Everett is the county seat of and the largest city in Snohomish
County
, Washington
, United States. Named for Everett Colby, son
of founder Charles L.
Colby, it lies north of Seattle
.
The city
had a total population of 91,488 at the 2000 census, making it the
6th largest
in the state and fourth-largest in the Puget Sound
area. Since the census, the city has
continued to grow, reaching an estimated population of 98,514 in
2006. It received an
All-America
City Award in 2002.
Everett is home to the largest public marina on the west coast of
the United States and is the western terminus of the western
segment of
U.S. Route 2.
It is also home to
Boeing's assembly plant
for the 747, 767, 777, and the new
787 in the largest building in the world
by volume at 116.5 million cubic feet (13.3 million cubic
m).
In 1984, Everett was selected as the site of a U.S.
Navy Homeport,
Naval Station
Everett
. The Naval Station formally opened in 1992
and on January 8, 1997 welcomed the aircraft carrier . Everett is
also home to the Port of Everett, an international shipping port,
that brings trade, commerce, jobs and recreational opportunities to
the city.
History
The land on which Everett was founded was surrendered to the United
States by its original inhabitants under the 1855 Treaty of Point
Elliott. Permanent settlement in the area by European descendants
started in 1861 when Dennis Brigham built a cabin on a claim on the
shore of Port Gardner Bay. Over the next several years, a handful
of settlers moved to the area but it wasn't until 1890 that plans
for platting a town were conceived.
In 1890, the
Rucker Brothers arrived
in the area and began buying up land. The same year,
Henry Hewitt along with
Charles L. Colby and
Colgate
Hoyt founded the Everett Land Company for the purpose of
building the city of Everett, named after the son of Charles Colby.
The Company bought much of the Ruckers' land, taking them in as
junior partners. Everett was officially incorporated on May 4,
1893, the year the
Great
Northern Railway came to the town. Both Hewitt and the Ruckers
had speculated that
James J. Hill would make the town the terminus of his
railroad.
However Hill continued the railroad along the
shore of Puget
Sound
to Seattle
.
Although it succeeded in building the city, the Everett Land
Company was a failure for its investors. The outside investors
withdrew, and the Company's holdings were transferred to a new
company controlled by Hill. The Ruckers, who helped broker the
deal, stayed in Everett and became leading citizens of the young
city.
Railroads and mines played a part in Everett's future.
The mining community
of Monte
Cristo
depended on a railway for supplies. It was
hoped that the railroad would cross the mountains and bring in
traffic. For a while ore was smelted in Everett, then sawmilling
and port activity commenced. A dozen steam riverboats were built in
Everett for the Yukon gold rush.
Several survivors of the
Bellingham
riots settled in Everett for two months, until they were beaten
and forcefully evicted by a mob on November 5, 1907. Everett also
was the site of the
Everett
Massacre of 1916 which was an armed confrontation between a mob
led by local Sheriff Donald McRae and
IWW members. The IWW members
were on the
steamer Verona and
sought to land, but Sheriff McRae denied them his permission.
Shooting broke out and at least five IWW's were killed and two in
the Sheriff's mob were killed, though they might have been
accidentally shot by others in their allegedly drunken group.
Everett streets are named after each of the three founders.
Adjacent streets Colby Avenue and Hoyt Avenue run north and south
and are intersected by Hewitt Avenue running east and west just
south of the
BNSF Railway tracks
cutting across Everett. There are several other streets named for
their associates such as Bond Street named for Judge
Hiram Bond, President of the Everett & Monte
Cristo Railroad. Parallel to Colby and Hoyt are avenues named for
other investors,
John D.
Rockefeller, railroad executive
T.F. Oakes, shipbuilder
Alexander McDougall, and
McDougall's associate
Charles W.
Wetmore.
Geography
Topography
Everett is located at 47°" West (47.963434, -122.200527) . The city
is one of the core cities comprising the
Seattle-Tacoma-Olympia CMSA.
The core
of Everett sits on the Port Gardner Peninsula, formed by Port Gardner
Bay
on the west and the Snohomish River to the north and
east. Newer portions of the city generally extend southward
from this point for a distance of approximately .
According to the
United
States Census Bureau the city has a total area of
47.7 square miles (123.4 km²), of which, 32.5 square
miles (84.2 km²) of it is land and 39.2 km²
(15.1 mi;oi²) of it is water. The total area is 31.79%
water.
