Strawberries gave Marysville its nickname, and a June parade still honors it. Marysville, WA is a north Snohomish County city of 76,820 (OFM, 2026), up from 70,714 in the 2020 Census. It spreads north from Ebey Slough along I-5, five miles north-northeast of Everett by HistoryLink’s measure, with parks, a waterfront trail and a restored opera house downtown.
Comeford’s town on Ebey Slough
The town began as a trader’s bet. James Comeford, who had run the government trading post on the Tulalip Reservation since 1872, bought 1,280 acres east of the post for $450, HistoryLink writes, then built a store on Front Street (later First Street), a hotel and a small dock on Ebey Slough. The name is usually traced to his wife, Maria Comeford, though HistoryLink notes the origin “has been the subject of considerable debate.” Marysville incorporated on March 20, 1891, with Mark Swinnerton as its first mayor.
Timber built it. By 1906, HistoryLink counts at least 10 mills turning out more than a million board feet of lumber a day and shipping it from docks on the slough.
How did Marysville become the Strawberry City?
By 1910 farmers were finding that the land suited strawberries, and by the 1920s fields covered the town and the country around it. At the peak, HistoryLink says, more than 2,000 acres were in berries, grown by small family farms that formed a growers’ co-op, and the town billed itself as “the strawberry city.” A severe freeze in 1955 wiped out many growers, and the industry never fully recovered.
The festival outlasted the fields. It started in 1932 and still fills a June week with a carnival, a market at Asbery Field and the Grand Parade down State Avenue, which organizers say draws more than 100 floats, marching bands and bagpipers. The 2026 festival, the 94th by the organizer’s count, was held June 18–21.
Where do people get outside in Marysville?
The city calls Jennings Memorial Park the centerpiece of its park system: 30 acres of forest, wetlands and trails along Allen Creek that connect to Jennings Nature Park, plus ball fields, playgrounds and the city’s Summer Concert Series.
Down at the water, Ebey Waterfront Park, which opened in 2005 according to HistoryLink, has a boat launch onto Ebey Slough. From the park, a trail leads into the restored Qwuloolt Estuary. The city’s recreation page describes 1.8 miles of shoreline trail in two sections separated by the estuary’s dike, the first phase of which opened in April 2017.
How do people get around from Marysville?
I-5 runs through the city. HistoryLink records that Marysville’s first annexation came in 1954, and since then the city limits have pushed north and east. As of October 2026, Community Transit lists four park and rides in Marysville. Routes 201 and 202 run between Smokey Point Transit Center in Arlington and Lynnwood City Center Station, the current northern end of Link light rail, and Route 222 connects Marysville and Tulalip. Drive times are traffic-dependent.
Living here
A trading post on the slough, a parade route down State Avenue, berry fields that gave way to neighborhoods: Marysville’s story runs north from the water. If you’re comparing the older blocks near downtown with the areas annexed to the north and east, toward Lake Stevens, or getting a Marysville house ready to sell, Chase Hedin, Managing Broker, can walk you through how each part of this growing city fits your plans. Start a conversation · What’s my home worth?