Edmonds, Washington - History

History

Located on the Sound in the very southwest corner of Snohomish County, I<dmonds has led a life very largely apart. It is even closer to Seattle than to Everett and the former city thus enjoys an advantage in trade and other relations with it. Except for their interest in affairs of county government and politics the people of Edmonds have little in common with other portions of the county. What is true as of today, is also true as to the history of the community which has but few points of contact with the story of Everett or of either the Snohomish or the Stillaguamish valleys. This comparative isolation while not conducive to neighborliness, perhaps, forced the people of Edmonds to rely almost wholly upon themselves and gave them a spirit of independence and local pride and patriotism which is commendable. The site of Edmonds is very beautiful. High terraced hills overlook the wide beach and the pleasant waters reaching towards Admiralty Inlet, which is one of the many beauty spots of Puget Sound. The Olympic Mountains, always crowned with snow, form an impressive background to the scene, while the warm current of Japan makes the climate delightful and equable the year around. On account of its proximity to two of the most progressive cities of Washington, its picturesque location and its fine, deep harbor, Edmonds has absolute faith in its own future, not only as a business and manufacturing center, but as a delightful rest and recreation place. Its people are, however, more interested in its present than in either its past or its future, and they are making of it a live, busy, industrious little city of which they may well be proud.

Elwell Files On Site

The history of the Edmonds vicinity, for it then had no name nor existence as a village, began on or before October 10, 1866, as it was on that date that Pleasant H. Elwell chose it as a site for his home and filed his claim upon it. Elwell lived there for nearly four years, built a log cabin on the first bench of hills overlooking the sea and sold his claim, for $200, to M. H. Frost, J. D. Fowler and Nat B. Fowler, the latter's brother, on March 25, 1870.

Brackett Buys Land

There has hardly been a day in its history when Edmonds did not offer safe harbor for larger craft, but there was one day in 18/0 when the gale was too strong and the waves too high for a certain hardy adventurer driving his frail canoe along the Sound and he was forced to make for land. The man was George Brackett and the spot where he landed was to be his future home and the site of the town of Edmonds. Brackett was a young woodsman but recently transplanted from Maine, the state from which came so many of the pioneer lumbermen of Washington. He had an eye not only for the value of standing timber but for the beauties of nature, and the site of the future Edmonds so impressed him that although he continued his journey at the time, the memory lingered and in 1872 he returned and bought the old Elwell claim from Frost and the Fowler brothers, paying them $650 for the 147 acres. When he first sought the hospitable shore as a refuge from the storm, the only white man living there was Daniel Hines, who was engaged in making the old hand-shaved shingles which passed almost as currency among the pioneers. Hines remained in the vicinity for many years, his home being two miles south of the present town. When Brackett returned to Edmonds in 1872 to what has proved to be his home for the remainder of his life, he found two men living there: Thomas F. Kennedy, an old sailor, a next neighbor to the north, and J. C. Purcell, whose claim was on the tide-lands to the south. These men followed the life common to nearly all of the pioneers, developing their claims enough to comply with the law, but spending most of their time as loggers or lumbermen. Brackett busied himself logging his own claim, building a house and draining the marshy land which he found on the first bench, but there was no town, or anything which could be dignified with the name of a settlement until 1883. Some came and took claims, as did Capt. William H1. Hamlin, one of the best known navigators on the Sound in 1881, and gradually there were enough people to warrant an application for the establishment of a post office. Mr. Brackett made this application, which was granted, and he was made the first postmaster, the office being located in his home.

