The year was 1968. In a scene that would suit a mid-60s movie, flight attendants in mod uniforms, white gloves and heels posed with the first Boeing 747 at its rollout in Everett.
The year was 1941. Men in the U.S. Army Air Corps were ready for duty at the newly named Paine Army Airfield, where a tent city arose in preparation for war.
The year was 1913. An exhibition pilot named Harry Christofferson, alongside his brother Silas, flew for the first time in skies over Port Gardner, and was described in The Everett Daily Herald as a “Man-Bird.”
It’s a tradition for Historic Everett to take us back in time with its annual calendar. For 2015, the group is going aloft. The calendar title is “Aviation in Everett: 102 Years of Progress.” As in years past, sales of the $20 calendar will fund the nonprofit group’s programs and preservation efforts.
Dave Ramstad, Historic Everett’s executive board member, said he did the research, writing and “picture finding.” David Chrisman, a past board member for the group, did the calendar’s graphic design, which mixes detail artwork and short narratives with highlighted pictures for each month.
Those images came from multiple sources, including The Daily Herald, the Everett Public Library, the Boeing Co., the Everett Museum of History, and the private Hartley collection, M. Salget collection, and Bob Mayer collection.
The calendar is an abbreviated history book with long-forgotten gems. In the March photograph, from the Everett library, a crowd of mostly men in suits is gathered for the April 22, 1928, dedication of the Everett Airport — and it wasn’t where Paine Field is today.
Where was it?
“You drive over it every time you drive to Marysville on (Highway) 529,” Ramstad said. “You’re over the runway between Steamboat Slough and Union Slough.” The airport, a project of the Port of Everett and the Commercial Air Transport firm, was in operation until completion of new Highway 99 lanes and bridges in 1954, according to the calendar.
The Everett Airport had the distinction of beating Boeing Field, by several months, to become the first big airport in Western Washington, Ramstad said. The King County airport, former site of Meadows Race Track, wasn’t completed until July of 1928.
Ramstad, who retired in 2003, spent his career with Boeing in Everett. “That’s how I raised my family,” he said.
He began his 747 design career on Dec. 26, 1968, “before the factory or the 526 freeway were completed.” He worked for years in office buildings recently torn down to make way for the 777X wing fabrication building.
Ramstad said the calendar is a recognition of Snohomish County’s evolution from a timber-based economy to one built on aerospace. “The whole character of this county has shifted,” he said. The aircraft industry took over just as Everett’s mill-town way of life was disappearing.
Calling it “a real prize,” Ramstad said the October picture of flight attendants standing with the shiny new “City of Everett” 747 was likely taken inside the factory about an hour before the official rollout on Sept. 30, 1968. The women in the Boeing Co. photo — back then they were “stewardesses” — represented airlines purchasing the new jumbo jets.
Andrea Tucker, president of Historic Everett, said proceeds from calendar sales will help the organization with several projects. “We want to assist in supporting the Everett Museum of History,” Tucker said. The Everett museum has had several sites over the years. Today, it has a rich collection but no permanent home.
Another Historic Everett priority is advocating for preservation of the Everett School District’s Longfellow Building. The group is also concerned about Snohomish County’s plans to use the former Carnegie Library in downtown Everett as a transitional housing site for offenders.
Ramstad said local history is more than century-old buildings. The Boeing factory and the 747 are just four years from their 50th anniversaries.
“That’s a phenomenon in this county and this city. It’s all becoming historic,” Ramstad said.
Julie Muhlstein: 425-339-3460; jmuhlstein@heraldnet.com.
Calendar available
“Aviation in Everett: 102 Years of Progress,” a 2015 calendar created by Historic Everett, is available for $20 at these Everett locations: J. Matheson Gifts, 2615 Colby Ave.; Ethical Choices, 2612 Colby Ave.; Lamoureux Real Estate, 1904 Wetmore Ave.; Peak Health and Fitness, 2902 Rucker Ave.
Learn about Historic Everett at: http://historiceverett.org
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