Mukilteo, Washington - The City Of "Firsts" - Scene Of Indian Treaty - M. H (part 13 of 14)

Everett continues to maintain its enviable character as a dominantly American home city. The Federal census figures published in 1922 and 1923 noted eightyfive liberally supported public institutions; 78 per cent of the people were found to be white and of native American parentage, 21 per cent of foreign white parentage, and only 1 per cent foreigners; there were 6,150 homes occupied by 7,150 families; there were five public parks with an aggregate acreage of more than 160; five banks, with fifteen other banks in towns outside the city in Snohomish County. Excepting the items relating to parks and banks, it is certain that the subjects of all the other items have shown a healthy and substantial growth since that time.

Recent Activities

The harbor and industrial shore fronts, 4.73 miles of salt water shore line with deep water anchorage in the near offing, and 5!4 miles of shore frontage along the Snohomish River, are steadily increasing in productive industry. Piers 1, 2 and 3 are the principal public docks for general shipping, Pier 3 being the chief ocean terminal, the largest north of Seattle on Puget Sound. There are six steel and iron plants in the city, the greatest of which is the famous Sumner Iron Works, already described, equipped for the production of all sorts of machinery and shipping its product largely overseas to trans-Pacific countries, and the Washington Stove Works, which manufactures stoves, ranges and heaters for the general Puget Sound trade. Late in 1926 the Wm. Hulbert Lumber Company established in connection with its large combination lumber plant at the foot of Twelfth Street a separate factory for the production of funeral caskets. In August the United Steel Company of Lowell and the Bayside Iron Works jointly named G. W. Mumaw as trustee in a merger of the two concerns, with combined assets of about $400,000, to operate as one company on the Lowell site, issuing $100,000 bonds to complete financing; officers of the merged company are: C. J. Witney, president; Jacob Anthes, secretary, and G. W. Mumaw, treasurer. Building operations in the city have been well up to the record of constructive activity of recent years, valuation of new buildings in 1926 up to October 1 being $924,000, with 140 new homes started and under construction the first nine months. Assessment valuations of improvements on real estate have steadily increased in the last ten years, the total for 1925 being $4,748,925, and for 1926, $5,063,500. The city government has decided upon the immediate erection of a city hall building, to cost $150,000 to $250,000, and municipal affairs and finances are in excellent condition. The county game commission has greatly increased the stocking of trout and game birds all over the county, and this year designated Blackman's Lake and Lake Stevens as game refuges, where no shooting will be permitted. In church circles, the year included the dedication of the fine new brick Central Lutheran Church, corner of Everett and Rockefeller avenues, Sunday, October 17, by President J. A. Aasgard of the Pacific District, assisted by the pastor, Rev. O. J. Edwards, and the formation of the Scandinavian Free Church Ministerial Association of Snohomish County in September, with Rev. Carl A. Lundeen, chairman; Rev. H. Elvigan, vice chairman; Rev. Arvid Johnson, secretary, and Rev. O. N. Flugstad, treasurer. Of the three pioneer Blackman brothers, industrial figures of early days in Snohomish and Everett, Elhanan Blackman alone remains, residing in retirement at the home of his daughter, Mrs. Morris, Tenth Street and Hoyt Avenue, Everett, Hyrcanus Blackman passing away at the old home in Snohomish early in 1925, and Alanson Blackman a week later in Everett.

A City Of Destiny

With every natural incentive inspiring confidence that destiny has marked this ideal townsite and locality for the accommodation and happiness of a great city, the Everett spirit of enthusiasm and civic unity of action looking ever forward to the achievement of greater progress, continue to function and to challenge the admiration of the people of the commonwealth. The first Western seaport city to be touched directly by the Great Northern Railway system, of which it is the natural and logical western terminus, and served directly by the lines of the Northern Pacific and Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul systems, the industrial and commercial future of Everett is as fixed and bright and as popularly appreciated as the light of the Northern Star.

Civic History

INCORPORATION PROPOSED - COMMITTEE OF TWENTY-ONE - CITY INCORPORATED - FIRST CITY ELECTION - ACTS OF FIRST ADMINISTRATION - CITY HALL BUILT - SECOND ELECTION - CITY UNDER MAYOR HUNSAKER - THE MAYOR COX ADMINISTRATION - END OF THE CENTURY POLITICS - ACTIVITIES OF 1901 - CENSUS FIGURES - -ELECTION OF 1902 - HARTLEY AS MAYOR OF EVERETT - NEW CHARTER ADOPTED - FIRST COMMISSION - EVERETT CITY WATER SYSTEM - FIRE DEPARTMENT - CITY PARKS - HISTORY OF PORT OF EVERETT - PUBLIC LIBRARY - SCHOOLS.

Long before its incorporation, indeed, almost a year preceding the filing of the plat of the present townsite of Everett, population was pouring in from many directions, at first locating in the pioneer river-landing town of Lowell, whose townsite plat had been a matter of record since May 8, 1873, while the Everett plat was given a belated record in February, 1892, several other plats of what are now subdivisions of the townsite preceding it by several months. In the first week of January, 1892, Henry Hewitt paid into the county treasury $27,000 in taxes for the Everett Land Company, which was about half the assessed valuation of the townsite two years before. By that time the Riverside district was a bustling little city, whose inhabitants already felt the need of organized government and police protection. Shortly after the middle of February in that year, Sheriff Burton appointed two special or additional deputy sheriffs, Geo. A. Shea and H. H. Wabers, to give the new town police protection.

Incorporation Proposed

But by March 1, 1892, the people of the new centers at Riverside and Bayside had joined in a generally signed petition for the incorporation of Everett as a city of the third class. Attorney F. H. Brownell of the Everett Land Company objected to the limits of the city as outlined in the petition, and urged that the boundaries be extended so as to include the sloughs and waterways east of the city, the 62-acre site for the projected barge works, the tide flats north of Section 19 and the site of the projected paper mill. These modifications and extensions were accordingly adopted, and the city limits as then adopted and contemplated embraced sixteen square miles, excluding the nail works, smelter and a large portion of the tide lands. It then developed, however, that if the young city was incorporated at that time the company, which was applying to the state for the purchase of tide lands to insure future industrial development on the shore front of its townsite, would have to pay vastly more for such lands 1f fronting upon an incorporated city or town.

As the incorporation project was now indefinitely delayed, the citizens determined upon a voluntary government, and early in March a public meeting attended by 500 residents was held to discuss and consider the problems of sewerage, street lighting, water, essential improvements and city government. It was decided to elect a municipal executive committee of twenty-one, to have complete charge of government of the community until incorporation of the city. Of this committee, Riverside was to have eleven members, Lowell four, Bayside four and the Barge Works district two. About the same time, March 17, a contract was let for the planking of Hewitt Avenue from Broadway to the Bay - the first Everett Street improvement.

Com Mittee Of Twenty-One

The historic election for the naming of a committee of twenty-one was held on March 21, 1892. It was an emergency election for the choosing of a group of men to act as a common council, and it was featured with an effervescence of good humor and the birth of real local public spirit, a total of 1,138 votes being polled - more than half the vote of the entire county at the preceding election, and twice that of Snohomish City. The four polling places showed results as follows: Riverside 730, Lowell 287, Bayside 77 and Barge Works 44. The twenty-one successful candidates to form the first informal government of Everett were: James Hambley, C. W. Caddington, W. O. Hayden, C. D. Sweeney, E. F. Power, W. G. Swalwell, E. F. Bogart, C. L. Gates, A. H. Gamel, J. S. Barland, Geo. Noyes, J. J. Maney, P. K. Lewis, J. H. Mitchell, Jerry Murphy, E. D. Smith, E. D. Ingersoll, E. L. Hallenbeck, G. E. Pruden, W. M. Ross and R. O. Lazier.

The newly elected provisional council at once proceeded to function, and the upbuilding business of the new city hummed along in peace, although late in April Undertaker Rogers complained that while a city cemetery had been laid out and platted there was no road over which he could reach it, so that the dead of the growing town had to be buried elsewhere; this doubtless had something to do with inspiring the special election in Road District No. 13 the following September 9 to vote on a five-mill levy proposition. By the first week in May, 1892, construction work in progress was estimated to cost from $300,000 to $350,000, and in the succeeding month the citizens and the Everett Land Company arrived at a satisfactory agreement to postpone incorporation until such time as the tide land matter was settled. In October, Polk's directory canvass credited Everett with a population of 4,500, and the county commissioners designated four voting precincts in the rising town, making forty-seven voting precincts in the county for the presidential election in November, 1892. Early in November, Capt. W. O. Hayden was appointed deputy United States marshal stationed at Everett, and upon taking office in January, 1893, Sheriff Hagen appointed E. J. Dwyer, Addison Cleveland and Pat Shea deputy sheriffs to serve in the Everett field. In the last week of 1892, the provisional council granted a fifty-year franchise for a sewerage system to William F. Brown, on condition that he or his successors construct complete 800 feet of serviceable sewer by April 15, 1893, and one mile by the end of the year.

