Knights of Columbus Community Center and War Memorial Building (1921)

National Historic Register. Architect: Charles F.W. Lundberg and C. Frank Mahon. General contractor: A.D. McAdam.

The Catholic Men's organization, Knights of Columbus, wanted to honor 41 of their members who served in World War I. At the time, with 550 members it was one of the larger men's organizations in Everett. Their subscription campaign coincided with the YMCA efforts to raise money for their new building. Like the YMCA, this building had a gymnasium and swimming pool. Reportedly it cost $110,000 to build, plus $25,000 in furnishings and equipment.

By 1926, membership dropped to 350, and two years later the Knights of Columbus turned over the property to the Masonic Order. Hereafter it was known as the "Masonic Temple". The Masons filled in the swimming pool fairly early in their tenure.

The massive Second Renaissance Revival style building is on the edge of the central business district, seemingly dividing it from the homes to the north. There are three stories plus a high basement. The Everett and Wetmore sides are clad with "burlap brick". The roof is supported by jigsaw brackets with beaded edges, springing from an applied dentil course. Some of the window treatment is characteristic of Georgian Revival, and patterned brickwork reference American Colonial style.

It had a great dining hall in the basement that could seat 700-800 people. The kitchen had five ovens. A grand marble staircase led to the main floor. Originally the main floor had a ladies parlor, billiard room, but later was a dance studio. The second story had the Grand Lodge Hall, a secondary youth hall, dressing and locker rooms, and an theater seating 800. The attic story is somewhat smaller with several miscellaneous rooms.

Monte Cristo Hotel (1925)

National Historic Register. Architect: Henry Bittman. Builder: Alexander and MacNeil.

The first Monte Cristo Hotel

An earlier Monte Cristo Hotel was built in 1892 several blocks to the southwest. It was named for the mining town Monte Cristo 40 miles east. That town was named after the famous Alexander Dumas book to portray the richness of that mining district. The first Monte Cristo Hotel as such for just 11 years, when Providence Hospital was started in 1903. The Mitchell Hotel (Cascadia Apartments) on Hewitt Ave became the hotel of preference when built that year. The new hotel on Wall St would render the Mitchell as an out-of-date hotel in 1925. Thus, history repeated itself, and would again in the 1960s. Providence tore down the first Monte Cristo Hotel building in 1924 for its new hospital building.

The new Monte Cristo Hotel

By the 1920s, the age of the automobile was rapidly changing life for travelers, including hotels. New roads and leisure time travel by car were increasing rapidly. Investors from Mt Vernon, including A.A. Wood, president of the Monte Cristo Hotel, started the project and attracted hundreds of investors from both Mt Vernon and Everett. The largest hotel project until that time became Everett's most important hotel and social center for forty years.

The 59,000 square foot building is concrete construction, faced with red brick, and trimmed with concrete plaster and cast stone. The H shape plan, Second Renaissance Revival style, has two five-story wings, joined by a six-story tranverse. The forecourt is a single-story entry vestible with two-story lobby space. The rear court is a single-story banquet hall.

There were 140 rooms, each with windows to the outside. By today's standards, the rooms were relatively small, half with full baths. Floors 2 through 5 had four bridal suites. Five larger bedrooms and a committee room were in the penthouse. The original lobby had a Persian rug, and specially upholstered furniture with exotic titles "The Persian", "The Corsican", and "The Arabian".

The opening of the hotel on May 29, 1925 was a grand affair, broadcast by a Seattle radio station. The cost of construction and furnishings was $525,000. See May 28, 1925 Herald article.

The decline and renovation

There were remodels several times in its history. The small rooms became unpopular, and the hotel was considered outdated. Plumbing, wiring, fire escapes, the elevator and mechanical became outdates as the building didn't generate as much income. By 1973 it was vacant and remained so for two decades. There were numerous code compliance violations, and plenty of vandalism.

Fortunately, in 1994 the building was renovated. THe $6.9 million project combined private and government monies. Investors included Boeing, Weyerhauser and several banks. David Mandley's Lojis Corporation used those and federal tax credits in the project. 69 units of low-income housing are operated by Catholic Housing Services. The elegant ballroom is a popular wedding venue.

