The town of Alpine was located just east of Skykomish in northeastern King County, Washington. It was originally called Nippon for the Japanese laborers who worked at one of the town's sawmills. In 1911, Alpine had a population of 75 people, almost all of whom were involved in logging and lumber. Although the town no longer exists, it lives on in fictional form in the mystery novels of Mary Daheim.

This photographic postcard, probably made around 1910, shows the Great Northern Railway tracks at the depot in Alpine, Washington. Steam from one of Alpine's sawmills rises in the center of the photograph. Alpine was one of many tiny towns along the railway line which shipped lumber out of the Cascade Mountains.

Caption information source: Charlie Smith (email) corroborated by University of Washington Libraries, Special Collections, Lee Pickett Photograph Collection, negative number Pickett 3.