Washington’s smallest town has a population of 12, but a lot of humor
You may have been driving without even knowing it. # k5evening
Just off Highway 522 is Washington state’s smallest town.
A town called Grace was founded in 1906 on the King County and Snohomish County lines. With a length of only 0.6 miles, one can get around the whole town in about 10 minutes.
“We have a population of 12 and we are very proud of that,” said resident Terry Jarvis. “I know everyone’s name in town.”
Terry is not just a resident. He’s also mayor – a position he’s held since 1993.
“It’s good to be the Mayor of a small town like this, you are the Mayor for life. You don’t have to have expensive elections. All the people who vote in Grace work for me for it. so it doesn’t make a lot of difference.”
You won’t find any Tesla charging stations around here but you will find a sense of humour. A constantly updated signage around town gives residents and passersby something to giggle about.
“Signs are an important part of town. Our theory behind signs is that everyone’s fair game we choose.”
One pebble away from the sign is “Duck Sanctuary”. A stone thrown further than that?
Terry went on to say: “One marina and two lots of used cars,” The bank we have is the Dream Bank.
A plus for residents? No tax.
“We are completely tax free and we use all the money we get for the general fund.” That includes things like the free ice cream stand at neighboring Woodinville Self-Storage.
The pride and joy of this small, unassuming town is something most people don’t expect… Costco! Most people assume that the members-only mall is in Woodinville. But that’s at Grace!
“We love Costco. We can go to a Woodinville city council meeting and we can say, ‘We have Costco and you don’t,” joked Terry.
And that’s about the whole town.
With all this, don’t even think about moving here.
“We don’t allow anyone to move in unless someone moves out,” said Terry. “That’s how we handle our population issues.” “This way they don’t have to change the sign.”
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https://www.king5.com/article/travel/destinations/explore-the-pnw/washington-state-record-small-town-funny/281-ae25ef6a-2109-4112-b499-c0193a8c5c21 Washington’s smallest town has a population of 12, but a lot of humor