Everett Trolley

Great Northern Rail Road Depot (1909)

Earlier GN depot

Later GN depot

The first depot was in the Bay View Hotel in 1893. A second depot was built about 1900 when the tunnel under Everett was completed. The new one, which still exists in drastically altered form, was built in 1909. The 1962 remodel removed the tower and altered the roof line. It was closed as a depot in 2002 when the Everett Station was completed. So there have been four passenger depots for Great Northern/Amtrak.

Model Garage and Stables (1909)

Constructed for one of Everett's mayors, James E. Bell. A 1910 ad advertised the business offering Transfer and Baggage, Sale, and Boarding. Boeing Aircraft Company built wings during WWII in this building. Later it was a warehouse for Sears, a wholesale outlet for tires and auto parts, an Everett Public Market.

Pioneer Block

Architect and builder: Matthew P. Zindorf.

Zindorf started construction by the end of February, 1892. It was complete by May of that year, for a cost of $6000. The first brick building in this area of Everett, the Pioneer Block housed many functions in its early years. By Decembeer of that year, a room was used for a classroom. David B. Ewing, photographer, used a portion as a studio and residence. It was the first location for the Everett Herald, then known as The Independent. Also used as the Scandanavian Methodist Episcopal Church in 1893. In 1900-24 the upper floor was a hotel. There was a cigar shop, rubber vulcanizing works, and in 1925-37 one of Everett's first radio stations. That station, KFBL, later became KRKO. The Cabin Tavern was there from the repeal of the Volstead act (Prohibition) in 1933 until the 1980s.

Marion Building (1893)

Architect: A.F. Heide. Builder: Thornton Goldsby.

This Romanesque Revival has repetitive arched windows and a shallow cornice with modillions. The ground floor was leased to the Tontine Saloon and a restaurant. Bartender Charles Manning bought the Tontine, then leased it to pursue Alaska gold. Returning with riches, Manning renovated the saloon, turning it into an elegant tap room. The upper story opened as the Marion Hotel, which lasted until the early 1930s. The 1910 Local Option closed saloons, and the ground floor became a hardware store. Lloyd's Hardware occupied the location for over fifty years.

Rucker Avenue Auto Row

Everett Public Library (1934)

National Historic Register. Architect: Carl Frelinghuysen Gould. Contractor: H. Solie.

The Carnegie Library on Oakes became too small by the 1920s. However, economic decline prevented the city from doing any expansion. But when industrialist Leonard Howarth died in 1930, he left $75,000 to the city. The city decided to build a new, centrally located library.

Gould had designed the Seattle Art Museum and several Collegiate Gothic buildings at the University of Washington. He intended Everett's library to be completely modern, thus the Art Moderne style. Gould encouraged the murals inside, painted by John T. Jacobsen.

In 1962, an insensitive addition was added. in 1991 a sensitive restoration and remodel was done by Dykeman Architects of Everett and Cardwell-Thomas of Seattle. In the mid-1970s, the Northwest Room with Margaret Riddle and David Dilgard started the extensive collection of historical materials for Everett and Snohomish County. This is the most important resource for local history.

The children's entrance (no longer used) can still be viewed on Everett Avenue. The canopied entry has art glass windows illustrating themes from children's literature.

Inside, the four repoussee panels illustrate the history of books from prehistory through the invention of the printing press.

Krieger Laundry (1915)

Built for Viggo and Anna Krieger, this building is significant as a rare, intact example of Everett’s earliest commercial development, with its typical commercial vernacular architecture. The laundry business employed many female workers, who were some of the first women to organize as union workers. Aileen Langhans research

Lentzy House (1893)

The house was built for 3030 Colby (where the Interurban building is today). Everett Public Library

It's been moved from 3030 Colby. Everett Public Library

Everett Sheet Metal Works (1915)

This two-story brick commercial building has a storefont with recessed entry at the southern portion of the west facade. The building is finished with brick laid in Flemish bond. Four paired windows are on the second story. Everett Sheet Metal Works occupied the building from at least 1932-1959, with the owner living above.

