This Month in Edmonds History: New, modern laundry opens
Crescent Laundry, 2nd and Main.
My Edmonds News is proud to present a monthly look at Edmonds history, straight from the archives of the Edmonds Historical Museum. For the month of March, we’ll revisit 1931.
On March 25, 1931, the people of Edmonds had the unique opportunity to tour the new, modern facilities of Crescent Laundry at the foot of Main Street between Sunset Avenue and Railroad Avenue.
Mr. and Mrs. John C. King, the owners of Crescent Laundry at that time, held an open house to celebrate the opening of their new concrete building complete with modern equipment. The public was invited to see the entire plant in operation from 7:30 to 9 p.m. The 60-by-80-foot building cost $8,000 to build, and was furnished with two new pieces of laundry equipment, a modern extractor and an ironing machine, in addition to the existing equipment of the laundry, which had been in operation on the same location for more than 10 years. Mr. and Mrs. King purchased the business in 1929 from Marvin McNish.
The Kings touted their new laundry facility as “a local industry, operated by local people and providing a local payroll.” This local community also had a part in the building’s construction. The structure was designed by Sam C. Sanderson, while Dewey Leyda installed electrical and E.S. Denslow installed plumbing. A.M. Yost and Sons supplied building materials, hardware was purchased from Crow Hardware and Reliable Hardware, and painting and decorating was done by C.J. Hildebrand.
An article in the Edmonds Tribune-Review on March 20, 1931, said that John C. King, “had demonstrated his faith in Edmonds by an investment of more than $19,000 in this building and plant.” Well-wishers filled the advertising space in the newspaper, as all of Page Two was devoted to the grand opening celebration, praising the building as “an asset to the entire community” and “a benefit to all.” In April 1944, the Kings sold Crescent Laundry, which they had operated for 15 years.
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W/C: 296
Captions: Photograph 106.43, Crescent Laundry, 2nd & Main
Thank you MEN for sharing a piece of our history. The need to support our local economy has been apparent throughout our history. Let us all be mindful of keeping Edmonds vibrant and economically sound by supporting our local economy.