Edison is a census-designated place (CDP) in Skagit County, Washington, United States. The population was 240 at the 2020 census. It is included in the Mount Vernon–Anacortes, Washington Metropolitan Statistical Area.

History

First settled in 1869 by Ben Samson, it was later named for famous inventor Thomas Alva Edison (1847-1931), with his inventing productive laboratories in Menlo Park, New Jersey, East Orange, New Jersey, and Fort Myers, Florida.

In 1897, Edison became the headquarters of a national utopian socialist project known as Equality Colony, backed by an organization known as the Brotherhood of the Cooperative Commonwealth. The socialist colony was established on 280 acres just outside Edison and it engaged in farming and timber milling and included a school as well as blacksmith and copper-working shops. The Edison-based Brotherhood also published a newspaper called Industrial Freedom for national circulation to its approximately 3,000 supporters.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of 0.6&nbsp;square miles (1.5&nbsp;km<sup>2</sup>), all of it land.

Demographics

As of the census

  • Edward R. Murrow (1908–1965), news journalist, graduate of Edison High School

thumb|Edison Elementary, 2013

Schools

Edison High School was in use as Edison Elementary School until its replacement with a new, larger building in 1996. Currently, the only school located in Edison is (the new) Edison Elementary School, a K-8 school, built on the site of the former Edison High School.

See also

  • Equality Colony
  • Socialist Party of Washington

Footnotes

  • "Browse Issues: Industrial Freedom, Edison Washington," Chronicling America, Library of Congress, chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/