Surrounding municipalities
Climate
The climate of Everett is heavily influenced by marine air masses
which tend to moderate temperatures with seasonal variations much
less pronounced than inland areas.
| 30 year
Climate Averages (Paine Field) |
Jan |
Feb |
Mar |
Apr |
May |
Jun |
Jul |
Aug |
Sep |
Oct |
Nov |
Dec |
Year |
| Avg high °F
(°C) |
46 (8) |
49 (9) |
53 (12) |
58 (14) |
64 (18) |
68 (20) |
73 (23) |
74 (23) |
69 (21) |
60 (16) |
51 (11) |
45 (7) |
59 (15) |
| Avg
low temperature °F (°C) |
34 (1) |
35 (2) |
37 (3) |
41 (5) |
46 (8) |
51 (11) |
54 (12) |
54 (12) |
49 (9) |
42 (6) |
37 (3) |
34 (1) |
44 (7) |
| Rainfall inches
(mm) |
4.37 (111.0) |
3.41 (86.6) |
3.86 (98.0) |
2.96 (75.2) |
2.57 (65.3) |
2.26 (57.4) |
1.32 (33.5) |
1.35 (34.3) |
2.09 (53.1) |
3.25 (82.6) |
5.11 (129.8) |
4.99 (126.7) |
37.54 (953.5) |
Cityscape
Historic district
The Everett historic district runs from around 8th Street to 25th
Street, north to south and from Broadway to Grand Avenue, east to
west. The district contains many old stately homes including the
home of the former U.S. Senator
Henry
M. Jackson on Grand
Avenue.
Waterfront

View from Everett Yacht Club on Port
Gardner Wharf
Situated
at the mouth of the Snohomish River
on Possession
Sound
, the Everett waterfront is home to Naval Station
Everett
, a sprawling Kimberly-Clark paper mill and the Port of
Everett (est. 1918). The Port of Everett includes both a
deep-water commercial seaport and a marina with over 2000 slips,
which it claims to be the largest on the west coast of the United
States. Ambitious redevelopment began in 2006 to convert the north
end of the waterfront into a community of maritime business, retail
shops and condominiums, beginning with the Port of Everett's Port
Gardner Wharf. In 2006, the seaport received 119 ships and 59
barges, totaling some 192,000 short tons of cargo.
The waterfront is also home to the Everett Yacht Club, which was
founded in 1907, although it existed in some form as early as 1895.
During summer months, the marina is home to the Everett Farmer's
Market (Sundays) and the Waterfront Concert Series (Thursday
nights), part of a city-wide free concert series which in 2006
attracted over 26,000 visitors. Each September, Tenth Street Park
on the waterfront is home to the annual Everett Coho Derby, while
each August the marina promenade is gowned in local art during the
Fresh Paint Festival of Artists.
Parks and gardens

Grand Ave.
Everett is home to 40 parks. The biggest parks are Walter E. Hall
Park at , Forest Park at , Langus Riverfront Park at 96 acres,
Kasch Park at 60 acres, Howarth Park at 28 acres, and Thornton A.
Sullivan Park at 27 acres. Walter E. Hall Park near the Boeing
plant sports a golf course and a skate park, Forest Park a swimming
pool, hockey, horseshoes, miles of trails and an animal farm,
Langus Park a boat launch, Kasch Park four softball fields, Howarth
Park a sandy beach on Puget Sound, and Thornton A. Sullivan Park
hosts a sandy swimming beach on Silver Lake as well as public docks
for fishing.
Forest park
Forest Park is the oldest public park in Everett. Its address is
802 E. Mukilteo Boulevard. The park is and is home to miles of
trails, a playground, and a pool. The pool is the crowning jewel of
the park, complete with lifeguards. Hundreds of children take
swimming lessons at the pool every year, making the pool an
extremely valuable part of the parks system.
Jetty Island
Along the waterfront lies the Port of Everett owned Jetty Island, a
narrow, long man-made island, featuring large sandy beaches and
relatively warm water. Jetty Island is the result of a failed
attempt in the early 1900s by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to
create a freshwater harbor west of downtown Everett. The island is
now a day-use park with no running water, electricity, or overnight
facilities. The City of Everett Parks and Recreation Department
celebrates Jetty Island Days during the summer, and provides free
ferry service to the island from the 10th Street Boat Launch from
June through the Labor Day holiday weekend. The wide flat beaches
and strong winds make the island a popular kite-surfing destination
as well as a popular spot for avid
skimboarders.
