Pioneer logger, Judson Lee, obtained the first land claim in the general vicinity of Maltby in 1887 just a few days before the West Coast Railway construction contractors, Thomas Earle and James McLeod, established a work crew camp. They called the area "Earl". After the depot was completed, the train stop was briefly called Earl Station. Four months later George W. Dunlap took property that was later platted as a town. Settler Ole H Lee established the post office in 1889 and it was named Yew, probably because there was already an Earl Post Office in Eastern Washington. Lee also owned a local shingle mill. Though he identified himself as a farmer in the early censuses, of all the early land claimants, Ole H. Lee was the one of the few who stayed. Practically everyone else seems to have been a speculator or agent for one. Mr. Lee was connected with all the early local improvements--post office, roads, school district, voter precinct and the church. The train stop was renamed Yew. By the time the town of Yew was platted in 1891, a young man intent on starting a real estate career had obtained a homestead that he was dividing into parcels. Robert Maltby brought potential purchasers by train to view his property. Marie Lee Hodgins related, “people were not inclined to get off the train when Yew was called out, so Maltby gladly changed it to his name.” The name of the Yew post office was changed to Maltby in 1893. The railroad then called their stop Maltby and put the name on the depot. The town name was never changed from Yew, but from this time on the area was known as Maltby. Yew or Maltby is located about 9 miles south of Snohomish on the railroad line that went from Woodinville to Sumas and was usually just called the West Coast Railway, originally part of the Seattle, Lake Shore & Eastern. After the company went into receivership, it was called the Seattle International Railway. The Northern Pacific finally gained control of both companies and later called this portion the Sumas branch.