Name Adopted

It fell to him also to select the name for the new office and as he was a great admirer of Senator Edmunds of Vermont, he named the place in his honor - but a mistake was made in the spelling some place along the line and the official designation was "Edmonds," which error of an "o" for a "u,'' was never corrected. When Chris Wilsted came to Edmonds, in 1884, he found but three families at the place, but Brackett had visions of the future, and this was at a time when railroad talk was rife, so that on August 24, 1884, he filed a plat of a townsite. This was dedicated by George E. and Etta E. Brackett, and the wisdom and farsightedness of the founder was shown in that exclusive water and riparian rights were reserved together with reservations for a mill site and for a park. The year previous, Mr. Brackett had built a wharf and a building for the post office, in which he also placed a little stock of general merchandise. This business he sold, in 1885, to Matt E. Hyner, who was also made postmaster. The first mention of Edmonds in a Snohomish newspaper was made by the Eye, in 1885, and it was spoken of as a new business center, ten miles south of Mukilteo, with a fine view up and down Admiralty Inlet; with George Brackett as townsite proprietor and logger. The school district was organized in 1885 as District No. 15, Miss Box of Tacoma was the first teacher, and there were six pupils. The first building was very small and it was succeeded in 1887 by a more commodious structure which was 18 by 24 feet in size. This was located on lots donated by Mr. Brackett, between Third and Fourth streets. The teacher at this time was Miss Lydia Morris. In 1891 a $10,000 schoolhouse was built on a half block, donated by George Brackett. The year 1887 was also noteworthy for the erection of the City Hotel (which burned in 1905) by Charles Dietz, and by the coming of such settlers as Samuel Holmes and H. M. Burleson. Brackett shared his cabin with the Holmes family on its arrival, and something of pioneer conditions may be gleaned from the fact that when Holmes and his wife passed their first mght in the tent which they had put up on their claim, their slumbers were disturbed by a cougar which also sought shelter from the snow storm raging outside. Burleson built a log cabin on his claim four miles east of Edmonds and two miles from his nearest neighbor, but he was obliged to pack supplies on his back as there was no road until 1890. When Louis P. Arp reached Edmonds in 1888 he was authority for the statement that IXdmonds then consisted of two houses and one store and that the only oxen in the neighborhood was the team owned by George Brackett. The Roscoe family settled at Edmonds during this year as did James Currie and F. H. Darling. Johnson & Ashbaugh came from Dakota and established a general merchandise store, G. H. McGowan, also from Dakota, opened a new hotel, and Fred L. Brown started a cigar factory.

First Sawmill

The years 1889 and 1890 were the most important ones in the early history of Edmonds, changing it from a tiny settlement to a real village. During 1889 Mr. Brackett erected the first sawmill in the town, leasing it to Owen & Fish, and I. N. Martin, who was appointed postmaster, opened the first drug store. The Edmonds Public Hall Company was formed, with Dudley Brown as president and Frank Ashcraft as manager, and a dance hall, 24 by 60 feet in size was erected which afterwards became the home of the Free Methodist Church. James Currie had by this time established a large logging camp on the Kennedy homestead which he had purchased. This camp was equipped with one of Blackman Brothers' cars and had two miles of track. Currie had also built a wharf and a shingle mill, bonding the mill to Owen & Fish. The town received mail by steamer from Seattle three times a week, which was considered excellent mail service. The Wells Brick Company established brickyards at Twelve Mile Point, using the latest machinery and employing some forty men, and a second brickyard was opened by Bryant & Stanley. The Snohomish newspaper said Edmonds was growing fast, and that "all it needed was a saloon and a church." Again, in August, 1889, it was reported that the "deep water town" was forging ahead; that the new sawmill with 16,000 feet capacity, was running steadily, and that George Brackett was offering many inducements to manufactories and industries. Ole C. Sorenson was an arrival during this year, working as a blacksmith in logging camps until 1891, when he opened a shop for himself. The first Edmonds wedding was solemnized in December, 1889, when Frank Millspaugh and Dot Watkins were married by Justice Bartlett.

Minneapolis Realty & Investment Company

The Minneapolis Realty & Investment Company played an important part in Edmonds' history in 1890. The officers of this concern were James H. Bishop, president; Galin H. Coon, vice president and manager; D. B. Ward, secretary and treasurer. This company began operations by purchasing the Edmonds townsite and land adjoining to the extent of 455 acres for $36,000 from George Brackett, who still retained one hundred acres. This company replatted the town, providing for a strip six blocks wide and nine blocks long, built the Bishop Hotel, named in honor of the president of the company, and constructed a new wharf, and an office building which was later used for the post office.