Nishiyama Garden
Nishiyama Garden is a traditional Japanese garden located at the
Nippon Business Institute at
Everett Community College. It
features Sukiya style wooden gates, gravel paths, stones, trees, a
small stream and a portion of a famous Kintai Bridge from
Iwakuni, Japan, one of Everett's sister
cities.
Evergreen Arboretum and Gardens
Evergreen Arboretum and Gardens (2.4 acres) is an
arboretum and park located at the south end of
Legion Park, at the intersection of Alverson and Marine View Drive.
Gardens
include sculpture and vistas of Puget Sound
, as well as:
- Conifer garden - includes Chamaecyparis lawsoniana, Chamaecyparis nootkatensis, Pfitzeriana Aurea, Picea glauca, and Strobus ‘Nana’.
- Dahlia garden - a variety of dahlias.
- Japanese Maple grove - 17 varieties of maples, with ferns and hydrangeas.
- Perennial border - includes artichoke (Cynara scolymus), Japanese forest grass
(Hakonechloa macra), giant
hyssop (Hyssopus officinalis),
dwarf waterlily (Nymphaea), and
New Zealand flax (Phormium
cookianum).
- Small Urban Tree Walk
- White border - flowers and foliage in white, silver, and
blue.
- Woodland garden - grotto with Knadhill and
Exbury
azaleas, lace-cap hydrangeas (Hydrangea macrophylla), and Pieris japonica.
Neighborhoods
The city of Everett maintains an Office of Neighborhoods which
facilitate communication between the city and the 19 established
neighborhood associations, with one proposed neighborhood/mixed-use
development. Each of the officially recognized neighborhood
associations operate independently to better their established
geographic areas within the city. The neighborhoods are:
- Bayside - comprising much of the central business district, the
waterfront, and the surrounding residential areas.
- Boulevard Bluffs - primarily residential
area of the city bordering Mukilteo
.
- Cascade View - residential area in South Everett, north of
Everett Mall
- Delta - primarily residential area north of downtown
Everett
- Eastmont - the area overlooking the valley
- Everett Mall South - the area surrounding Everett Mall, a mix
of residential and commercial areas.
- Evergreen - primarily residential area in South Everett.
- Glacier View - older residential area south of downtown.
- Harborview-Seahurst-Glenhaven - older residential areas south
of downtown.
- Holly - a mix of residential, commercial, and industrial areas
on the southern edge of the city.
- Lowell - formerly an independent town, Lowell is a primarily
residential area southeast of downtown.
- Northwest - older residential areas northwest of downtown.
- Pinehurst-Beverly Park - mix of residential and commercial
developments in South Everett.
- Port Gardner - residential neighborhoods south of
downtown.
- Riverside - areas just northeast of downtown.
- Seaway Park - Industrial complex with residential developments
located near the Boeing Plant.
- Silver Lake - residential and commercial areas surrounding
Silver Lake in the extreme southeastern part of the city.
- South Forest Park - residential neighborhood near
downtown.
- Valley View-Sylvan Crest-Larimer Ridge - residential areas in
southeast Everett.
- View Ridge-Madison - residential areas near downtown, or
central part of Everett.
- Westmont - primarily multi-family housing in the southwestern
part of the city.
Culture
Media
The Everett Daily
Herald newspaper has been published in print continuously
since February 11, 1901 and online since January 5, 1997, providing
local and international news for Everett and the greater
Snohomish County area. It was purchased by
The Washington Post
Company in 1978.
The Herald also publishes The Enterprise
Newspapers, weekly newspapers in south Snohomish County and north
King
County
, the monthly Snohomish County Business Journal,
weekly classifieds the Pickle Press and La Raza del Noroeste, a weekly Spanish
language newspaper founded in 2006 to serve the greater Puget Sound
area.
Everett is home to three radio stations.
KRKO
1380 AM (est. 1922) is a locally owned 50,000 watt sports radio
station affiliated with
FOX Sports
Radio and it is the broadcast home for the Seattle Mariner's
affiliate Everett AquaSox,the Western Hockey League Everett
Silvertips and Washington State University Division I Football and
Basketball.
KSER 90.7 FM (est. 1991) is a
public radio station broadcasting a wide range of music, as well as
BBC News and
NPR
programming.
KWYZ
1230 AM
(est. 1940s) is a
Korean
language station.
KONG-TV
, which broadcasts from Seattle, is licensed to
Everett.