City Incorporated

On Friday, February 17, 1893, the citizens of Everett gave public notice of their intention to present a petition to the county commissioners preliminary to incorporation as a city of the third class, the original proposed boundaries to embrace nearly forty square miles. At a mass meeting held on March 1, the citizens adopted resolutions providing for the reduction of the proposed city limits to exclude therefrom the paper mill, barge, smelter and nail works sites and most of the tide lands, reducing the proposed municipal area from forty to sixteen square miles. These amended boundaries were accepted and confirmed by the county commissioners, only to the extent that the site of the nail works and the town of Lowell were left out of the corporate limits, and March 29, 1893, was fixed as the date of the Everett election to determine the question of incorporation, but the date was later changed to April 27. When news from Olympia brought the information that the governor had signed the bill making the city marshal, clerk and attorney elective officers in cities of the third class, there was a rush of candidates for these positions on the initial municipal ticket of the Smokestack City, the bill carrying an emergency clause and seeming to have been designed specially for Everett's first city campaign. At this time, too, morality was already beginning to assert itself, and there was much talk that the city council was to be numerously memorialized in promotion of an ordinance to require the saloons to close at midnight. When the registration books closed April 6, twenty days before election, 977 voters had qualified - 250 in Lowell precinct, 333 in Everett precinct and 394 in Mitchell precinct, and during the interim before election the Times came out with the statement that forces were at work to defeat the incorporation project.

First City Election

It was a spirited campaign with partisan politics involved, republicans, democrats and populists having tickets in the field, the republicans fusing all their forces for the election of the councilmen, in which they won a complete victory, electing their seven councilmanic candidates easily. According to the Everett Herald, 815 of the 972 registered voters were natives of the United States, only 157 having been born in a foreign country. Neil Spithill, age 31, was the only registered voter born in Snohomish County. E. E. Proctor and B. G. Morrill had resided in Washington thirty years, and S. F. Packwood and M. Barrett each twenty-four years. At the election more votes were polled for the candidates for principal offices than were cast to determine the paramount issue of the day, incorporation of the city. The greatest vote was polled by the candidates for city marshal, 869; next came the vote on city attorney 831, city treasurer 818, and mayor 803, while the total vote cast on the question of consolidation was 769 - 6/0 for incorporation and 99 against. The result of the election, the seven councilmen and other officials first named being elected, follows:

Acts Of First Administration

The newly-elected city government immediately after election qualified and went to work. The first meeting of the city council was held in the Clark Building at the southeast corner of Hewitt and Wetmore, now occupied by the Citizens Bank - the very first brick block erected in the present central business district of Everett, 1892, amidst the smoking stumps and debris of a partly cleared neighborhood, and built by perhaps the most enthusiastic and constructive Everettite of the period, the late J. J. Clark. At a later meeting the council contracted with Mr. Clark for the use of the apartment at $90 a month as a temporary city hall until the projected first city hall, still used as such, be completed, which was in the following year, 1894, when the city government removed to the then new frame city hall on Broadway between Hewitt and Wall, to which ten years later the present brick and cement additions were added, completing the edifice as it stands today. The first city council meeting took place on Monday evening, May 8, 1893, it being a special meeting called by Mayor Thomas Dwyer, who delivered one of the briefest and most generalizing of opening messages. S. E. Thayer acted as city clerk pro tempore. The council devoted its time at this meeting to the discussion of the more urgent problems, such as fire and police protection, as suggested by the mayor, who also at this session appointed standing committees. Late that night the council adjourned, to meet again the following evening, May 9, especially to continue and complete the organization of the police and other departments of the city government. At this second meeting an ordinance creating and providing for the police and city engineer departments was adopted, and the council then elected officers and patrolmen of the police department as follows: Police captain, Geo. A. Shea; police lieutenant, H. H. Wabers; policemen, Philip Keating, John Maloney, Patrick Shea, H. E. Herren, Frank P. Brewer, J. W. Smith, Fred Christianson, Geo. E. Kaine, the last named being designated as patrolman. F.C. Tubbs was elected street commissioner, L. A. Nicholson, city engineer, and Julian L. Shay, police justice, and the new city government was all set for regular civic administration. The volunteer fire department had long since been organized, but was facing fire hazards with a most meager equipment, and the new council in July arranged for the purchase of a new chemical fire engine, which reached the city late in September. In July City Marshal Crowe ordered all gambling houses closed, and a number of merchants agitated for the closing of all stores on Sundays. Validity of the Everett incorporation was confirmed in a decision handed down by Judge Denney in August, and the Everett Electric Power Company offered to light the streets of the city under contract for $350 per month, the city council being criticised adversely for declining to accept the offer. A week later in August, 1893, the council suspended four police patrolmen and abolished the offices of captain and lieutenant. In October the council fixed the first city tax levies, 6 mills for the general fund, 3 mills for the street fund and 1 for the sewer system.

City Hall Built

The city had acquired a satisfactory city hall site and late in October the city council accepted the bid of Slaydon & Company, $5,690, for the construction of a two-story frame city hall and jail, but the building was not ready for use until March 1, 1894, when all the north part of the main floor was assigned for use by the fire department, and the south side to the police and police justice. The offices of the mayor, city clerk, treasurer and engineer were upstairs. The council room, extending the full length of the building, was equipped with new desks for the councilmen, and vaults were installed on both floors. T. E. Headlee, the present vice president of the city commission, safety commissioner and head of the police department, was mayor of the city in 1903 and 1904 when the brick and cement extensions of the city hall were built. The dean of the Everett police department at this time is Desk Sergeant David Daniels, who has served the city as a police officer continuously since December 22, 1906. At this time the personnel of the Everett police department numbers twenty-four persons.

Second Election

The second city election was a three-cornered political partisan contest that provided plenty of active interest for the 892 registered voters. Primary conventions or caticuses were held and three full tickets were nominated. The republicans frankly came out with a republican ticket, but the populists and democrats discarded the partisan identity and were represented in the Independent and Citizens tickets, although the populists had nominated a strictly populist set of candidates. Norton D. Walling was elected mayor by a margin of four votes, H. D. Cooley reelected city attorney, S. E. Fair city treasurer, C. P. Clark clerk, Doctor Lytle health officer, and T. B. Sumner, Dr. W. C. Cox, W. W. Mish, L. R. Hilleary, F. O. Coe, F. W. Clark and C. A. Sweinfurth councilmen. On December 6 the Protestant churches of the city issued a call for a convention of "the pure in heart", proposing to interview all aspirants for office regarding their views relative to gambling, saloon and vice generally, and if not satisfactory threatening to put a new ticket in the field. The republicans elected their candidate for mayor, Walling, but the populist city marshal, Dennis Crowe, was reelected, and Sam H. Nichols was defeated.

The last act of the old council was to adopt an ordinance providing for the purchase of the private company waterworks for $140,000, by a vote of 6 to 1, but the last act of Mayor Dwyer with the first city council was to veto that measure, killing it. Mayor Walling at the first meeting of the new council urged that the proposition to buy the waterworks be submitted to a vote of the people. He also strongly favored immediate preparations for a city park system, but early in 1894 the city was short of ready money and city warrants were discounted. At the special waterworks election the first Tuesday in April, 1894, the proposition to bond the city for $140,000 for the purchase of the original Everett Land Company water system was rejected by the people by a vote of 397 to 92. In view of this squelching result, the council in September rejected the prayer of petitioners suggesting a proposition to bond the city for a sewer system. Early in November, City Marshal Dennis Crowe died, and the council appointed John Borland to serve as marshal during the remainder of the term.

City Under Mayor Hunsaker

Jacob Hunsaker was chosen mayor at the city election in December, 1894, and one of the first acts of his administration was to offer the board of county commissioners the use of suitable temporary offices for the county government without cost to the county, which the commissioners accepted and selected apartments in the Craddock Block, Everett having won the county seat at the polls. In March the city council ordered a survey of the city by the city engineer's department for the purpose of establishing and installing a complete sewer system, but within two months the work was suspended indefinitely when it was found that the city's indebtedness of $114,- 060 was already $2,140 in excess of the legal limit. A statement relative to city finances issued in July, 1895, claimed that the city's debt of $57,000 in October, 1894, had already exceeded the limit by $12,000, and it was charged that Peter S. Smout was demanding an order to stop the issuance of bonds voted by the people June 15 to take up the city warrant debt and to provide $30,000 "for park purposes," which latter it was claimed was to provide funds to pay for the new county courthouse, Everett's gift to the county. It was further charged that all warrants issued after March 6, 1894, when the limit of indebtedness was reached, were legally void, including warrants to the amount of $15,000 to W. G. Tanner, W. W. Getchell, T. G. Collins and the Everett Land Company, as payment for roads, outside city limits, $4,000 and $11,000 expense of the election, and that the total debt as of that date, July 15, 1895, was $118,893.

In the midst of the financial frenzy, the mayor and council were having serious trouble with the police department, probably mainly due to the city's poverty. At its third meeting in June Councilman Craigue, supported by Sumner, Collins and McRae, put through a resolution, effective July 1, suspending five policemen, Mish and Hilleary voting no, but at the first meeting in July the council was deadlocked on the appointment of successors to the suspended officers. At the same time a row in the fire department almost disrupted that establishment, and was with diffculty compromised to a working basis. At the first meeting in' October, the council enacted a sweeping reduction of salaries of city officers, effective at the beginning of the 1896 term, the city clerk from $90 to $75 a month, attorney $150 to $75, treasurer $75 to $60, health officer $90 to $25. At an early meeting in October, 1895, the council directed the issuance of the new city bonds in the sum of $81,900 to be delivered to the firm of Morris & Whitehead in exchange for Everett city warrants in that amount held by that company. At the city election the first Tuesday in December, with two tickets in the field, republican and citizens, Dr. W. C. Cox, heading the citizens ticket, was elected mayor; C. P. Clark was reelected clerk; W. F. Gray and C. H. Boyndon councilmen, and A. H. Griffin councilmanat-large, all of the citizens ticket ; the republicans elected Treasurer W. E. Sherfey, Attorney H. L. Strobridge, and Councilman C. S. Knapp. It was a most bitter campaign, and when the results were known the citizens party jubilated elaborately.