Edmonds Incorporates

A movement for incorporation was started in May, 1890, with seventy-two signers to the petition, and incorporation as a city of the fourth class was effected in August. Very fittingly, the first mayor of the new town was its father, George Brackett. Other officers were: Clerk, Frank Ashcraft; marshal, F. H. Darling police judge, George P. Bartlett; street commissioner, James Ault; treasurer, C. T. Roscoe; councilmen, Capt. W. H. Hamlin, Fred L. Brown, William Plummer, Wellington Smith and Peter Schreiber. The temper of the town is shown by the fact that in August, 1890, when a Chinaman landed at Edmonds, a committee of citizens told him to go - and he went. An electric light plant was proposed and a new sawmill planned during the latter part of this year, but Owen & Fish did not succeed with the Brackett mill and, in November, that gentleman took charge of it for the benefit of creditors.

North Edmonds was platted by A. C. Allen in 1890, and a three story hotel called the Alameda was erected by Allen and a small stone pier was constructed. The plat contained fifty acres and both a residence and a business lot were offered free to anyone who would establish a mill or factory. O. C. Sorenson, H. G. Chase, J. N. Currie, Fred McKilligan, M. J. Berg, A. C. and W. M. Allen were among those who built in North Edmonds.

Perhaps the most important happening in Edmonds that year was the coming of Allen M. Yost. He came as a rancher and carpenter and his coming was not heralded as a great event, but he and his sons after him became perhaps the largest factors in the later history of the city.

The Minneapolis company which started with such a flourish of trumpets succumbed early during the panic of the nineties and the property reverted to George Brackett, through foreclosure of mortgage. All eyes were directed towards Everett in 1891 and there was little room for speculation at any other point in Snohomish County and while Edmonds fairly held its own, it made little progress. By 1892 there was some activity. Brackett erected the fourth shingle mill and J. W. Currie built a shingle mill in the woods two miles east of the city, putting in a dry kiln which was then a comparatively new feature. Brackett, as receiver, leased the sawmill to Codd & Dwyer, who made a success of it and who were about to install a dynamo to furnish light both for the mill and the town, when the mill burned down, with a loss of $55,000. The sensation of the year was when the postmaster, J. N. Martin fell heir to an estate in Norway and resigned his office to return to his native land, C. B. Knapp succeeding him as postmaster.

The first fraternal order in Edmonds was the I. O. O. F., instituted in April, 1891, and in 1893 this lodge started the movement which led to the establishment of a cemetery which was cleared that year and platted in 1894. The Rebekah Lodge was the next organization of the kind, and was instituted in April, 1894.

Iron Mill Established

The shingle was what kept the wolf from many a door during the hard times succeeding the boom days of 1890, and the industry flourished throughout the Sound region and in 1893, for the first time, every mill at Edmonds was in operation. Renewed life was also shown in 1894, when the citizens granted a bonus of 120 acres of land to a company from Newcastle, Pa., which proposed to erect an iron mill with capacity of forty tons per day, to employ 100 men at the start, and to invest $200,000. A contract between the citizens and agents of the company was signed in April, it being agreed that the mill should be in operation by October. While not as extensive a business as at first proposed, this iron foundry was established and by October, 1895, it was manufacturing shingle bands in large quantities and employing a considerable force.

The manufacture of shingles continued to be the chief industry. In 1894 A. M. Yost bought the mill which had been located in the woods and moved it to the waterfront. One of the most successful plants was that established a few years before by Hatch & Bosner. This concern was the first to introduce the electric light in Edmonds, installing a plant which supplied the mill and the residences of the owners. This concern cut 19,801,000 shingles in 1895, and in 1896, Bosner sold and it became known as T. N. Hatch & Sons. The mill of Johnson, Johnson & Anderson was founded in 1897; incorporating as the Edmonds Shingle Company in 1903, with C. P. Peterson, president; C. Johnson, treasurer ; Chris Anderson, trustee and C. Erxston, secretary.

An important figure at the beginning of the century was James Brady, who first came to Edmonds in 1892 as a school teacher. He was later employed in the schools of Everett, studied law while teaching, returned to Edmonds to practice his new profession, became city clerk and city attorney, was a candidate on the democratic ticket for secretary of state in 1900, founded the Brady Shingle Mill in 1901 and was mayor of the town from 1901 until 1905.

