Walking tours are a guide through bits of Everett’s history

Published 1:30 am Tuesday, September 25, 2018

EVERETT — Did you know the Great Northern Railroad reached Everett in 1893, the same year the city was founded? Or that by 1910, the city had 39 bars, 32 of which were on Hewitt Avenue’s saloon row?

Throughout downtown are fragments of the city’s past and two recently launched tours offer a peek into that history. The tours are accessible on smartphones and other mobile devices.

“We hope that the tours promote cultural tourism within Metro Everett,” wrote city spokeswoman Kari Goepfert in an email.

She said they are designed to be mobile-friendly with a “locate me” button so participants can see where they are in relationship to the points of interests highlighted by the city.

The short tour begins at Fire Station No. 2 at 2801 Oakes Ave., where according to the city, the fire pole between the first and second floors still stands today. Today, the building is used as a training facility. With eight stops, some of which include properties on the National Register of Historic Places, the tour takes about an hour to complete.

A longer tour with 30 points of interest, aims to provide a chronology of events that shaped Everett. The roughly two-mile journey is broken down into eras, beginning with the city’s founding and ending in early 1960s. Participants will experience the various booms and busts that occurred in Everett.

Funding for the project came from Washington State’s Department of Archaeology. More information can be found at https://tinyurl.com/everetttour. Paper copies of the short tour can be found at Everett City Hall, 2930 Wetmore Ave.

Lizz Giordano: 425-374-4165; egiordano@heraldnet.com; Twitter: @lizzgior.