The Mayor Cox Administration

One of the first acts of the administration of Mayor Cox was the adoption of a resolution by the council authorizing the mayor to tender to the United States Government a full section of land, 640 acres, in Sections 7, 8, 17 and 18, township 29, north range 5, the north side of Everett peninsula, as a military reserve for a proposed United States Army post. In May a sensation developed when City Marshal Getchell was charged in papers filed at the city council with malfeasance in office, liberating prisoners unlawfully, appropriating money, etc., taken from men under arrest, ill-treating prisoners. A long trial of Getchell followed, which resulted in his exoneration July 14, 1896, and he continued to serve as city marshal. In the

December election the republicans again elected Jacob Hunsaker mayor, as well as all the other elective officers except clerk, C. P. Clark. Marshal Getchell at the end of his term refused to surrender his office to his successor, Brewer, but was finally compelled to abdicate.

End Of Century Politics

In December, 1897, J. A. Falconer defeated W. J. Craigue for mayor, 443 to 363, and C. G. Smyth was elected city clerk. In the December election of 1898 the democrats and populists had fused and nominated Dwight Darling for mayor, against J. O. Whitmarsh, republican nominee, the latter being elected by a vote of 459 to 314. This was the year of the organization of the Everett Improvement Company, which took over the properties of the Everett Land Co., and the people were so pleased that the city's bulwark properties were henceforth to be managed and controlled by local people that in June the city voted $60,000 bonds for the construction of a modern city sewer system. In December, 1900, James E. Bell was elected mayor over J. O. Whitmarsh, republican, 510 to 338, and former Mayor J. Hunsaker was elected city treasurer, E. C. Rae city clerk. This administration discussed the advisability of qualifying for a city of the second class, but took the advice of Judge Denney that it would be too expensive, as the laws affecting cities of that class in this state were untried and unadjudicated. The office of City Engineer Majors was declared vacant, and J. J. Sheehan was appointed city engineer, in February, 1901. In March, N. J. Chapman was awarded a contract to plank Hewitt Avenue from the Great Northern right-of-way to Broadway. In May, W. G. Swalwell offered as a gift to the city an elevated city park site comprising twenty-five acres, and from which all the surrounding prominent natural features are in full view, including Mounts Baker and Rainier, the Cascades and towns as far east as Granite Falls, as well as north beyond Marysville; the conditions were that this was to be used as a public park and that the city expend on improvements thereon $500 a year for five years. Police Judge Whitney was removed from office "for cause," but Mayor Bell stated that there was no complaint affecting his integrity, nor the manner in which he performed his duties. In June, 1901, the Snohomish River bridge built by the Everett Land Company in 1891 was out of service; the draw refused to open, one pier was sunk and many of the timbers were rotten. In August the Great Northern announced plans for the construction of eight bridges in Everett, and a steel viaduct overhead across the foot of Hewitt Avenue, and work was actually under way before the close of that month.

The year 1901 witnessed much constructive activity, and efforts were made to have the Fourteenth Street trestle repaired and strengthened, W. T. Garthley heading this movement, but County Commissioner Stretch notified him that the county would not help to do the work. At the same time the mill owners and operators who provided the principal payrolls of the city were clamoring for a waterfront highway to facilitate operation of the industries. In September Socialist agitators were busy with inflammatory meetings in the business streets, and on September 13, Chief of Police Collins dispersed such a meeting which was being harangued by J. M. Cameron of Seattle at the corner of Hewitt and Wetmore, blocking traffic on those thoroughfares; the meeting was continued, however, Cameron and W. P.

Whartenby using the latter's back porch as a rostrum, and at the city election later the socialists came forward with a complete city ticket, headed by John Graybill for mayor, replaced later in the campaign by W. P. Whartenby. The December election, however, wrestled with three tickets, Charles K. Greene, republican, being elected mayor with 628 votes, F. R. Pendleton receiving 610, and Whartenby only 25; Hunsaker was reelected treasurer with 653, over E. C. Rae 549. J. H. Mitchell was elected city clerk. The socialist platform opposed all franchises to private parties, favored municipal ownership of waterworks, lighting, power and street railways, all profits thereof to be returned in wages and shorter hours of labor, and declared an eight-hour day on all public work with $2.25 a day for common labor.

Election Of 1902

In the 1902 election W. E. Terrill was elected mayor with a vote of 820, Mayor C. K. Greene receiving 695. Paul C. Murphy was elected treasurer over E. C. Rae, 885 to 614, and City Clerk J. H. Mitchell was reelected without opposition. In 1903 Jacob Hunsaker, who had served as city treasurer several terms, was chosen mayor for the third time over three opponents, receiving 1,087 votes, J. E. Stone 476, F. B. Haws 187 and S. O. Roleau 41. J. H. Mitchell was reelected clerk with 1,238 votes. Thomas E. Headlee was elected mayor in 1904 with 1,419, against W. J. Craigue 1,063, and three other candidates; J. H. Mitchell was opposed for clerk and received 1,560 votes, the highest vote any city officer had received up to that time, W. T. Balden 897. Mayor Headlee was reelected in 1905, polling 1,138 votes to A. A. Brodeck's 1,077, and two runners-up; Mr. Mitchell was reelected clerk, 1,805, E. B. McGill 641. James H. Mitchell was elected mayor in 1906, receiving 1,113, S. A. Bostwick 737, F. B. Haws 299 and W. E. Tibbits 127; Oscar D. Wilson, 1,203, won the city clerkship against B. E. Hilen, 707. Newton Jones was elected mayor in 1907, polling 887 votes, F. R. Hedges 672, J. J. Clark 431, and two others; primary elections were held November 12, under the provisions of the proposed new charter, qualifying Everett as a city of the first class, having proved a population exceeding 20,000, as required by the state law; the charter was adopted and Everett became a city of the first class in 1908, Newton Jones winning the mayoralty campaign over James E. Bell, 1,740 to 1,043, and he was again elected mayor in 1909.

Hartley As Mayor Of Everett

In 1910 Roland H. Hartley, now governor of the state, was elected mayor, and served as mayor during the years 1910 and 1912, with C. C. Gilman as city comp- troller and J. Willard Smith as the mayor's secretary. In his opening message in November, 1910, Mayor Hartley urged the need of comfort stations in the city and recommended immediate preparation for a municipal water system, suggesting a preliminary survey of the city and available water sources with that end in view, regretting the lack of funds to establish the system completely that year; the saloons having been eliminated, the mayor emphasized the need of public comfort stations as well as recreation places, and concluded by declaring that a radical revision of the existing city charter, or an entirely new charter, was imperatively necessary to the city's welfare - the three last mentioned recommendations being features of Mayor Hartley's message of January 3, 1911.

Thus, former Mayor Hartley, next to the last chief executive under the old city council system, initiated the new charter which brought into existence the present system of city government by three commissioners, first taking charge of the city on July 1, 1912. R. B. Hassell succeeded Hartley as mayor in January, 1912, and with Councilmen Reardon, Durham, Miller, Carr, Solie, Jaxtheimer and Carlson, C. W. Durham being elected president of the council, formed the last city government of the old ward councilmanic school. Mayor Hassell's inaugural message was impressive and interesting, but was the most voluminous of mayoralty history so far as the records witness, as it covers seven of the great typewritten pages of the city council's journal book, which is a full-grown tome; the record also demonstrates the fact that Comptroller L. R. Kuster was an excellent and conscientious recording official. Other city officials of this closing administration were: Chief of Police J. W. Headlee, Engineer W. D. Bakhoff, Street Superintendent W. H. Tillman, Fire Chief W. A. Taro, Police Judge William Sheller (still in the same position), Electrician Fred C. Roscoe, Plumbing Inspector T. H. Zeigler, and Captain Robert McFarland, who is credited with having persuaded the Federal Government to establish the Mukilteo lighthouse while he was port warden of the Port of Everett, harbormaster. The board of public works was composed of Guy C. Alston, C. P. Spriesterbach, W. C. Hall and J. C. Taylor.

New Charter Adopted

A charter commission compiled an entirely new charter, adopted April 16, 1912, providing for the present commission form of government, and the election June 18, 1912, aroused much popular interest and discussion, not only on the charter proposition, but also relative to three other essential propositions to be voted on, as well as the election of the initial government of three commissioners, one of whom was to be mayor. There were but two candidates for each of the three commissionerships, and the results were the election of Commissioners C. Christenson, A. A. Brodeck and Alex Thompson, by the following vote:

By a vote of 2,938 to 903 the waterworks purchase ordinance, to buy the plant of the water system from the Everett Railway, Light & Power Company and the Puget Sound International Railway & Power Company, and authorizing general city bonds of $200,000 and special utility bonds of $150,000, was emphatically repealed by referendum submission. Proposition 2, authorizing and directing plans to be prepared for the establishment of a municipal city water system, was approved by a vote of 3,338 to 579, while Proposition No. 3, providing for the repeal of Ordinance No. 1407, was adopted by a vote of 2,989 to 854. The friends of T. E. Skaggs expressed surprise and disappointment over his defeat by Mr. Christenson, since a resident of Seattle. Mr. Skaggs had been a resident of Snohomish City from October, 1889, until 1898, when he removed to Everett. Following this formative year of Everett's new municipal life, he entered the service of the State of Washington, first as state tax commissioner from June 10, 1913, until December 1, 1914, and from the latter date as a member of the state board of control until April 1, 1921, following which he served a year as state director of business control, resigning April 1, 1922, to devote all his time to his growing business in the Snohomish County Abstract Company in Everett. He also served as a member of state commissions having supervision of the construction of the National Guard armories erected by the state at Everett, Aberdeen and Walla Walla.

