Everett history museum hopes to open by 2028

Published 5:30 am Friday, April 17, 2026

EVERETT — After nearly 10 years of work, the Everett Museum of History is closer than ever to opening its new location in the heart of downtown Everett.

There’s still lots of work to be done, employees and volunteers at the nonprofit said. But the organization hopes to open the building, located on the corner of Colby and Wall Street, in 2027 or 2028.

The move has been a long time coming for the museum, known as the Snohomish County Museum of History when it was first founded in 1954. Since it began, the nonprofit has moved locations numerous times —sometimes spread in multiple locations — including storefronts, Everett’s former library, the Everett Mall and a storage facility.

In 2017, after getting a $3 million donation, the Everett Museum of History bought the building at 2939 Colby Ave., the former home of The Daily Herald from 1904 to 1959. The nonprofit had hoped to open the new museum there in 2021, but the pandemic significantly delayed that timeline. The museum has only two paid employees, both of whom work part-time.

The bottom floor of the new location is nearly complete, said Barbara George, the museum’s executive director, in an April 10 interview. The large rooms in the downstairs area are currently being used to store the over 100,000 items in the museum’s possession. They range from historic photographs and books to a phone booth, a ship’s wheel, an old cash register, 29 typewriters and the old Pegasus Bookmobile, used by the Everett Public Library until 1950.

Right now, the main floor of the building is largely empty, awaiting the completion of construction. But eventually, it will be home to exhibits as well as a coffee shop and a research library.

“It’s going to be more of a gathering place,” George said.

To finish the project, George said the museum needs about $5 million — it has already invested about $5 million in the project — and is applying for grants and seeking philanthropic donations to get the funding needed to finish the new building.

“If we can get the fundraising done, we can get the construction done,” George said. “That’ll be the easy part.”

Currently, the museum operates out of the Van Valey house, a historic home on Colby Avenue built in 1914 by Albert Louis Van Valey, a man who made his money in Everett running a bottling company. The city donated the home to the museum in 2021.

Its location — just a few blocks away from Everett High School — makes it a popular destination for students working on class projects, said Rebecca Monaghan, the museum’s curator.

The museum’s features rotating exhibits; one currently on display focuses on the prohibition era in Everett. It also has a permanent exhibit featuring memorabillia of former Sen. Henry “Scoop” Jackson.

Monaghan said she is excited for the prospect of the upcoming move.

“Well the new museum is big, it’s beautiful, of course,” Monaghan said. “While I love the Van Valey, and I’ve been able to apply my craft here, I’m super excited to go over there.”

The museum will continue to operate the Van Valey house even after the new location opens.

George said she hopes the museum’s new location can reflect the city’s working-class roots and remain accessible to everybody in the city.

“We don’t want to be one of those fancy museums where you just go once, and only wealthy people go,” she said. “We want to have the people from Everett come, be entertained and interested and participate in Everett’s history.”

The Van Valey house is located at 2130 Colby Ave. in Everett. It is open from 1-4 p.m. on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays.

Will Geschke: 425-339-3443; william.geschke@heraldnet.com; X: @willgeschke.