Another young man in whom Edmonds took great interest was C. T. Roscoe, who was elected county clerk and who was the youngest member of the legislature in 1892. He was the first Edmonds man to receive recognition as an important county official, but his duties called him from that town and he has since made Everett his home.

Soon after the opening of the new century the townsite was purchased from George Brackett, Capt. Hamlin and others, by a Seattle syndicate, the Coon, Kingston, Peabody Company. Captain Hamlin received $21,300 for 106 acres and was able to live in pleasant retirement. This syndicate was made up of men enriched by the discovery of the Monte Cristo mines, and F. W. Peabody came as the resident manager. Mr. Peabody, who is now a hale and hearty vegetarian of more than three score years and ten, is the townsite owner today. He was born in Massachusetts in 1855. He started West in search of fortune and adventure in 1876. He kept a frontier store at Fort Worth, Texas, and then prospected in New Mexico and Arizona with varying success. He was the owner of the hotel at Flagstaff, Ariz., and lost almost all when that building burned. With but little cash he came to the Northwest, being reduced to $5 by the time he reached Seattle. Resolving to risk everything on the turn of the cards, he pawned his watch, his last property of value, went to one of the many gambling houses which were "wide open" in 1887, and won $1,400 at faro. With this money he and Joe Pearsall went prospecting in the mountains. For some time they were unsuccessful, but one day the gleam of gold caught Peabody's eye from an exposed ledge on the side of a mountain opposite and thus the mine which he christened the "Monte Cristo" was found. This was believed to be of fabulous wealth and there was a great rush to the region when the discovery became known. Peabody and his associates had in the meantime formed a company and secured a number of the best claims. John D. Rockefeller and other capitalists paid a fabulous sum for these claims and expended more than a million dollars in development. The Willman brothers received $470,000 for their interest ; Judge Bond of Seattle, $325,000; Tom Ewing $55,000. Mr. Peabody refused to sell his entire interest and he still has some twenty claims in the region which he is confident will yield great wealth when transportation and improved mining methods are available. It was largely from the proceeds of this sale that the Edmonds townsite and other properties, including the Seattle street railway, were bought.

First Newspaper

Edmonds' first newspaper, The Chronicle, was established in 1890 by M. J. Hartnett, and following its suspension the Edmonds Lyre was founded in 1893. This newspaper also discontinued and it was not until 1904 that The Review began publication, with Richard Bushell as editor. He was soon succeeded by Mrs. T. M. B. Hanna and Prof. F. H. Darling and The Review has since that time proven a valuable asset to the community. Another new institution in 1904 was the extensive greenhouse established by Albert E. Hill. The Bank of Edmonds was organized as a private institution in 1905, with W. H. Schumacher president, and W. H. Phelps, cashier, and a review of the city for that year shows that it had a live Chamber of Commerce with fifty members; Z. Howell, president, and Col. S. F. Street, secretary. There were seven mills in operation, these being owned by James Brady, A. M. Yost & Sons, Edmonds Shingle Mill Company, Western Shingle Company, George H. Mowat & Company, Mowat Lumber Company, and the Keystone Mill Company. The Echo Lake mill and the Lake McAleer mill were also near by. The city wharf was managed by a company composed of A. M. Yost, S. J. Mothershead, George M. Bartlett, Samuel Foultner and F. H. Gardner, and this concern did a large business in furnishing fuel wood for steamers. Among the prominent business men were W. H. Griffith, R. R. Konnerup, W. H. Schumacher, A. Cahen, Cyrus Drew, Mothershead & Waddle, George Hales, Henry Boshart, Ed Woodfield, Fred L. Brown, Erben & Howell and Col. S. F. Street. There were then four churches; two physicians, O. W. Schmidt and H. W. Hall; a dentist, W. C. Mitlan, and nearly every branch of business was well represented. The first brick and concrete building was that erected by the Bank of Edmonds in 1907 and the city became one of the third class and the electric light plant was installed in 1908.

