TimManBlog

A Photographic Journey Through Everett, WA

August 31, 2024
(photos and memories from August 2022)
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Late on an August afternoon, I drove 25 miles north to Everett, Washington, from downtown Seattle, where I had spent most of the day. In Seattle, I had to side-step drug users passed out on sidewalks near Pioneer Place and saw (and smelled) many other examples of degradation. Seattle is a mess.

But Everett isn’t Seattle. Seattle has a population of 755,000, while Everett is comparatively “tiny” with only 110,000 people. But the stark difference between the two cities is much more than just size. I hope the photos below will show that.

Everett’s main street is Hewitt Avenue, which is part of the Hewitt Avenue National Historic District. The main cross street is Rockefeller Avenue, so I imagine if I looked into Everett’s history, I would find that John D. Rockefeller had a place in developing the area. It’s true — Rockefeller funded the late 19th-century development of Everett from a coastal village into a commercial seaport on Puget Sound.

The Hewitt Avenue Historic District is Everett’s “old” downtown; a newer downtown is over a hill a few blocks away toward the waterfront. Before going there, I wanted to check out the Snohomish County Courthouse in this part of town.

The Spanish Mission architecture is very unusual for Washington state, and it seems out of place since we’re so far north of California. However, the “mission building,” as it is called, is beautiful. I went inside and noticed that the old stairwells use marble for stairs and railings. One old oil painting of a settler on the shores of Puget Sound hangs in one of the main stairwells, reminding everyone what the Puget Sound region looked like in the old days.

As Everett and Snohomish County grew, large wings were added to the old mission building.

Several patriotic memorials prominently decorate the courthouse plaza area, including a veterans’ memorial, a Ten Commandments statue, a 9-11 memorial, and others. The tone of the memorials seems strange compared to what I saw in Seattle, where I saw little patriotic feeling. These courthouse displays reminded me that Everett was the home of Senator Henry “Scoop” Jackson, the leader of the Democratic Party’s “Jackson Wing” that favored a strong military. Scoop Jackson served in the Senate from 1953 to 1983.

Just over the hill from the courthouse and Hewitt Avenue area, another business district appears along Wetmore Avenue. This area is dominated by the headquarters of the toy company Funko, which bills itself as “purveyors of pop culture.” I’m not familiar with the company, but I was dazzled by the large statues of their cartoon-like characters attached to the front and sides of their building.

However, my favorite statue of theirs stands by itself further down the avenue. It reminds me of the iconic statue of Mary Tyler Moore in downtown Minneapolis, Minnesota.

I walked around some more toward the city’s Puget Sound docks. Now, Everett doesn’t seem so small anymore. I saw characteristic signs of a working-class town where shipping industries predominate.

Although new apartment buildings have encroached on nearby neighborhoods, working-class homes can still be found near downtown Everett.

Finally, here’s some interesting artwork I saw — three statues depicting a game of hide-and-seek.

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A list of all photo posts from the American County Seats series in TimManBlog can be found here.

All photos were taken by the author on August 29, 2022.

My hobby is traveling to America’s county courthouses. Each month, I post about a visit to a scenic or exciting county seat. It’s a hobby, and donations are greatly appreciated to help cover my costs.