YMCA (1921)

Architect: Baker, Bogie and Evans.

This formal Georgian style building replaced the 1901 building that burned down in 1920. The red-orange brick rises above a concrete ground level. The Rockefeller and California facades are nearly identical, and 60 feet long. Originally it contained a lobby, guest rooms, game room and gymnasium. It was renovated in 1950. In 1961, the modern steel frame rear addition was added.

The YMCA originated in Everett in 1899 when 87 Everett men decided to start a local YMCA. Their wooden-framed building was completed on land donated by the Everett Land Co. in 1901. By 1910 it was too small, but economic conditions prevented any expansion. But the fire on March 30, 1920 happened in happier financial times.

The YMCA was built about the same time as the Knights of Columbus (Masonic Temple) building on Everett Ave, which also had a gymnasium and swimming pool.

In 2019, the Y (as it is now called) moved to 4730 Colby Ave.

Newland Building (1950)

The low-scale, one-story Modern commercial building is characterized by its Roman brick finish around an expansive glazed storefront. An integral flat awning shelters the storefront, and the parapet above is faced with corrugated metal. The original occupant was Scott Sheet Metal Works. In 1959, Jensen's Draperies moved in and in 1987 Graber Insurance Company.

2815 Rockefeller Ave (1925)

This two-story vernacular commercial building is finished with light brown brick. Occupants included Globe Paint & Wallpaper Company, Mutual Benefit Club of Washington, Technocracy Inc., and Belden Electric Company.

2816 Rockefeller Avenue (1928)

Occupants included Typewriter Exchange, Bowling Drives (bowling alley), and Everett Poultry Company. The primary east facade of this vernacular one-story commercial building is faced with red brick laid in running bond. The glazed wood storefront system with a central recessed entry and a glazed transom band above appear original. A row of soldiered brick runs above the storefront opening, and two very slightly projecting header courses provide simple detail to the parapet, which has a shaped sheet metal coping.

Mehan Block (1925)

This two-story commercial building is faced with light tan brick. A grocery store sold goods from 1925 into the 1940s, first as Skaggs United Store from 1925-27, changing later to Safeway. The Salvation Army thrift shop served the public into the 1950s. Until 2004, Betty Spooner's dance studio was upstairs for 78 years.

VFW Post 2100 (1946)

This Modern building has a horizontality emphasized by its Roman brick veneer, flat marquee above the the central entry, and a single wide rectangular window opening on either side of the entry. Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) Post 2100 was chartered April 25, 1931 in Lake Stevens, Washington. The post moved to Everett in 1946. Records indicate interior remodels in the 1960s and a rear addition in the 1970s.

Normanna Lodge (1947)

The prominent, recessed central entry is emphasized by rounded corners and a projecting porch roof. On either side of the entry is a rectangular punched opening filled with glass block. Originally constructed with a second story which was destroyed by fire in the late 1960s. As they arrived in West Coast cities, Scandinavian immigrants organized literary and social clubs. Everett's "Den Norske Forening" first built a meeting hall here in 1904. The front doors were replaced in 1969. It continues to be occupied by the Sons of Norway as Normanna Lodge.

Challacombe & Fickel Funeral Home (1923)

Everett Register. Architect: Benjamin F. Turnbull.

The Colonial Revival building is characterized by its hipped roof and dormers, red brick finish, entry porch supported by Tuscan columns, frieze band with dentil course, and twelve-over-one-light double-hung wood windows. Original owners Nicholas B. Challacombe and Charles H. Fickel formed a partnership in 1919. Challacombe had been the county coroner for four years, as well as serving as president of the state board for examiners and embalmers. Fickel was a well-known mortician and also served as county coroner. Walter Precht joined the business in the mid-1930s. He and his wife Ruth lived above the business, which she managed during the war. The Precht family operated the funeral home until 1984 and owned it until 2007.