Arts

Historic Everett Theatre
Downtown
Everett is home to Everett Events Center
, the Everett Performing Arts Center, home to the
Village
Theatre
theatre company, the historic Everett Theatre, the
Imagine Children's Museum, the Arts Council of Snohomish County and
an array of street sculptures. The Everett Symphony (est.
1935) performs at the Everett Civic Auditorium. The city is also
home to the Everett Chorale, which holds their concerts at the
Everett Performing Arts Center.
Libraries
The historically and architecturally significant
Everett Public Library is a
cornerstone of Everett's downtown and a beacon to its citizens.
Additionally, the Evergreen Branch, situated on busy Evergreen Way
in south Everett, serves an ever-increasing, ethnically diverse
neighborhood.
Professional Sports Teams
Everett AquaSox
Everett Silvertips
Washington Stealth
Sister cities
Everett has the following
sister city
relationships:
Economy
Everett's early economy was tied to the lumber trade. The city's
2006 Labor workforce was more than 80,000, predominantly employed
in technology, aerospace, and service-based industries.
Demographics
As of the
census of 2000, there were 91,488
people, 36,325 households and 21,613 families residing in the city.
The
population density is 2,814.6
people per square mile (1,086.9/km²). There are 38,512 housing
units at an average density of 1,184.8/sq mi (457.5/km²). The
racial makeup of the city is 81.05%
White, 3.35%
African American, 1.56%
Native American, 6.31%
Asian, 0.36%
Pacific Islander, 3.13% from
other races and 4.25% from two or
more races.
Hispanic or
Latino of any race were 7.15%
of the population.
There are 36,325 households out of which 31.9% had children under
the age of 18 living with them, 42.1% were married couples living
together, 12.5% had a female householder with no husband present,
and 40.5% were non-families. 31.7% of all households were made up
of individuals and 8.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years
of age or older. The average household size was 2.40 and the
average family size was 3.04.
In the city the population was spread out with 25.1% under the age
of 18, 12.3% from 18 to 24, 33.3% from 25 to 44, 18.9% from 45 to
64, and 10.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was
32 years. For every 100 females there were 103.5 males. For every
100 females age 18 and over, there were 102.8 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $40,100 and the
median income for a family was $46,743. Males had a median income
of $35,852 versus $28,841 for females. The
per capita income for the city was
$20,577. About 10.1% of families and 12.9% of the population were
below the
poverty line, including 16.1%
of those under the age of 18 and 12.1% of those ages 65 and
older.
Crime
Everett has been ranked with the 55th highest crime rate in the
United States. In Washington State, only Tacoma ranked higher on
the list than Everett, placing 39th in the nation.
In 2004, Everett had 62 rapes, which works out to 63.4 rapes per
100,000 people, twice the national average rate of 32.2 rapes per
100,000 people.
Everett also had a typically high car theft rate in 2004 as the
rest of the Puget Sound region, with 1709.9 per 100,000 population.
In 2005, Everett's car theft rate was one of the highest in the
nation; 2140.6, higher than Seattle's 1651, and nearly 4 times the
national average of 526.5.
The murder rate in 2004 was 3.1 per 100,000, lower than Seattle's
4.2 per 100,000 and the national average of 5.5 per 100,000
Education
Higher education
High schools
Most of
the city is serviced by the Everett School District (which also
services areas south of the Everett, including the city of Mill
Creek
), however portions of southwestern Everett lie
within the Mukilteo School
District.
- Everett High
School - Located in North Everett on Colby Avenue
- Cascade
High School - Located in South Everett on E. Casino Road
- Sequoia High School - Located at 3156 Rucker Avenue
- Mariner
High School - Located at 200 120th St. SW Everett, WA 98204
(Mukilteo School District) NOTE: Mariner High School is located
outside the city limits in unincorporated Snohomish County, but has
an Everett address.
Middle schools
- Eisenhower Middle School - Located 10200 25th Ave. SE
Everett
- Evergreen Middle School - Located 7621 Beverly Ln. Everett
- Gateway Middle School - Located 15404 Silver Firs Dr.
Everett
- Heatherwood Middle School - Located 1419 Trillium Blvd. SE Mill
Creek
- North Middle School - Located 2514 Rainier Ave. Everett
Infrastructure
Transportation
Public transit service has operated in Everett since 1893.
From
1910-1939 Everett was connected with Seattle
by the
Seattle-Everett Interurban Railway. Today
Everett Transit (est. 1969) provides bus
service throughout the city, operating 46 buses and 18 ParaTransit
vehicles with daily ridership of 6,800.