First Commission

The first meeting of the new city government was held July 1, 1912, following the final meeting of the retiring council on June 29. In his final message Mayor Hassell expressed regret that the remainder of the bonds authorized at the election of 1911 were a drug on the market; the preceding city council had managed to float $400,000 worth of the issue and the present administration had disposed of $113,000 worth. These bonds were intended to replace warrants which former City Treasurer Keay had paid off with general fund money and had marked the warrants canceled, the mayor explained. But the bonds were extremely hard to sell, and therefore the city could not at that time be brought to a cash basis. Commissioner Christenson hecame mayor of the commission government, the first act of which was to make Capt. Pear Pearson harbormaster, Jesse H. Davis city attorney, C. C. Gilman city clerk, W. H. L. Ford treasurer and J. W. Hoover engineer. Civil service commission - Roland H. Hartley, John K. Healy, Percy Gardiner. City park commission - A. A. Brodeck, Dr. W. C. Cox, Alex LeGros, Sr., Mrs. FE. J. Walsh, Norman Lind.

Unfortunately, the members of the first commission were not all harmonious ; there were serious clashes between Mayor Christenson and Commissioner Brodeck, and Commissioner Thompson sided with Christenson. This resulted eventually in the resignation of Commissioner Brodeck, and Everett's first and only recall election. Before the recall, Christenson and Thompson appointed T. J. Kelly to succeed Brodeck as commissioner of safety. Recall petitions were immediately circulated and generally signed by the voters; at the election Commissioners Christenson and Thompson were recalled, and W. H. Clay was elected finance commissioner and mayor and J. M. Salter commissioner of public works, serving with Kelly the remainder of the four-year term expiring in 1916. At the 1916 election Mayor Clay and Commissioner T. J. Kelly were reelected and D. E. Merrill was elected to succeed J. M. Salter, commissioner of public works. In 1920 Mayor Clay was again elected for a four-year term as commissioner of finance, C. A. Turner as commissioner of safety and R. B. Williams as commissioner of public works. At the election of 1924 J. H. Smith was elected commissioner of public works and became mayor of the city, Thomas E. Headlee was elected commissioner of safety and vice president of the council, and N. D. Martin was chosen commissioner of finance, this board having conducted the affairs of the city up to the present time. In 1914 Louis Lesh succeeded C. C. Gilman as city clerk, and has continuously served at the head of that department since that time. Heads of other city departments are: Jane Mills, treasurer; O. D. Anderson, attorney; 5. E. Paine, engineer; Chas. E. Swanson, chief of fire department; William Sheller, police judge; Dr. J. S. Purdy, health officer; L. Davies, milk and food inspector ; F. C. Roscoe, electrician; Stephen Mitchell, building inspector; Carl F. Klapp, superintendent of water system; W. E. Craw, police captain.

At least three of the major city departments have made noteworthy records of progress and efficiency since the establishment of the commission form of government in 1912. These are the water, fire protection and park departments.

Everett's most valuable and admirable city property is its great city water system, representing the development and extension of the original plant purchased from the Puget Sound International Railway & Power Company, August 10, 1916, for $1,100,000 in the form of serial bonds, serial annual payments beginning in 1921 and calculated to pay up principal and interest by 1936. The present system is supplied from the upper canyon basin of the Sultan River forty miles from the city. The intake basin, eighty square miles in area, is an uninhabited mineral region, insuring permanent purity of the supply. Altitude at the intake, local datum, is 714 feet, affording a fall of 200 feet to the first of three storage and service reservoirs, this being Reservoir No. 3, cement, capacity 20,000,000 gallons; the next reservoir, No. 2, has 10,000,000 gallons capacity and the pioneer reservoir, No. 1, 1,250,000 gallons. The latter was built in 1894 on Tulalip Avenue south of Thirty-fifth Street, and has two outlet pipes, 20 and 24 inches, for distribution on the lower levels of the city. No. 2, built in 1911, south of Edward Avenue and west of Tulalip Avenue extended, depth 19 feet, elevation of high water 459 feet, with a 28-inch supply line of riveted steel and creosoted wood stave pipe 3,900 feet, 8,200 feet of 22-inch wooden stave pipe intake from Reservoir No. 3. The latter was built in 1924, depth of 21 feet, elevation at high water 515 feet, and has a separate well gated 28-inch inlet, this being the terminus of the Sultan River supply line. The Sultan River watershed has an area of 78 square miles above the intake, and the supply is delivered 26.5 miles through a single conduit to the high service reservoir south of the city. The minimum recorded flow irom 1912 to 1921 inclusive was 35,000,000 gallons a day, and when the Sultan River supply was delivered to the city in June, 1920, and since that time the minimum 24-hour service supply has averaged 90,000,000 gallons. The 26-mile intake conduit passes through four tunnels, 1,780 feet.

The auxiliary system held as an emergency reserve since 1919 and known as the Woods Creek supply, having its source in the head waters of Woods and Pigeon creeks, was used exclusively from 1895 to 1919, and was drawn upon for a couple of weeks in the winter of 1924-1925, when ice interfered with the Sultan River supply, and yields a minimum of 5,000,000 gallons daily. This supply is impounded in a small reservoir formed by a timber crib and earth dam, with a plank spillway at an elevation of 254 feet, with a 20-inch wooden stave pipe delivering to a reserve pumping station in the city. Water from large springs in the vicinity of the reservoir is collected through laterals and delivered by a 16-inch wooden stave pipe to a booster pumping station equipped with a 3,000,000-gallon centrifugal pump. The reserve pumping station is in a substation of the Puget Sound Light & Power Company on Broadway between Pacific Avenue and Wall Street and has two turbine centrifugal pumps of 2,000,000 and 3,000,000 daily capacity, driven by 150 and 250-horsepower electric motors. Either or both pumps can deliver through a 12-inch low service at 83 pounds pressure, or a 14-inch main to Reservoir 2 at 118 pounds pressure.

The distribution system of the city water establishment is in three services, each supplied from a distributing reservoir, and more than 66 miles of pipe lines are required, three-fourths of it being Matheson steel joint pipe. In 1925 a total of 323 hydrants were in use in the city. The water system supplies practically all built up districts of the city and 2,000 persons residing outside the corporate mits, | The original plant was built by the Everett Railway, Light & Power Company in 1894 and operated continuously from 1895 to 1919, inclusive. The property was | purchased and operated a number of years by the Puget Sound International Railway & Power Company, by which it was transferred to the city August 1, 1916, when in addition to the purchase price the city was bonded for $600,000 for the Sultan River extension project. In 1926 an emergency intake extension of 500 feet up the Sultan River basin is under construction, at a cost estimated by Superintendent Carl F. Klapp at between $15,000 and $30,000, the latter amount having been included in the city budget for the purpose. The gravity pressure afforded at the lower levels of the city is 125 pounds per hydrostatic inch, and 60 pounds, the United States standard of safety for fire protection, at the heart of the business center, Hewitt and Colby avenues. The water system not only has made a net profit in excess of expectations since 1916, but the average increase in gross earnings has grown from about $7,000 annually to nearly $10,000 annually, and out of the net proceeds the interest and principal payments on the bonds that were the basis of the system are promptly paid, as well as the salaries of all departments having any connection with the water department, including the mayor, clerk, engineer and treasurer and their staffs, the water system being charged with $15,000 annually in lieu of taxes. Nevertheless, the rates charged for water service have remained unchanged throughout the period of city control, despite increased costs of construction and maintenance. In 1926, thirty persons were required in the maintenance of the system. Superintendent Carl F. Klapp has been connected with the operation of the system since 1902, and has served as superintendent continuously since 1911.

Everett's first water system, built in 1892 by the Everett Land Company, was an emergency project and survived only during the pioneering first two years, the supply being from the Snohomish River and a huge well close to its southern shore. Hoge & Swift of Portland in March, 1892, took the contract to lay three and a half miles of water mains and service pipes in the city, from the river along Pacific Avenue as far west as Colby Avenue, and also to Swalwell's addition on Hewitt, R. R. Hoge directing the work, and the Everett Water Company, a subsidiary eorporation, to have charge of operation, according to a report in the Everett Times of March 3, 1892, and a week later the Everett Land Company was reported sinking a well 40 feet in diameter to supply the temporary water needs of the city, and by April 20 a new pump was in position at the temporary waterworks, capable of de- livering 650,000 gallons of water daily, the paper reporting excellent water in the big well at that time, but not enough to supply the city, so the well was dug deeper. At the same time work of laying the first mains began, from the well along Chestnut Street to Hewitt Avenue and thence to Pacific Avenue, with a hydrant at each street intersection. On May 20, 1892, Chief Engineer G. E. Montandon completed inspection of the system and mains and announced the plant was ready tc supply local industries and homes. In January, 1894, the company agreed to extend a main from Woods Creek to Lowell to supply that town. In the fall of 1893 the company needed funds and offered to sell the water system to the city for $140,000; and election was arranged for March 3, 1894, to determine the wishes of the voters, a large majority of whom favored purchase of the system. Then the question of bonding the city for $140,000 for the purchase of the property was put to vote the first Tuesday in April; meantime since its offer in the fall the company had sold real estate aggregating $1,500,000 and wished to withdraw the water system proposition. The $140,000 bonding proposition was then overwhelmingly defeated, 392 to 92, and the Everett Railway, Light & Power Company proceeded to extend and develop the permanent water supply plant which became the foundation of the present water system.