National Guard Armory (1920-21)

Architects: Louis Swartz; Harold Johnson.

The original armory structure has been covered by later alterations in the Stripped Classical style (1963). The two-story building has a slightly T-shaped footprint.

Everett Fire Station No. 2 (1925)

National Register of Historic Places. Architects: Morrison & Stimson. Builder: Solie & Wahl.

Designed in a simplified Italianate style with a square hose tower at the south end of the east facade. Finished with buff brick veneer and cast stone "blocks" surrounding four large bays with overhead doors. A central entry has a glazed wood-paneled door wih a decorative shield above. Roof is red-tiled. Fire Station No. 2 is the oldest and most significant of the city's extant fire stations. It was built in a period when motorized fire equipment was replacing horse-drawn equipment. The building was the site of the fire chief's office and the center of the city's firefighting system.

The building is trapezoidal, not rectangular in plan, and has a full basement. Behind is a hose tower, which suggests an Italian Renaissance motif at the top. Note the cast stone frieze with the title "Everett Fire Department". The ground floor contained fire trucks, while the upstairs had a dormitory, two bedrooms, showers, and a lounge. Of course, a firepole was used to drop down to the main floor.

Morrison & Stimson designed the building starting early January, 1925, finishing later that month. Construction was complete by summer. Things happened quickly in those days!

Great Northern / BNSF Railway & Tunnel (1900)

Running east-west, this railway tunnel extends underground through Everett's business district for seven blocks, from Oakes Avenue on the east to West Marine View Drive on the west. It is a concrete tunnel containing a single line of tracks. The Great Northern Railway reached Everett in 1893, with service from the East Coast and continuing to its western terminus in Seattle. Today BNSF owns and operates the tunnel, which is also used by Amtrak trains.

The half block under the Dolloff Building was covered over.

Dolloff Motors (1931?)

The railroad tunnel under this site was originally open here, per the 1914 Sanborn map. It was capped off with a bridge about 5-17-1917 the half block from the alley to Oakes.

Originally the Dolloff-Snyder Company, they sold at a temporary location on Colby before setting up business on Oakes. The Dolloff brothers had been selling cars at 2818 Oakes for some time prior to this clinker brick building. Dolloff Motor Co. remained until 1962. The Dolloffs owned the building after that, but leased to a used car sales company. November 23, 1962 was the grand opening of Novak Oldsmobile. In 1981 the building was remodelled for the North Everett Lions Club.

The south facade is divided into four wide storefront bays, divided by brick pilasters, with a shaped brick parapet above.

Carnegie Library (1905)

National Register of Historic Places. Architect: August F. Heide.

This site was originally was intended for the Chamber of Commerce Building. In 1892, a building designed by Frederick Sexton was started, but the Panic of 1893 stopped construction.

Meanwhile, Everett's public library was started in 1894 by the Everett Women's Book Club. At first the books were in a member's home, then moved to several locations while looking for a permanent home. On Jan 6, 1903 the club obtained a $25,000 Carnegie grant, and shortly after the Chamber of Commerce building was demolished. Andrew Carnegie was a steel magnate who donated money for over 2500 libraries between 1883 and 1929.

The Second Renaissance Revival style design was inspired by the Carnegie Libraries at Pomona, CA and Boston, MA. The two-story building has a very high main floor, and a tall basement. The round-arched portal in the back has tall round-arched windows on either side.

On July 3, 1905, the doors were "thrown open" to public on 7-01 (Herald). THey started with 4000 books. It remained a library until the new one was built at Everett and Hoyt Avenues in 1934.

On Dec 14, 1934, John J. Jerread Inc. Funeral Directors opened in the building. 50 years later, the building was used by Snohomish County.

Labor Temple (1930)

Architect: C. Ferris White

This eclectic two-story building is located just north of the commercial downtown strip, facing east on Lombard Avenue. The primary east facade features a prominent central entry reached by steps. A cast stone surround frames the entry and reads "Labor Temple" above the opening. A one-story modern addition was constructed on the north side of the original building. Built during the Depression, the building replaced an earlier Labor Temple.