Edmonds Today

The city 1s an important station on the main and coast lines of the Great Northern Railway, and is reached over paved highways from Everett and Seattle, as well as by steam ferry to Kingston across Puget Sound. Edmonds has no blemish of boom ranting and collapse in its history, but has maintained a logical and substantial record of growth and progress based upon proved and permanent industrial development. In the matter of rural industries the Edmonds locality ranks first in the state as a strawberry district, berry and fruit production ranking first in agricultural development in the Edmonds district. Poultry and eggs rank second, dairying third and general farming fourth. City industries include a large creamery, a large milk condensery, six shingle mills, a large sash and door factory, a steel and holt factory, etc., to which in 1926 is being added the $100,000 paper pulp mill of French & Molyneaux, rising on the waterfront upon the so-called Bishop Industrial Site. The city has excellent water, light, power, telephone and telegraph service establishments, all but the last named being homeowned and operated. Its public schools, library and churches are among the best to be found in the smaller cities of the Puget Sound country. Edmonds has witnessed its most gratifying growth since 1920, when the Federal census indicated a population of 936, while in 1926 a careful analysis of the city's statistical facts indicates a population of close to 1,500.

City Government

The present city government is headed by Mrs. Alice U. Kerr, mayor; George M. Leyda, city clerk, and five councilmen, George Moore, E. W. Sweet, Thomas Scanlon, George Brackett and J. N. Telfer. The city is efficiently policed, and its volunteer fire department has won an enviable reputation in efficiency; the equipment including a Reo auto pumper and 1,500 feet of standard hose, maintaining headquarters at the Yost Garage, near the heart of the business district. A. B. Bentley is chief and W. W. Womer assistant chief of the department, which has eleven volunteer members. The city water supply system is owned and operated by a local corporation, the Edmonds Water Company, incorporated August 12, 1902, capital $15,000, by A. M.. D. M. and Joseph E. Yost. At this time Mrs. A. M. Yost is president of the company, and George W. Yost is secretary and manager. The company maintains a complete distributing system serving practically every house and plant in the city, and with strong gravity pressure provided by a large elevated reservoir, the source being a noteworthy development of great springs welling out of the rocks about a mile distant from the business center.

Telephone System

The Edmonds Independent Telephone Company is a unique Snohomish County institution, organized and incorporated in 1908, and now serving not only the Edmonds district, but practically all the southwest area of the county. The project was initiated and organized at a meeting of local merchants and property owners held January 23, 1908, and has since been mainly owned and operated by the A. M. Yost estate, heirs of the 1897 pioneer, A. M. Yost, who died in 1915. At the same time the Northwest Long-Distance Telephone Company was organized and established its lines throughout the district, with its home and central headquarters in Edmonds, its longest single line being seven miles. The city system now has 426 phones in service, all with long-distance connections. Of the seventeen original stockholders, J. S. and D. M. Yost, Dr. O. W. Schmidt and L. P. Arp are still directors of the company, D. M. Yost being the general manager.

City Park

Idmonds' city park is a delightful and refreshing area of ten acres, highly developed and situated only three blocks southward from Main Street, the park combining desirable facilities and accommodations for loitering tourists, including running water and a community range. It also provides the city's most popular playground for practice and competitive field sports, including an ample baseball diamond and a grand stand of generous proportions. The city park comniussioners are: W. W. Womer, chairman; ©. C. Sorenson and Cleveland Little.

Library

The Edmonds city library building is unique in that it is the only instance in the United States in which the Carnegie Foundation permitted the permanent establishment of the city council chamber to be housed in a Carnegie library building, the council chamber occupying the entire ground floor of the handsome two story edifice of cement base and red pressed brick superstructure with cream tile corners and trimmings. This concession is credited to Rev. John W. Lockwood, who had been the librarian in the original one room city library and who had succeeded in obtaining the Carnegie donation in 1910, when the present structure was erected. Mrs. Clara Wilson has been conducting the library as librarian the past two years, succeeding Mrs. S. G. Jones. The library board includes President J. M. Telfer, Mrs. Fronie Smith, Mrs. Maud Freese, Mrs. Madge Pence and Miss Frances Anderson. Open hours of the library are from 3 to 9 and 7 to 9 o'clock P. M. It affords an unusually large and well selected collection, embracing 4,971 listed books and 1,467 pamphlets.