Water System Earnings

The city operated the system only the last four months of 1916, the gross earnings being $67,675.57 and the net earnings, deducting cost of operation, extensions and improvements, depreciation, interest and principal funds, etc., were $19,858.36 for the four months. Below is the record for the ten full years following, including estimates for 1926:

According to the records, the gross receipts during the last ten full years show an annual average of $217,727.70, and an annual net income above cost of extensions and improvements, contributions to the city, payments on principal and interest when due, etc., of $57,953, in addition to which the water department cash funds have been used to cash all city warrants presented when there was insufficient cash in the designated fund against which the warrants stood.

Everett Fire Department

The first fire department of Everett was a volunteer bucket brigade loosely organized in the Riverside district late in 1891, but early in 1892 this hardy little band was developed into a real fire-fighting force, equipped with hose and reel cart. The first Everett fire occurred on April Fool's Day, 1892. It started in the rear of an empty store building, which was destroyed by the flames, as was the adjoining building, occupied by a saloon, the total loss being estimated at $5,000, and the new fire department was congratulated for confining the blaze to the two buildings. The next important fire occurred on July 8, 1892, also at Riverside, and was the most destructive fire of that year. The fire started in a building known as the Red Front lodging house, on Market Street near Hewitt Avenue, and very soon the Merrill house and two or three other neighboring buildings were in flames. A new saloon, just getting ready for a grand opening, was the last to be burned. The poorly equipped firemen, under Chief J. A. Bowen, fought furiously, but in vain, and the loss was estimated to have exceeded $5,000. William Burton, known as "Billy the Fiddler," who had played his violin all the preceding night at Clancy & Moore's dance hall, was asleep in the Red Front lodging house and was burned to death. T. J. Ducker of the Red Front lodging house risked his life fearlessly in trying to save furniture and other valuables from the burning buildings, and was so badly burned that he died a week later. The funeral, held in Snohomish City Tuly 19, was the most largely attended in the history of the county up to that time; the entire membership of the Everett fire company attended in a body; the ceremony included the burial ritual of the Masons and Odd Fellows, and interment was made in Woodlawn Cemetery. Newspapers of the time credited the Everett firemen with saving the new town from entire destruction by their prompt preventive efforts.. The same men won commendation for effective work in the next big fire, in January, 1893, and the Everett Land Company gave the company $100 in recognition of its work in saving the Bay View Hotel at that time. Although Everett was incorporated as a city of the third class in May, 1893, the Everett Fire Department did not rise to metropolitan proportions until December of that year, when the first and only new chemical fire engine arrived and was given a dress parade introduction to the public on the first Friday in December. This wonderful machine remained the pride of the department for many years, but in 1901 Fire Chief Connor went before the city council and declared that the equipment was entirely inadequate and asked for a new, modern steam engine and other desirable new apparatus. Also in that year, March, 1901, two new fire buildings were erected, one on Maple, the other on Wetmore, built under contract by W. J. Miller for $2,479 each. The equipment provided at that time constituted mainly the apparatus used at the conflagrations of August, 1909, when the county courthouse was destroyed.

W. A. Taro, who was chosen chief in 1911, was chief.of the Everett Fire Department from the beginning of the commission form of government, July, 1912, until his tragic death early in November, 1923, when he was succeeded by Assistant Chief Charles E. Swanson, who had been Taro's chief lieutenant throughout his commendable administration and who remains the chief of the department at present, as well as the oldest man in point of service of the thirty-six men on the roll of the present paid department. The death of Chief Taro resulted from injuries sustained when the chief's car collided with a pumper truck at the intersection of Hewitt and Colby avenues, October 29, 1923, when both machines were answering an emergency fire call and traveling at top speed. The chief's car was smashed, Driver Dennis Bushell was killed outright, and Chief Taro was so badly injured that he died twelve days later. Commissioner of Safety T. E. Headlee, who is directly in charge of the supervision of the fire department, is also the official member of the Board of Health and Sanitation, the appointive members of which are Dr. W. C. Cox and Dr. William F. West, and also heads the police department. His predecessors as commissioners of safety were A. A. Brodeck, T. J. Kelly and C. A. Turner.

During the last five years maintenance of the department has cost from $61,000 to $70,000, in round numbers, including salaries and general expenses, annually, and new apparatus for the five-year period ended with 1924, $14,131. The present excellent equipment of the Everett Fire Department began in 1912, when a late model auto hose wagon, 73-horsepower, with 1,650 feet of hose, two ladders, extinguishers and tanks, was placed in service, manned by the offshift No. 1. Two years later a 750-gallon pumper, 73-horsepower, 1,450 feet of hose and 1,400 feet in reserve, two ladders and four extinguishers, manned by four men at the Hewitt Avenue and Walnut Street station, was placed in service; like the two larger type pumpers added in 1918 and 1925, this is of the standard American-LaFrance make, gasoline motor type, each of the two later pumpers having a capacity of 1,000 gallons per minute. Headquarters station, corner of Oakes and California, in 1915 received a fifty-five-foot city service hook and ladder outfit, 73-horsepower, carrying eleven ladders having a total length of 289 feet, besides 150 feet of hose and four extinguishers of 120 gallons chemical capacity.

The committee on fire prevention and engineering standards of the National Board of Fire Underwriters, in its twenty-two-page printed report on the City of Everett, No. 300, dated January, 1926, makes these comments and explanations: "Chief Chas. E. Swanson, age forty-four, is executive and administrative head of the department. He is a capable and progressive officer with twenty years' experience, thirteen years being as assistant chief and one year as acting chief. Assistant Chief F. F. Schroeder, age thirty-seven, has been a member of the department fourteen years; he has charge of fire prevention inspections. Membership, thirtysix; including two chief officers, three captains, two lieutenants, mechanic, fire alarm superintendent, three fire alarm operators and twenty-four firemen. Repairs - the shop at headquarters contains lathe, drill press, grinder, forge, work bench and small tools; a fair supply of spare parts is stocked. All repairs necessary, except to electrical equipment, are said to have been made in this shop. Hydrant repairs also are made."" The report notes in detail in service three pumper engines, capacity 2,750 gallons per minute, one combination automobile hose wagon, one combination auto ladder truck, the chief's, the supply service and the fire alarm automobiles ; 9,650 feet of hose, including 1,000 feet one-inch hose for the chemical ; 421 feet of ladders in service, besides eight short ladders; twelve portable extinguishers, and two in reserve; three deluge sets, and one in reserve; two siamese connections; one cellar pipe, and five distributing nozzles, with one in reserve. Snohomish with a 750-gallon pumper can provide aid within half an hour and Seattle within an hour and a half, the couplings of the three cities being identical. The fire alarm system is under the direction of Supt. W. H. Meade, practical electrician appointed in January, 1925, under civil service rules, and the system is the new Gamewell manual type, operated on a ten-circuit switchboard, installed in 1924-25. The telephone company, police department and the two private fire alarm systems operated in the city by the Aero Alarm Co. are mentioned in the report, as well as the state fire protection service. In conclusion the report comments: "The form of organization of the fire alarm system is good,'' commends the two- platoon system of organization and service in the department, remarking that "the fire department is well organized, the form of supervision is suitable and officers are experienced. * * * With the exception of the chief, superintendent, mechanic, secretary and fire alarm operators, members are divided into equal platoons, on duty ten and fourteen hours, and alternating every eight days. Members are allowed one day off in eight and an annual vacation of fifteen days * * * a substitute is hired during the summer. All members are required to have telephones in their residences and to respond to alarms when notified. They are not permitted to leave the city without permission, which is granted to not more than five at a time."

Everett City Parks

Central Park, embracing a complete city block, 264 by 400 feet in area, flanked on the east by Lombard and on the west by Oakes Avenue, was Everett's original city park, the only area of the kind so designated prior to 1900. Central Park consequently received constructive attention long before any other pleasure ground. The fine large trees were left there in their natural surroundings and usual growth, but much clearing was done and the park made accessible and pleasing. In recent years a fine tennis court has been built and other recreation features make it a favorite outdoor resort, while since the close of the St. Louis World's Fair in 1904, one of its conspicuous western exhibits, a Snohomish County monarch stump that had been converted into a dwelling house, has occupied a place in Central Park, where it shares interest with the ornate fountain and pool, the fine collections of flowering plants and shrubs, and in season even the commodious band stand.

In 1903 the Everett Improvement Company immortalized its incorporation by giving the city outright an entire park area, along the bay side of Grand Avenue, and which has since become one of the most beautiful thoroughfare decorations to delight the wayfarer anywhere in the Puget Sound country, although embracing only 3.428 acres in area. It was originally called Grand Avenue Plaza, but in later vears it became as it is now, Grand Avenue Park, and makes that sightly thoroughfare as popular for motorists as the incomparable Rucker Hill drive.

