Stop by the museum’s booth at Centennial Plaza on Fifth and Bell May 19, May 26, June 2 and June 9, to get first pick of books, paper dolls and more. Also, you can renew your Edmonds-South Snohomish County Historical Society membership at that time.  The historical society and museum are supported in part by the spring and summer markets.

The Garden Market is located downtown in the Public Safety Parking Lot at Fifth and Bell.  It is open Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.  The larger Edmonds Museum Summer Market opens June 30.

For more information about the Edmonds Historical Museum or the spring or summer markets, go to historicedmonds.org.

Volunteers Sue Barnett and Judy Lambert with the collection’s sweetheart. (Photo by Janette Turner)

Paper doll collector Nan Moorehead co-curated “Paper People Go To the Movies,” currently displayed at the Edmonds Historical Museum, 118 Fifth Ave. N.

The show features two-dimensional images from the golden years of paper dolls, the 1920s through the 1950s, tapping out in the Brady Bunch years. Moorehead’s collection is so complete that it even has a Brady Bunch sample on display. The museum is open Wednesday through Sunday from 1-4 p.m., and the show runs through July 15.

Full-page advertisement for the “Build With the Birds” campaign, The Tribune-Review, May 5, 1922

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 May, we’ll revisit 1922.

The spring of 1922 brought with it a campaign for better housing in Edmonds.  Sponsored by a number of local businessmen to increase the number and quality of homes in the area, the “Build With the Birds” campaign was promoted heavily by The Tribune-Review and supported by the community at large. Several years of below-normal building in the area, coupled with the low price of building materials and availability of construction laborers, spurred this campaign.

Mayor F.R. Beeson, one of the more active promoters of the movement, said, “It is really to the interest of the entire community that as many new houses be built this spring as are needed and they be as attractive and well-designed as it is possible to make them. There is nothing which so marks a city as a desirable place to live and a rear a family as to be known as a city of attractive homes.”

Beeson goes on to say that a construction revival would benefit almost every line of business in the city. “Whenever people build homes they immediately begin to need all the other things that go with it and to make up the comforts of home life, and there is scarcely a commercial enterprise in the community that is not called to service,” he said.

The campaign in Edmonds was a reflection of a movement nationwide to promote building and relieve housing shortages, which had seriously affected living conditions in many localities. Many local suppliers of building materials and furnishings, as well as realtors and insurance agents, offered their support to the campaign.

A May 5 Tribune-Review article stated that the campaign was “right in line with the new idea of thrift which is being emphasized all over the country this year. Thrift is now defined as a judicious expenditure of one’s funds, and there is certainly no more commendable object of investment than a home. Given a home, the other necessities and luxuries for the family follow as a matter of course.”

1922 Edmonds High School Boys Basketball Champs, including two of the vacationing students listed above. Front row, left to right: Jack Preston, Stanley Heberlein, Glynn Schmidt, Wilfred Erickson, Hjalmer Anderson, Arthur Williams. Back row: Mr. Gnagey, Joe McCann, Richard Forsgren, William Aitchison, Louis Soukup.

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 April, we’ll revisit 1922.

With so many newspapers printing the social activities of their readers, Edmonds High School followed suit and printed those of its students in a spring issue of The Wireless. The following excerpt, printed April 14, 1922, listed the activities—as varied as they were—of students during spring break vacation.

School Students Waste Little Time During Vacation
—-Elizabeth Williams spent the vacation at her home in Suquamish.

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When asked what he did over vacation Claude Savage said, “I worked, but that isn’t anything new.”

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Leah Preston visited friends in Seattle last week.

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Louis Soukup discovered the occupation he is perfectly adapted to, and that is Domestic Art in the form of spring house-cleaning.  He washed windows, beat carpets, laid linoleum, etc.

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Art Williams and Hugh Campbell report that they made very profitable money over vacation cutting wood in North Edmonds. The boys were so enthused over their money making scheme that they camped right on the spot until school opened.

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Kenyan Torrey devoted his time to drawing during vacation.  Some very good pictures were the result.

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Sickness compelled Vera Wallace to spend her vacation in bed.  Fate is very cruel at times.

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Glynn Schmidt worked on the ball grounds last week.  His job was riding the Fordson tractor; but, someway, it wouldn’t pick up speed at the Stutz does, altho Glynn did his best to coax it along

.
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Edward Bacon caused a lot of excitement last week.  He was cutting wood near the city limits and fell one tree that, when falling, struck the electric light wire, breaking it; and here we were in town without any electricity for two hours.  The ladies were wondering why their irons refused to heat, the ice on the pipes at the meat market melted, and little Ed Bacon was the cause of it all.