Edmonds' city schools system includes the magnificent high school and the Edmonds grade school building. The first unit of the high school building was erected in 1909. In 1920 two corresponding wings of equal size were added, forming a single unit which compares favorably with the best high school establishments of Snohomish County. It is a combined junior and senior high school, maintaining an enrollment of 300 students at this time, many of whom come in auto busses from surrounding districts, and includes seventh and eighth grades, districts served including Alderwood Manor, Esperance (Lake Ballinger), Seattle Heights and Upper Meadowdale. Early in 1926 the boys of the manual training department voluntarily worked nights to cover a large area with concrete, providing one of the best hard tennis courts in the county, the directors of the district, Chairman E. B. Ballinger of Lake Ballinger, E. N. Martin of Edmonds and John Snider of Alderwood Manor, providing the cement and gravel, and Caretaker A. F. Chase superintending the work. Stephen & Stephen were the architects of the building erected in 1909, and the directors of the district at that time were A. L. Waddle, H. H. Burleson and George M. Leyda. The institution at this time is complete and adequate for a much larger field. The total cost of the structure was $113,000, and the assessed valuation of the district is $3,727,- O00, embracing the area from the King County line to a line half way between Edmonds and Mukilteo. There is a complete modern gym in the basement, with lockers and shower hath apartments, and the manual training equipment is varied and up-to-date, as are also the domestic science department and science laboratory. There is a high school faculty of eleven, and twenty-one in the grade schools, with Prof. A. C. Kellogg, city superintendent and Leslie W. Johnson principal of the high school, the total Edmonds enrollment being 952. From the campus of the high school one may see, only a block away, midway between the high school and Main Street, the site of the original little one-room Edmonds public school which remained a pathetic landmark on Fourth Street until early in 1926, when it was torn down to make way for material progress.

There are five churches in Edmonds, including that of Christian Science. The First Congregational Church was organized in 1889, and the old frame building erected soon afterward at the corner of Sixth and Dayton streets, remained for a number of years the shrine of worship for all denominations, and is still the home of the Congregational parish, with forty active members. Rev. Horace W. Chamberlain was pastor during pioneers years. Incorporated in territorial days, the first trustees were: Wellington F. Smith, William Plummer and Mrs. Carrie E. Woodruff, of whom the latter is still living in Edmonds. It was the center of opposition to the five saloons that flourished in its vicinity until 1916. The services now are conducted by Rev. J. V. Taylor, who resides in Seattle.

The Catholic Church, originally built in 1907, situated on Daly Street, between Fifth and Sixth, also depends upon a supply pastor, Rev. Father Leo Hanson of Lacey College, near Olympia, preaching on the first and third Sundays of each month. The pioneer Baptist Church at the corner of Sixth and Bell streets, has been taken over by the Christian Scientists, and is a regular Church of Christ, Scientist. A. M. Williams is president of the church corporation. In 1925 an undenominational Bible class was organized, meeting regularly each week in the homes of the members, with A. Lundberg of Seattle as teacher.

The Matthew Simpson Hughes Memorial M. E. Church, built in 1923-24 upon the site of the pioneer Swedish M. E. Church, corner of Fifth and Dayton streets, is doubtless the most widely known church establishment in this part of Puget Sound, it being a national tribute to the memory of Bishop Hughes of the Portland. Ore., area, who died on Easter morning in 1920. Methodists of many foreign countries as well as those of America contributed to the building fund, and thirtyfour Methodist Episcopal bishops contributed the altar, table, rail and lecturn. The edifice is of mission architecture, designed and planned in Chicago by the Methodist Episcopal Bureau of Architecture, Frank J. Dillard, chief architect, and erected by Chas. J. Solie of Everett, contractor, entirely of cement material, at a cost of $20,000. Rev. C. E. Preston, the present pastor, traveled 10,000 miles lecturing in the effort to obtain the memorial building fund. The interior of the church is elaborate and artistic, the auditorium being finished in four kinds of oak, the ladies' parlor and rest room in polished mahogany, and the Romanesque vestibule across the front is partitioned from the auditorium with thirtysix panels of French plate glass. Throughout the church are distributed many rare and sacred relics and emblems of Christianity. Over the baptismal is a twenty-two inch clam shell from the South Seas, recalling the tradition of John the Baptist. The church was dedicated in 1924. The original church was established in 1907 by Rev. C. B. Sears. The present board of trustees is composed of L. J. Bigelow, H. A. DeLand, Dr. O. W. Schmidt, W. H. Dunbar, M. C. Engels, E. H. Moy and S. M. Cook. There is a membership of one hundred. The twelve symbolic windows, representing the original apostolate,

