From Timber to Technology - The History of the Everett Area

The Port Gardner Bay area has been inhabited for thousands of years. The ancestors of the present-day Snoqualmie, Stillaguamish, Snohomish and Skagit Native American tribes were drawn to the area by the abundant supply of food and the wealth of natural resources. The Snohomish tribe witnessed the arrival of Captain George Vancouver on June 4, 1792. Non-native settlement of the region that is now Snohomish County began in 1853, the year the Washington Territory separated from the Oregon Territory. Settlers built a water-powered sawmill near Tulalip Bay, north of the Snohomish River mouth, a commercial venture that drew even larger numbers of people to the area.

In 1889, the year Washington became a state; the Rucker brothers arrived at Port Gardner Bay with plans to develop the peninsula. Shortly thereafter, Henry Hewitt, a Tacoma lumberman and investor—with the backing of the wealthy Rockefeller family from the east—formed the Everett Land Company with the Rucker brothers to build the economic base of lumbering, mining and fishing.

From 1891 to 1893, important commercial centers formed along Hewitt Avenue, rail service was established and heavy industry took hold. From these early beginnings the development began for a sophisticated harbor facility.

Everett was incorporated in April 1893—one year after the founding of the Everett Area Chamber of Commerce—and eventually won a battle with the town of Snohomish to be named the county seat.

A large Bell sawmill, which was later converted to a Weyerhaeuser mill, fostered Everett’s reputation as a “milltown,” reflecting the growing community’s huge logging and milling operations along the Snohomish River. The area continued to be dominated by the timber industry through the Great Depression.

In the 1930s, the Boeing Co. introduced the modern age of air travel to the Puget Sound. Boeing emerged as a major regional economic force in the 1940s, a position it maintains. Over the years, Boeing has become Snohomish County’s largest employer by far. The company’s Everett manufacturing complex is home to all its twin-aisle commercial jetliner programs, including the 747, 767 and 777 families of aircraft. In the early 1990s, the company doubled the size of its Everett assembly plant in preparation for launch of the 777 programs, making the facility the largest building, measured in cubic feet, in the world. In 2003, Boeing again demonstrated its faith in Snohomish County, selecting Everett as the site for design, engineering and final assembly of its newest commercial jetliner, the 7E7.

Throughout the years, the Everett area economy has evolved and diversified. The last of the mills closed in the 1980s, as new industries in biotechnology, software development, telecommunications, aerospace and tourism expanded. Naval Station Everett opened in 1994, bringing with it a $350 million impact on our local economy.

Today the renaissance of Everett’s downtown core is launching a new chapter in the city’s history. The beauty of Everett Station, a multi-model transportation hub and conference center; the opening of the Everett Events Center, home to the Silvertips hockey team; and the completion of nearby conference and office space are providing the foundation for a prosperous and active business district. Still underway is construction of a state-of-the-art Snohomish County government complex that will serve as a fitting compass point into Everett’s future.