. SE, you can enjoy an entire afternoon and evening of bluegrass music for free on the first Saturday of the month.

On your way out of Maltby, take a run up to Flower World, a big nursery located at 9322 196th St. SE.

Enjoy the hot house, the collection of plants for sale and the Flower World Park, with its fountain, pond and lots of ducks and geese. Across the road is the Maltby Produce Market, where you can still buy pie pumpkins for your holiday meals. The adjacent chicken farm also has sheep, goats and many other fowl, including peacocks. It’s a bit smelly this wet time of year, but kids love the animals.

Gale Fiege: 425-339-3427; gfiege@heraldnet.com. Twitter: @galefiege.

Tourist in your own town

In each of our local cities, we have tourist attractions often overlooked by the people who live in this region. Have you been a Tourist in Your Own Town? This is the 23rd in a series of monthly explorations of our hometowns. For other Tourist in Your Own Town stories and for links to information about Clearview and Maltby, go to www.heraldnet.com/tourist.