Sound Transit provides commuter train and bus
service to Seattle and bus service to Bellevue
. Community
Transit connects Everett with the remainder of Snohomish
County.
The
closest international airports are Boeing Field
and Seattle-Tacoma International
Airport
, and Snohomish County operates Paine Field (PAE)
for private aviation. Everett Station
is served by Amtrak, code
name EVR, and two trains, the Empire Builder and the Amtrak Cascades stop there.
Health systems
Everett General Hospital was founded in 1894 and 100 years later on
March 1, 1994 was merged with Providence Hospital (est. 1905) to
form
Providence
Everett Medical Center. In 2005 it was named one of America's 100
top hospitals for the third time in thirteen years.
Providence Everett Medical Center Statistics (2004):
- Births: 3,748
- Emergency Room Visits: 95,275
- Hospital Beds: 362
- Hospital Staff: 3,093
- Inpatient Admissions: 21,876
- Inpatient Surgeries: 6,061
- Medical Specialties: 41
- Medical Staff: 566
- Outpatient Surgeries: 5,138
- Outpatient Visits: 194,495
- Volunteers: 940
The Everett Clinic was
established in 1924 by four Everett physicians and has evolved into
a regional health-care provider with sixteen locations throughout
Snohomish County. It serves more than 2,300 patients each
day.
Utilities
The city of Everett's water originates in the Spada reservoir in
the Sultan Basin Watershed of the
Cascade Mountains. The city's water system
provides drinking water not only to the city but roughly half a
million people in Snohomish County.
It is treated at the Everett Water
Filtration Plant near Sultan
. Electricity is provided by
Snohomish County PUD. Natural gas is
provided by
Puget Sound
Energy.
Notable Everett natives or residents
Sports
The arts
Criminal
Political and business
Gallery
Image:Everett - County Campus.jpg|Snohomish County Government
CampusImage:Everett Events Center.jpg|Everett Events Center (now
Comcast Arena)Image:Everett - Hewitt Ave.jpg|DowntownImage:Everett
Theater 01.jpg| Historic Everett TheatreImage:Everett Library
01.jpg| Everett Public LibraryImage:Everett Library 02.jpg| Everett
Public LibraryImage:Everett - Bethel Baptist.jpg| Bethel Baptist
ChurchImage:Everett - Trinity Episcopal.jpg|Trinity Episcopal
Church (1920)Image:Everett - First Presbyterian.jpg|First
Presbyterian ChurchImage:Everett - FPC Stained Glass.jpg|First
Presbyterian ChurchImage:Everett - Public Art.JPG|Public
ArtImage:Everett - Old Courthouse.jpg|Old County
CourthouseImage:Everett - War Memorial.jpg|War
MemorialImage:Everett - Armed Forces.jpg|Armed Forces
MemorialImage:Everett - Colby Ave.jpg|DowntownImage:Everett -
Kimberly Clark.jpg|Kimberly-Clark Paper PlantImage:Naval Station
Everett.jpg|Naval Station EverettImage:Everett Marina.jpg|Everett
Marina
Points of interest
References
- http://www.goia.wa.gov/Treaties/Treaties/pointelliot.htm
- http://www.portofeverett.com/home/index.asp?page=4
- http://www.portofeverett.com/home/index.asp?page=167
- http://www.everettyachtclub.com/New_History_Page.html
- http://www.everettwa.org/default.aspx?ID=1152
- http://www.everettcohosalmonderby.com/
- http://www.freshpaint.org/
- http://www.everettwa.org/default.aspx?ID=11
-
http://www.everettcc.edu/programs/socsci/nbi/index.cfm?id=5040
- http://www.evergreenarboretum.com/
- http://www.ci.everett.wa.us/default.aspx?ID=200
-
http://www.ltgov.wa.gov/International/Washington%20Organizations/Sisters/
- http://everettwa.usachamber.com/custom2.asp?pageid=2570
- http://everettwa.areaconnect.com/crime1.htm
-
http://everettwa.areaconnect.com/crime/compare.htm?c1=Everett&s1=WA&c2=St.+Louis&s2=MO
-
http://everettwa.areaconnect.com/crime/compare.htm?c1=Everett&s1=WA&c2=Seattle&s2=WA
- http://www.soundtransit.org/x5907.xml
- http://www.providence.org/everett/News/History.htm
- http://www.providence.org/everett/news/solucient.htm
- http://www.providence.org/everett/news/faq.htm
- http://www.everettclinic.com/About_Us.ashx?p=840
- http://imdb.com/name/nm1330276
External links