In 1900 William G. Swalwell offered as a gift to the city a forty-acre tract at the summit of Mukilteo Hill, on condition that the city improve it for park purposes to the extent of $500 a year for five years and maintain it permanently as a free public park. A few years later the city purchased in the same locality eighty acres for park purposes, naming it Forest Park, paying the owner, W. G. Swalwell, $250 per acre for the property, a total of $20,000. In 1919 Edward Strong was discouraged by the inactivity of demand for his Bay View addition in that district, and the tract of twenty acres was absorbed for delinquent taxes and then became a city property and was included in Forest Park, increasing its area to 110.84 acres, its present size - more than two-thirds the combined area of all the city parks. No improvements were attempted upon this fine, elevated woodland property, however, until the fall and winter of 1914, when the European war brought scores of Canadian refugees to Everett, most of them without funds sufficient to maintain themselves, and local industry was not able to provide them with employment. Thomas J. Kelly, who was commissioner of public safety and chief of police from February 9, 1914, until 1920, is credited with suggesting a plan by which the commission by public funds and popular contributions raised a fund of $2,500 to put these strangers to work clearing away masses of fallen timber from the present improved

HISTORY OF SNOHOMISH COUNTY : 431 portion of the park. Each of the Canadian unfortunates was allowed two days' work a week at $2.50 a day, and the men cleared away, piled and burned a lot of the down timber. Chief Kelly then sacrificed much of his popularity in some circles by organizing a "chain gang" composed of certain prisoners in the city jail, and proceeded vigorously to finish up the work so well started by the Canadian refugees, and thus prepared all the present enclosed area. In 1910 Mr. Kelly went to Yellowstone Park for the county for a number of the starving Wyoming elk; he started home with forty-one, but eleven were killed in a train crash in Montana; the thirty remaining were liberated at Gold Bar and later injured farm crops. Robert Miller had a pet elk heifer calf, which he presented to the city, and it became the first animal of the present Forest Park zoo, a young bull elk from Seattle soon after being added. Doctor Tozier's two brown bears from Wenatchee and two black bears from McMurray followed, and later owls, eagles, foxes, coyotes, etc.

Silver Lake Park, 33.80 acres, was purchased by the city for $15,000, but has not as yet been improved, being a natural sylvan gem. Riverview Park, ten acres on the south bank of the Snohomish at Summit Avenue, purchased from the Everett Improvement Company in 1917 for $10,000, named by the school children of Riverside, has become the city's official tourist park. Much of its development for this purpose is due to the effective interest and activity of the Riverside people themselves, headed by the Riverside Commercial Club.

The first city park commissioners under the present form of government were Alex Le Gros, now dean of the board, Dr. Ida McIntire, Mrs. F. J. Walsh, H. W. North and W. H. Cleaver. The board in 1926 is composed of President Dean S. Ashton, Finance Commissioner N. D. Martin, A. Le Gros, Sr., Fred C. Schoch, Jacob Anthes and S. Hallsworth. Park Supt. Oden Hall has direct charge of park development and maintenance.

The beginnings of the Port of Everett were built around the Snohomish River in its connection with Snohomish City, which was then the county seat of Snohomish County. The first wharf was at the foot of Pacific Avenue and accommodated not only the Sound boats running from Seattle, but particularly the boats plying between Everett and Snohomish, where everybody lived while they were getting the townsite of Everett under way, which was in 1891. As the town grew, the permanent river landing was switched to the foot of Hewitt Avenue, but remained at the foot of Pacific for many years. ae

Some of the early boats running up and down the river and making Everett their port of call were the W. K. Merwin, which ran from Snohomish and Everett ta Seattle; the Black Prince, the Marguerite, the Garden City, and the Mikado, | running between Snohomish and Everett. Some of the early characters were W. Kk. Merwin, owner of the Merwin, and Captain Bergman of the Marguerite. Logs being the heavy river commercial product, Joe Mercereau and Neil Spithill should not be overlooked as famous river drivers of those early days.

lumber docks, and its gradual growth into a cosmopolitan city, with the shipping ramifications that go with such a development, are spread over some thirty-five years of time.

The imagination of the citizenry of Everett was intrigued very much over the outcome of the building by the United States Government of what is known as the "jetty." Over $700,000 was spent on this supposed improvement. It was calculated to make a great fresh-water harbor by causing the Snohomish River to scour its channel and bring into being a deep waterway inside of the jetty wall that would consist of fresh water and at the same time have some minor protection from the Northwest gales. The passing of time, after its completion, proved it to be mainly a failure and quite a bit of the work of the harbor authorities in recent years has been spent in various attempts to adjust their harbor development and river improvement to this jetty wall construction. -

One of the fortunate things for the city in its harbor history was the acquirement of what is known as the City Dock property at the foot of Hewit Avenue on the Bayside. It came to the city as the outlet for a sewer and I doubt if many realized the far-reaching benefits that will ultimately come to the city through its

In connection with this city dock property we should not overlook the splendid waterways 200 feet wide lying on each side of the City Dock property, which are | really public water streets or thoroughfares into which no obstacles to navigation may be built, and greatly increasing the value of the 150-foot area lying between these two waterways. When necessity requires, a dock can be built on this public property extending into deep water 1,000 feet.

In passing, credit should be given to the organization known as the "Citizens' League"' for the securing of these two wonderful waterways as abutments to our water outlet on the bay front. Some of the founders and active spirits of this organization were J. J. Clark, W. H. Clay, Jacob Hunsaker, E. M. Metzger and Edward F. Bryan.

The general affairs of the Harbor of Everett during the many years of its early growth were in the hands of public-spirited bodies and our municipal government ; the Port of Everett, a specific municipal corporation, not being regularly organized until 1918. The first commissioners for the Port of Everett regularly elected were A. D. McAdam, C. W. Miley and Albert Burke, Mr. McAdam being the first president of the Port of Everett.

The general area embraced in the Port of Everett district includes all that part of the Snohomish River delta and the Peninsula of Everett lying westerly of the east boundary of Ebey Slough, following from the latter's mouth easterly and southerly to its conjunction with the Snohomish River proper, southeast of Lowell, and westerly in such a manner as to extend the port district almost to Silver Lake, and thence westward, including the Town of Mukilteo.

On March 10, 1919, A. D. McAdam resigned and A. M. Chitty was, on March 31, 1919, appointed by the commission to fill his unexpired term. Albert Burke was elected on March 10 of the same year to the presidency of the Everett Port Commission: During the short period that these commissioners had been in office a great deal of engineering information was gathered by them concerning the soundings in front of the city and around the mouth of Snohomish River, bearing on the best method of developing the harbor in connection with the control of the silting up of the harbor caused by the great amount of detritus brought down by the river.

J. G. Schuchart was appointed commissioner on July 2, 1919, to take the place of Albert Burke, who had resigned, and on July 16 C. W. Miley was elected president of the commission, and continued as its president until the election of F. G. Tegtmeier to the commission in the December election, 1919. At this time A. B. Cutter was elected commissioner to take the place on the commission of Mr. Schuchart, the other officer being Mr. Miley. J. M. Rhodes, secretary of the Chamber of Commerce, became secretary to the commission in August, 1919. This period of the port commission engaged the activities of its officers mainly by reason of the commission's endeavor to acquire an area of some 2,000 acres lying in front of the city and outside the jetty wall, with the intention of developing the same as occasion might require as a free port area, a law having been passed by the State Legislature giving special powers to the port commission for such improvement for free port purposes. These efforts of the commission failed, the Supreme Court of the State of Washington ruling that the comprehensive plan of the Port of Everett covering such acquisition was too "vague, indefinite and general" to permit of condemnation proceedings over said proposed free port area to bring about its enforcement; consequently the acquirement of said area was dropped. Since the free port program of the United States still lacks national legislative acts to carry it into operation, the City of Everett has lost nothing through this failure of the port commission.

C. W. Miley was reelected commissioner in December, 1920, and F. G. Tegtmeier was reelected in December, 1921. However, Mr. Miley resigned in March, 1922, and C. A. Purcell was appointed by the commission to fill out his unexpired term.

The December election of 1922 saw a reorganization of the port commission through the election to its membership of Fred C. Schoch and Lloyd L. Black, who was selected as president, Mr. Tegtmeier being the other member of the commission and Marvin W. Smith functioning as secretary to the commission, having served since January, 1921. This period of the port commission history saw the port commission join with the other cities on Puget Sound in pressing the demands in Congress for a Government-owned dredge to be stationed on Puget Sound for the purpose of controlling the silting up of the mouths of these rivers and develop-, ing their use for purposes of navigation, though this dredge matter is still pending.

About this time the commission began to devote attention to the encouragement and building up of ferry connections between Everett Port district and Whidby Island. Through the efforts of the commission and its cooperation with Manager A. A. Scott of the Crown Lumber Company, a seventy-foot strip of land east of the lighthouse in the Town of Mukilteo, and running from Front Street into deep water, became the sole property of the Everett Port district, and there were constructed thereon landing facilities, and landing facilities were also installed and maintained on the Everett water front for ferry and small boat service.

In December, 1923, Homer T. Fowler became a member of the commission, taking the place of Lloyd L. Black, while Fred C. Schoch became president of the commission. Fred G. Tegtmeier was again reelected commissioner in 1924. This period of port history saw the continued encouragement of Whidby Island development through attention to the ferry connections between Everett Port district and the island ports. A comprehensive plan was worked out and adopted for improving the jetty wall and taking care of the river current so as to make a permanent inner harbor, as well as provide manufacturing sites by means of these proposed improvements.

In December, 1925, Nels Weborg was elected to the commission, which as now organized consists of its president, F. G. Tegtmeier, and Commissioners Homer T. Fowler and Nels Weborg.

The principal work of the Port of Everett organization has consisted in working out a plan under which the Everett Harbor facilities may be coordinated and harmoniously developed with the purpose of best protecting the operation of its mills, while at the same time bringing into being, as the need requires, a protected inner harbor, together with manufacturing sites as required by the city's growth.

Along with these general plans, the energies of the port officials have been more particularly centered on developing the commercial resources of Whidby Island, lying to the westward of Snohomish County and the City of Everett. This has been brought about with a very small financial outlay. Small ferries have been encouraged by the maintenance of the landings in Everett and at Mukilteo, with the result that the settlement of the island has been greatly accelerated through the low ferry rates.