Industrial Plants

Among the leading industrial plants of Edmonds are: Edmonds Manufacturing Company, sash and doors, Zophar Powell, president and manager; Oakland Shingle Company (cooperative), A. D. Harriad, president; Quality Shingle Company (cooperative), John :\nderson, president; Washington Steel & Bolt Company; Rainbow Shingle Company; Joyce Bros. automobile ferry, Edmonds-Kingston; Yost Auto Company.

American Legion Post

Frank Freese Post No. 66, American Legion, was organized November 3, 1924, with seventeen members, Geo. S. Montgomery, post commander, and Geo. W. Yost, adjutant. Within two years the post has grown to a membership of fortysix. Geo. W. Yost is the commander in 1926, and O. N. Sorenson is adjutant. The post was named in memory of Frank Freese, a soldier from Edmonds, killed in battle in France, October 18, 1918, having won the Distinguished Service decor- -ation. The Legion is active in community welfare work, has established a park around the city flagpole, conducts an annual Easter egg hunt for children, as well _as the annual clean-up campaign, in all of which the men are assisted by the ladies of the Legion auxiliary.

American Legion Auxiliary

The Edmonds American Legion Auxiliary unit was organized in the home of Mrs. Geo. W. Yost, in February, 1924, with Mrs. C. A. Merritt, "mother of the unit," as president; Mrs. Geo. W. Yost, secretary; Mrs. Geo. Montgomery and Mrs. Sarah Seeley, vice presidents; Miss Hazel Baker, treasurer; Mrs. Lulu Bacon, chaplain; Mrs. E. W. Roe, historian; Mrs. Otto Sorenson, sergeant at arms; Alice Kingston, Isma Lakey and Julia Hansen, executive board. There were twenty-four charter members, temporary charter July 24, permanent charter November 24, 1924. Mrs. C. A. Merritt later became district chairman and delegate fom Washington to the national convention at Omaha. The unit is very active in community welfare work. Frank Freese, Victor Hansen and Richard Burbank were the three Edmonds boys who paid the supreme sacrifice in the World war.

Chamber Of Commerce

The Edmonds Chamber of Commerce is an active and widely recognized organization and has done and is doing much progressive work for the development of the city and tributary country. As a community, Edmonds ranks high socially and fraternally. There are several active social and musical and literary clubs, and all the principal fraternal orders maintain subordinate lodges there.

The State Bank of Edmonds serves this entire field in a manner that is obviously satisfactory, for it has no competitor. This fine institution, whose bank building marks the business center of the city, on Third and Main streets, was estab- lished in 1907 with $25,000 capital. President Geo. C. Hansen and Cashier H. V. Allen are daily in personal charge of the bank's affairs, and the institution maintains deposits aggregating in excess of $300,000.

George Bartlett

A few of the old pioneer pillars of the upbuilding of Edmonds still contribute their experience and inspiration toward the progress of the city of '"Edmonds the Midway, the Princess City of Puget Sound." Of these, the outstanding figure of them all is George Bartlett, who has devoted so much of his life and thought and effort through many years to bring about the reality of his dreams at this late day. Mr. Bartlett is still taking an active interest in all fundamental movements designed to promote the interests of the city and district; his advice and counsel are frequently sought by the younger men who are taking up the aims and work of the original town builders, and it must be a deep satisfaction to him to know that in his declining years he is loved and respected and regarded with no small community gratitude for his devotion to general welfare and community progress in his home city throughout the years of his residence there.