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<< Previous   of   Next >>   ADVERTISEMENT   CONTACT THE HERALD Mike Benbow, Business Editor benbow@heraldnet.com   Published: Monday, September 8, 2008 Port will chronicle Everett's history History buffs should learn more about the industries that helped create "The City of Smokestacks" under a project launched by the Port of Everett. The agency has hired Everett historians Jack and Larry O'Donnell to gather information on the city's industrial past. The work should be done by April or May. "I think it's going to be a great document," said John Mohr, the port's executive director. "It should be a nice addition to the city. I'm confident it will be one of the better things done on the history of this area." Mohr said his agency has set aside a maximum of $25,000 for the work, which will look at the waterfront area's industrialization starting in 1890, two years before the city was incorporated. That was the year the Rucker Brothers bought the homestead of the first permanent settler of what would become Everett. The settler's name was Dennis Brigham, and he was a carpenter from Worcester, Mass., according to HistoryLink.org, an online encyclopedia of Washington state history. Wyatt and Bethel Rucker bought the place with a plan to start a townsite. The same year also signalled the arrival of Henry Hewitt Jr., a Tacoma lumberman and land speculator who showed up with $400,000 of his own money and a similar dream to start a great industrial city. What followed was a community that became dubbed the City of Smokestacks and was soon cleared for a barge works, a nail factory, a paper mill and a smelter. A few years later, the world's largest lumber mill was built in the area by Frederick Weyerhaeuser. Everett's industrial history is pretty interesting. It will be fun to see how the O'Donnell's develop the material. Mohr said the project was sparked by the effort to save the 81-year-old Collins Building. That's the former casket company on the waterfront that those interested in city history have tried to convince the port to save as a symbol of the city's industrial past. The building's future is uncertain, but looks pretty murky at his point. It could become history itself, despite its spot on the state register of historic places. A proposal to turn it into a mini storage facility in the short term to make enough money to do more with it later was rejected late last year by the port. The port's commissioners have insisted that the building pay for itself with some kind of functional use or else be torn down. Supporters haven't been able to get the funding or bank support to operate the building, and the port has shown no interest in putting the money up by itself. The building is located in the area the port wants to redevelop with private partner Maritime Trust of Chicago. The $400 million project would include several condo buildings, offices, restaurants, shops and a public walkway. Mohr said at a meeting last week that the O'Donnells' work will be used to create some interpretive signs on the area's history and perhaps "a brass plaque in the sidewalk." He said the history work will look at the site, not building that once housed the Collins Casket Co. That prompted Everett's Annie Lyman, who has supported the Collins Building, to ask: "Are we getting a clue that the Collins Building will wind up as a bronze plaque on the sidewalk?" The question remained unanswered at the meeting, which of itself may be the answer on what will eventually happen to the old structure. Mike Benbow: 425-339-3459 or benbow@heraldnet.com. READER COMMENTS Be the first to comment. You must be a registered user and verify your e-mail address to post comments to blogs or articles on HeraldNet. To register, click here. To read other terms and conditions, click here. Log out

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