Much produce for our canneries, as a result of easy accessibility, is grown on Whidby Island, which island ranks as an area best adapted to the production of loganberries of any in the Northwest. The Marshall strawberry grows at its best on this island, and since 93 per cent of all strawberries consumed by the public are processed in barrels, and inasmuch as the Marshall strawberry absorbs more sugar than any other berry, having also a wonderful flavor and brightest syrup color, this especially makes the development of the transportation facilities of this island of far-reaching consequence to Everett.

The ultimate outcome of the encouragement by the Port of Everett of the best possible connections with Whidby Island will be the extension to the Olympic Peninsula of ferry lines connecting Whidby Island with the peninsula and bringing many tourists and quite a little business that will route that way on account of facilities for connecting with the mainland via Whidby Island. Of course, one of the basic results will be splendid roads for Whidby Island, which benefits Everett directly by furnishing the means of access to the ferries. The fact that wonderful roads can be capitalized only in their connection with ocean and river ' waterways by the very best dock facilities is something that has been overlooked by many otherwise close observers.

One of the giant figures in the development of the water-borne commerce of the City of Everett is Capt. Harry Ramwell. His fleet of tugs, which tow immense supplies of logs to the mills as well as convey the scows of lumber from the mills on the inner river channel and give us deep water wharves and landing facilities on the harbor front, is a never-ending service to the carrying on of our lumber industry.

Captain Ramwell's operation of what are known now as Pier 1 and Pier 3, formerly known as the Everett Improvement Company Dock and the Oriental Dock, respectively, together with Mill "A" Dock, furnishes our best wharf facilities.

Pier 1, or the Everett Improvement Company Dock, was built by J. T. Mc- Chesney, late president of the Everett Improvement Company, and was carried on by him for many years. Over this dock the great bulk of the tonnage of the

Everett Pulp & Paper Mill has passed. Some of the fill under this dock was made from the high hill that once stood where now the new Monte Cristo Hotel is built. The removal of this dirt and placing it under this dock was one of Mr. McChesney's last improvement operations about the city before his death, at or about which time the ownership and operation of this dock passed to Captain Ramwell.

Pier 3, or the Oriental Dock, was built by the Great Northern Railway Company as an outlet for wheat from the interior, but the seeming effect was the securing of a freight rate beneficial to the Hill system, which continued the routing of the east-of-the-mountains grain down the Columbia via the Portland gateway to the Pacific. For years this dock was more or less of an incubus, until the World war caused its usage as a dock for handling vegetable oils and other products. Again, after the war shipping was over, it lapsed into disuse and was about to be torn down when the increase of our water-borne lumber trade through the Panama Canal, together with the enterprise of Captain Ramwell, caused the dock to be completely overhauled and put in fine condition. The radio facilities, furnished by Captain Ramwell also, have been a great source of advertising for the City of Everett, as well as a benefit to navigation.

We should not overlook the wharf known as Mill "A" Pier, which furnishes the outlet for the products of the Weyerhaeuser mills located at Everett. The history of this dock runs back to its original beginnings by the Bell-Nelson mill in the early 90s. Then the property passed to the late James E. Bell, and finally to the Weyerhaeuser company. Thus a little mill wharf was gradually developed into a great ocean terminal. From this dock pass not only the products of Mill "A" itself, but that of Mill "B" and Mill "C" located on the Snohomish River proper, which lumber is carried by a fleet of scows to Mill "A," and there loaded on vessels destined to all parts of the world. This dock handles on an average 300 vessels per year and 300,000,000 feet of lumber, which includes lumber from other mills and inland places transferred on this dock in its process of accumulation for outgoing trade.

In looking back over the efforts of the people of Everett towards building up a port, we have seen its development from the small beginnings on the Riverside to the installation of the splendid docks which take care of the products of its great lumber industry.

The work of the Everett Port Commission for the future must consist of filling in the foundation work laid by its officers since the year of its initial organization, which will consist of raising the jetty wall to the west of the town to keep off the Northwest winds and cut off the river from access to this protected area behind the jetty wall. This will make a permanent basin, once it is dredged out, free from silting up with the debris brought down the river. Between this inner dockage area and the mainland proper will be developed a great manufacturing area with ample terminal facilities of quay wall wharves and rail along the east side of the channel. Of course this work must go forward in such a manner as not to interfere with the lumber handling between the inner river and the deep water facilities, the transition being gradually made as the industrial phase of Everett passes to more intensive manufacturing and the handling of agricultural and mineral resources tributary to this point. Meanwhile it is hoped they will not drop their continual improvement of the facilities reaching westward into Whidby Island and across to the Olympic Peninsula, much of which area through these sources will be made tributary to the commercial development of the City of Everett and Snohomish County.

Everett Public Library

The Everett Public Library was founded through the efforts of the Woman's 300k Club of Everett, who, in 1894, when the city was only three years old, presented a petition to the council asking that a public library be established. In order to collect the 1,000 books to offer the city, the Woman's Book Club sent out a request to 450 federated clubs for aid. This request, which was the first of its kind, met with a generous response from all parts of the country. Local donations were received at a club picnic, and the desired volumes were soon gathered together.

The Woman's Book Club paid all the opening expenses and, in addition, $15 a month to the librarian, Miss Alice McFarland, who was sent to Seattle by the club to receive some instruction in the Seattle Public Library in library methods before the library was officially opened.

On April 21, 1898, the library was opened to the public in the city hall, the city having donated three rooms for its use. The library occupied these rooms until 1901, when a building was erected on Rockefeller Avenue, about the size of a one-room store, which served its purpose until 1903. It was open from 2 to 6 P. M. on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday and from 7 to 9 P. M. on Saturday.

In 1903 Mr. Carnegie offered $25,000 for a building, provided the city would pledge $2,500 annually for its support. The offer was accepted. The city traded the lot on which the old library was situated to Henry Hewitt, Jr., for the present location (three lots) on the corner of Oakes and Wall streets (the old site of the Chamber of Commerce), Mr. Hewitt donating the additional two lots, and the building was accordingly erected and opened to the public July 3, 1905. The hours during which it was open were from 1 to 9 P. M. and on Saturday 9:30 A. M. to 10 P. M., from 1905 to 1914. In 1908 the reading room was opened on Sunday from 2 to6 P. M. Since March, 1914, the library has been open from 10 A. M. to 10 P. M. every day, and on Sunday as usual.

The appropriation from the city for the maintenance of the library from 1905 to 1910 was $2,500 per annum. In 1910 it was increased to $4,000. In 1911, under the new city charter, it was made not less than $4,000 and not more than .004 of taxable property. In 1914 the appropriation was $5,200, representing the maximum allowed.

Miss Alice McFarland was the first librarian, 1898-1900. She was succeeded by Miss Gretchen Hathaway, who held the position from 1900 to 1907, and was succeeded by Mrs. A. E. Wharton, who held the post until succeeded by a trained librarian, Miss Mary Frank, February, 1914, to June, 1916.

Miss Elizabeth Topping served as librarian from June, 1916, to June 15, 1919, succeeded by Miss Mabel Ashley. At the November election of 1919 library millage was increased to eight-tenths of a mill, maximum allowed.

The first library board under the commission government, 1912, was composed of W. G. Swalwell, Mrs. Harry Lansdown, Rev. Edgar M. Rogers, Mrs. Lizzie Jones and Mrs. H. L. Oldfield. The 1926 board includes Mrs. C. H. Norgard, E. B. Wight, J. A. Coleman, F. T. Hardwick and Mrs. Harry Winde.

Everett Schools

The growth of the public schools from 1891 until the present has been rapid and reflects the increase of the city's population. From the organization of District

No. 24 and the time of the first meeting of the board of directors in August, 1891, at the home of E. Bast, the system has seen a steady yearly improvement. The first board consisted of Frank P. Friday, Engelbert Bast and W. M. Ross as directors and John McRae as clerk. Arrangements were made for a temporary school building on Broadway. The first teacher engaged for the one-room school was Miss Emma Yule, and school was opened on December 14 of that year. Students increased rapidly in number, and a second room was necessary to lessen the burdens of a single teacher. This was accomplished by securing an additional room on January 4, 1892.

It is seldom that a town grows so rapidly in population in a year that a school district is compelled to increase its teaching force from one to thirteen members ; but that is what happened in Everett. For the year 1892 to 1893 a teaching corps of that number was hired. Professor Shepherd was in charge of the 300 pupils. Contracts were also let in August, 1892, for the erection of two eight-room brick schools - one on Riverside and one on Bayside. These were afterwards named the Monroe and Jefferson buildings. The Monroe building was erected at a cost of nearly $29,000, with a capacity for 480 students; while the Jefferson structure represented an outlay of over $26,000 and accommodates 360 pupils.

Succeeding school boards have almost invariably been confronted with the necessity of providing additional facilities to care for the increasing school population. By March, 1893, there were 437 children attending school in Everett. In 1898 another school, "Smelter," was built at a cost slightly over $1,000. This building was later abandoned. In 1899 the Lincoln School was added to the system, costing over $28,000 and erected to take care of 360 students. In 1902 the Jackson School was built, costing nearly $19,000 and having a seating capacity of 320. The same year the Garfield School came into existence, representing a cost of $41,900. This structure was added to in 1922, requiring a further expenditure of $70,000. Over 900 students can be taken care of in this building. The Washington School, in the north end, came next, in 1907, representing an investment of $56,700. Two years later the high school structure on Colby Avenue, costing $165,000 and caring for 640 students, became necessary. The Longfellow School, costing $54,400 and accommodating 440 pupils, followed in 1911; and the vocational building, costing $57,400, was erected the next year. The Central School was also built that year, at a cost of $12,000. In 1915 the Monroe School was reconstructed at a cost of nearly $37,000, and the high school was augmented by the erection of the commercial building, representing an investment of $44,900. The growth of school population in the city made necessary the erection of two junior high schools in 1925, at a total outlay of $435,000. One of these is situated in the north portion of the city and the other in the southern section. In addition there are four portable rooms at Pinehurst, one at Beverly Park, and two rooms maintained at the Parkland Home. Altogether the buildings of the Everett system represent an investment of $1,130,000 and can supply the needs of over 7,800 students.

