What’s the Deal With: The Tulip Stack?

A ride along Interstate 5 through Mount Vernon’s downtown offers views of the mighty Skagit River, the West Division bridge and, of course, the towering Tulip Stack. The colorful stack, especially vibrant on a gray February day, is a remnant of Mount Vernon’s industrial past. In 1906, the Pacific Coast Condensed Milk Company began condensing milk from the many local dairy farms into cans to be shipped around the country, according to the City of Mount Vernon. The smokestack released the e