50 years ago (1962)

Yesterday six children, now grown, of the W.E. Jennings family of Marysville, pioneer residents of the area, formally gave the family homestead to the city to be made into a park. The 12½ acre site included a stream and orchards.

The West Shake Co. mill at Granite Falls was heavily damaged by fire this morning. The blaze destroyed most of the main mill building and a storage shed. John West, owner, estimated the loss at $12,000. Cause of the fire had not been determined.

25 years ago (1987)

Washington State Ferries wanted to expand its facility at Mukilteo, though Planning Director Don Nutter said solutions were less clear than they were in Edmonds. They were stretched to the limits in Mukilteo. One thought was to build a new terminal on the other side of the tank farm.

Clarence Caspers was retiring after teaching 36 years in the Darrington School District. Marv Kastning, art teacher at the high school, liked to joke that Caspers could teach about the Civil War because he went through it. Heidi Wright Jones, valedictorian of the class of 1975, remembered being in his class during the Watergate scandal.

By Jack O’Donnell from Herald archives at the Everett Public Library.

50 years ago (1962)

The old Parkland Lutheran Children’s Home, dismissed as a concrete monstrosity in a time when there was little respect for historical buildings, was to be razed by the Edmonds Junior Chamber of Commerce. Included in the demolition squad were Mike Arnim, Larry Doyle, Don Hosking, Don Moe, Gene Caraker, Dan Briggs and Jake Evenblij.

Tomorrow was the grand opening of Snohomish Coin-O-Matic wash and dry clean. There was free drying during the celebration. Mr. and Mrs. Ragnar Jensen invited the public to bring in their washing and dry cleaning.

25 years ago (1987)

General Hospital offered heart wise care. Heart doctors working with the hospital were David Stewart, Norvin Parr, J. Patrick Nolan, James Schmitt, Neale Smith, Wm. J. MacDonald, Richard Phillips, Lawrence Haft, Kirk Prindle, Jeffrey Rose, Frank Nieto and Harold Dash.

Hybrid cottonwood trees looked like they might be a new cash crop. After two years, they reached a height of 25 feet. No other woody plant in this zone compared with that rate of productivity. Cottonwoods and poplars provide wood and pulp for paper.

By Jack O’Donnell from Herald archives at the Everett Public Library.