The attendance had increased by leaps and bounds from the first establishment of a district, until at the close of the term in June, 1904, the enrollment was 3,129; and there was then a teaching force of seventy-two. Of the above number, 218 were attending high school and 2,911 were in the grades. It is interesting to note that at that time less than 7 per cent of the students were in high school; while today the high school students represent approximately 25 per cent of the total enrollment.

Present School System

The Everett schools are carefully governed by a progressive board of directors who devote much of their time to their duties. Dr. J. F. Beatty has served for years on the board and is now its president. S. Frank Spencer, former Snohomish County legislator, is another member who has devoted years to work on the board and is now its vice president. The three other members are A. W. Hooton, of the Boeshar-Hooton Company, Dr. R. W. Earlywine, and C. B. Arthur. H. M. Campbell, Jr., is secretary for the board, with offices in the high school building. John H. Grannis is attendance officer; C. D. Luthey is superintendent of grounds and buildings; and Mrs. F. H. Shaw is manager of the high school cafeteria.

The teaching corps of the high school, junior high schools, and grade schools of the city has now reached nearly 230 members. Arthur Wilson has been superintendent for the past several years; and DeGaris Reeves is principal of the high school. The high school has departments in English, science, history, physical education, mathematics, foreign languages, commercial and vocational training, home economics and art. The supervisors at this time are Miss Esther Sather, music; Miss Irma Pelz, physical education; C. G. Sheldon, playgrounds; E. P. Fait, manual training; Miss Hannah Jones, art and design; Mrs. Nell Kantner, home economics; Miss Lillian Worrell, penmanship department.

F. T. Hardwick was promoted to principal of the North Junior High School upon its opening; and H. B. Jory was moved up to the same office in the fall of 1926 at the South Junior High School, when it first opened in September. Principals of the other schools are as follows: J. R. Byers, Washington; G. A. Love, Garfield; Mrs. Esther Ford, Monroe; Miss Belle Melvin, Longfellow; E. H. Evans, Lincoln; Miss Beatrice Robinson, Jackson; Miss Emily B. Maakestad, Jefferson School; Miss Thelma Knudson, Pinehurst.

The total attendance in the Everett schools is now well over the 7,000 mark, and the high school enrollment will soon be crowding the 2,000 mark. Figures for the years 1925-26, compiled by J. A. Jacobson, county superintendent of schools, showed that it cost the district .5614 cents a day to educate a high school pupil. Twenty-eight cents of this came through county and state apportionments. From non-high school districts the Everett district for that period received $10,917.76 from the Snohomish County non-high school fund; $76.44 from Island County; $90.12 from Chelan, and $5.88 from Whatcom. These sums were arrived at by assessing .2814 cents a day per pupil from the non-high school districts involved sending students to the Everett High School.

Parochial Schools

In addition to the public schools of the city there are two schools built and conducted by the Catholic parishes. St. Dominic's Academy was built in 1901, when Everett had a population of about 7,000, at the corner of Everett Avenue and Cedar Street. In 1907 an addition was built to care for increased attendance. In 1926, and at a cost of $110,000, this parish erected a beautiful structure, combining both church and school.

A second school, named the Immaculate Conception School, was erected in 1923, at the corner of Twenty-fifth and Hoyt, being a well-built, two-story brick edifice.. These two schools are a credit to the city, employ able teaching staffs, and maintain a standard of study to compare favorably with public school instruction.

Other Church Organizations

Nothing speaks more highly of the people who united to build Everett in its earliest days than the fact that while it was yet a wilderness of woods made desolate by fallen timbers, stumps, and frame shacks, and while the saloons and the dance halls flourished, many of the citizens of the better class had brought with them their consciences and their love of God and church, and in the midst of the rush and confusion and disorder started to build the churches which grace and benefit the city today. The record shows that these good people did not wait for the erection of church buildings or even of suitable halls, but met at private homes, work shops and store rooms, proving the verity of those Scriptural words that "wherever two or three are gathered together in My name, there will I be also." The people who built Everett were drawn from almost every state in the Union and from many countries, and brought with them an affection for the religion of their old homes. This, perhaps, accounts for the large number of denominations in the city, which has been a beneficent factor in providing a church home for almost every phase of religious thought, but which has operated against the building up of strong congregations and the erection of costly edifices. Thus, today, while there are many handsome and comfortable church buildings, there is none of that magnificence which sometimes denotes a desire for worldly display as much as it does spiritual devotion. No man will dispute the great influence which the church has had upon American civilization and its effects have been plainly shown in Everett. The leaven which began working even before Everett took on the appearance of a city has been at work through all the years, and while it has not made the city perfect, it has helped greatly in making conditions better and giving people higher and cleaner ideals. The church idea began to grow in Everett just as soon as one zealous church man found a few others of his kind. These got together to hold services after the manner of their choice, and these meetings quickly led to organizations and then to churches. As the first meetings were private and informal affairs, it is difficult to say which congregation should enjoy the credit of seniority. The churches organized in 1891 were the First Presbyterian, Trinity Episcopal, and the Catholic Church of Our Lady of Perpetual Help.

First Presbyterian Church

The First Presbyterian Church grew out of meetings held wherever accommodations could be secured. The large carpenter shop at the barge works was used, meetings were held in real estate offices and in an old boarding house, until there was formed a nucleus of some twenty persons who appealed to the Presbytery of Puget Sound, which was meeting in Seattle, for the organization of a congregation. Rev. J. W. Dorrance, John McRae, and Rev. Thomas McGuire, of Snohomish, were appointed to effect this organization, which was done in December, 1891, there being sixteen charter members. A plain but substantial frame church building was erected in 1892 in Swalwell's addition, north of Hewitt Avenue, with a seating capacity of 400. This church, in the Riverside part of Everett, the first church building erected in the city, now stands at 1711 Wall Street, having been moved from its first location. Rev. Thomas McGuire was the first pastor, and John McRae was clerk of the first session. The present church, at the corner of Rockefeller and Wall, was built in 1910 at a cost of $30,000 and has a seating capacity of about 600. Throughout the thirty-five years of its history this church has grown steadily and it is now in a prosperous condition with a membership of approximately 700. Rev. George T. Gunter, D. D., has been pastor of this congregation since 1922, and since 1924 the work of the church has also been benefited by having the services of Miss Ellanore Ewing as educational director. No branch of church work is neglected, and, although perhaps the oldest in years, this church is among the youngest in spirit. In 1926 the church purchased a manse for $8,000, located at 705 Thirty-third Street.

Trinity Episcopal Church

Trinity Episcopal Church was organized in April, 1891, by Rev. John Dow Hills, who remained in charge of the newly created parish until after the erection of its first church building, which was built on four lots, at the corner of Callifornia and Wetmore, which were donated by Henry Hewitt, Jr., through the influence of Charles Diller Fratt. With unusual foresight this church was built in parish house style, and in later years the congregation was able to dispose of it at a profit, which very materially aided in forming a nucleus for the building fund of the present very beautiful structure of old English architecture, which was erected in 1920, on the corner of Twenty-third and Hoyt. The Rev. Edgar M. Rogers is the rector of this parish and his unusual gifts as a pulpit orator and his high standing as a citizen have greatly endeared him to the people of Everett, regardless of creed.

The Church Of Our Lady Of Perpetual Help

The Catholic Church of Our Lady of Perpetual Help was organized at a meeting held in the public school building near Broadway in 1891. Rev. Joseph Kronin was the organizer and the temporary priest sent here by the Jesuit mission, which then had charge of the missionary work and the establishment of churches in this region. The first resident priest was Rev. Father Classins, who came to Everett in 1898. Dr. W. D. Power, of Seattle, and Garrett Cleary were the first altar boys, serving the bishop at the dedicatory service. The first child to be baptized after the church was organized was Edwin O'Kelly. Among the early members were Mrs. T. C. Doheny, E. W. Walsh, A. D. McAdam and family, and the William Costello family. St. Dominic's Academy is the parochial school. On the church property at Cedar and Everett has recently been erected the beautiful new combination church and academy which was built at a cost of $110,000. This church has had a phenomenal growth, having a membership of 275 families, or approximately 1,000 members. Rev. Father A. S. Fischer is in charge of this very flourishing parish.

First Baptist Church

The meetings which led to the organization of the First Baptist Church of Everett were held in a chapel car on a side track on the railroad. Rev. D. J. Pierce was the zealous missionary clergyman at whose instigation a congregation was organized, there being but eighteen members when the church was first incorporated. Meetings were held in a small building in the Riverside district in 1892, and some time later a lot was purchased on Lombard between Hewitt and Wall. Rev. A. D. Banks, D. D., was the first pastor and did much of the pioneer work for this district. Among the noted pastors of this congregation were Rev. W. E. Henry, D. D., and Rev. W. E. Randall, D. D.; the latter came in 1905, and under his guidance the church doubled in membership. The advisory board, consisting of the pastor, all elective officers, and boards of the church, forms the executive department. J. J. Ressevuie is president of the incorporation, and Mrs. Roy Duchine is the clerk. Rev. H. Robinson McKee is the present pastor. In connection with the work of its own congregation the First Baptist Church conducts a Sunday School at the mission at Delta, E. C. Clark being the superintendent in charge.