Bow, WA

Bow is a Skagit County community overlooking Samish Bay, tucked among Bay View, Edison, Burlington, and Mount Vernon. It began as Brownsville, named for William J. Brown, who homesteaded the townsite in 1869. When the railroad brought more people and a post office, the place took the shorter Bow name; one story links it to London's Bow station, while another credits homesteader James T. Bow. Bow and nearby Edison share a ZIP code, accounting for some of the local map confusion.