Skating fans soon will be in Everett to thrill to elite athletes spinning and gliding on ice. On the street outside Comcast Arena, Skate America visitors and locals will have a chance to glimpse Everett’s storied past.
At 10 a.m. Saturday, Everett Public Library historian David Dilgard plans to share the city’s rich heritage during a walking tour of Everett’s historic business district. The $10 tour is presented by Historic Everett, a nonprofit preservation group.
The tour was planned to coincide with the 2008 Skate America competition, being held Friday through Sunday at the arena. It’s a prestigious event, and the crowd will be versed in skating. Those fans may know little about Everett, a city incorporated in 1893 and once called “City of Smokestacks” and “Milltown.”
“We want to let people coming into the area know about our cultural history,” said David Chrisman, who’s on the Historic Everett board of trustees.
With a wealth of knowledge gleaned from research and oral histories of bygone days, Dilgard goes way beyond a time line of bricks and mortar. He’s likely to point out buildings listed on the National Register of Historic Places, including the Snohomish County Courthouse. Beyond that, he’ll treat walkers to tidbits not found in history books.
According to Dilgard, funnyman Groucho Marx once bought a Studebaker from the Paddock and Fowler dealership, an Everett car business that in the 1920s was on the northeast corner of Wetmore Avenue and California Street.
It’s a story Dilgard collected from the correspondence of Verna St. Peter. She was the daughter of Joe St. Peter, who ran Everett’s Rose Vaudeville Theatre. The theater was in operation from 1910 to 1927. “When the Marx Brothers played the old Rose Vaudeville, Joseph St. Peter was driving a Studebaker,” Dilgard said. “Groucho admired it so much, he decided he needed one just like it. He decided to order one at the local dealer in Everett. Verna remembered her dad telling her the story.”
Dilgard said he’ll tell walkers about President Theodore Roosevelt’s 1903 trip to Everett. “Teddy Roosevelt was the first president in Everett, he was here for its 10th birthday,” he said.
Walkers also will see the former “free speech corner” on the northwest corner of Hewitt and Wetmore avenues. There, in 1916, the radical Industrial Workers of the World, or Wobblies, gathered to speak during a strike by the shingle weavers’ union. Those events sparked strife that led to killings on Everett’s waterfront, which became known as the Everett Massacre.
“Getting ready for the Winter Olympics, we hope to continue a series of these tours,” said Chrisman. He is also involved in SnoGold 2010, an effort to promote Snohomish County businesses and attractions among those who’ll visit for the 2010 Winter Olympics in British Columbia.
This week, visitors will see that there’s more to Everett than ice.
“There’s too much to see,” Dilgard said.
Reporter Julie Muhlstein: 425-339-3460 or muhlstein@heraldnet.com.
Walking tour of historic landmarks
Everett Public Library history specialist David Dilgard will point out landmarks Saturday during a downtown Everett walking tour.
When: 10 a.m. Saturday
Where: Meet at the Everett Visitor Information Center, 2000 Hewitt Ave., on the northeast side of Comcast Arena
What: A walking tour of the city’s historic business district sponsored by Historic Everett, a nonprofit preservation group
Cost: $10, or $5 for Historic Everett members
Information: 425-530-2722 or www.HistoricEverett.org
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