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Dorothy Schmidt indulged in tennis at 5 a.m. during vacation.

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Delight McConnel is another agriculturist. She developed her muscles somewhat by spading in the garden during vacation.

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Austin Kline has had all kinds of experience in the chicken business. He helped his father build coops during his vacation.

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Gustav Swanson occupied his leisure time last week by playing tennis and taking pictures whenever the sun took a notion to shine.

Shingle mills were once Snohomish County’s economic backbone, and their employees — shingle weavers — were often regarded as the elite workers of the lumber industry. This status came with a price, though. Their jobs were dangerous, often ending in death, and the constant struggle between mill owners and unions made work unpredictable at best. Come to the Edmonds Historical Museum to learn more about these people and the industry that shaped Edmonds and Snohomish County.

The Edmonds Historical Museum is located at 118 5th Ave. N. in downtown Edmonds. It is open Wednesday through Sunday from 1-4 p.m. Suggested donation is $2 per adult and $1 per child.

Washington Coast Utilities advertisement, printed in The Tribune-Review January 4, 1918.

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 January, we’ll revisit 1918.

Like many newspapers of its time, the Edmonds Tribune-Review often printed the comings and goings of its residents in a column called, “About Town.”  Each story—no more than one or two sentences—gave a snapshot of life at that time. Topics included residents’ travels, visitors, politics, and any other newsworthy items at the moment. In January 1918, this is what was happening “about town” in Edmonds:

Miss Clara Everton, student in the University of Washington, spent the holidays at home with her parents.
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Young pigs for sale.  Home Stores Company.
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The Misses Bea and Bessie Sutton, of Seattle, and Levi Sutton of the State College at Pullman, visited their grandmother, Mrs. P.R. Reynolds, and aunts, Mrs. R.T. Roscoe, Mrs. D.M. Yost and Miss Phoebe Reynolds during the holidays.
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Some railroad men are trying to figure out whether they are working for the same old railroad superintendents or the U.S.
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Joe Knowles, who has been working for the Saginaw Timber Co., at Saginaw, Wash., is at home on account of the mill shutting down night work.
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Merchants and business men generally are taking stock this week.
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Mr. and Mrs. T.A. Olsen visited friends in Tacoma and Seattle last Sunday.
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Born to Mr. and Mrs. S.A. Yost, on December the 30th, a boy.  Sam is still proffering the cigars.
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Last Saturday afternoon in the city of Seattle, Edward Hagan of the city and Miss Lena Keuhl of this place were married. They will make their home in Seattle
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Pat Cull of the Arlington Branch of the Washington Coast Utilities was in Edmonds for a few days last week assisting O.M. Carter with the office work during the temporary absence of Miss Minnie Burbank (see ad inset).
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Mrs. Mabel Thorpe Jones, formerly music and art teacher in the public school of this place, but now holding a similar position in Mt. Vernon, visited friends here during the holidays.
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Claude Smith, secretary of the Richmond Beach Telephone & Power Co., transacted business in Edmonds Wednesday.
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Read every word in this issue, and especially the advertisement of your local merchant, and then make up your mind that in the future you will patronize them. They will sell you goods just as cheap as the city merchant, and are in a position to favor you, should you ever need one.

M.E. Hyner Groceries & Dry Goods and Post Office, with Hyner home in background, circa 1887.

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 November, we’ll revisit 1887.

In November 1887, Matthew E. Hyner was named postmaster of Edmonds. Hyner and his family arrived in Edmonds nine months prior, in February, when only five other houses existed in the town. He bought the general store at the foot of Main Street, then called George Street, and expanded it, offering flour, dried beans and spices to his pioneer neighbors. At that time, the nearest post office was located in Bothell, so Hyner filed an application and became Edmonds’ first postmaster on Nov. 7.

The post office was located inside Hyner’s store. The mail would arrive by steamer, and Hyner would often have to row out to meet it if the tide was low. The first flag to be displayed in Edmonds was also flown at this post office every fair day; it arrived in 1887, and bore 13 stripes and a star for each of the 38 states at that time.

The Hyner family, which consisted of Matthew, his wife Clara and their four children, built a house one block from the store that served at least one business function as well as domestic ones. The two-story home had a cupola with windows on all sides above the second story, which was used by the children to report an approaching steamer. When the steamer’s smoke could be seen off Point Wells to the south or the tip of Whidbey Island to the north, they would alert Edmonds residents that mail and passengers were arriving. (The house and cupola can be seen behind the store in the above photograph.)

Hyner is considered Edmonds’ first real merchant, and he was also instrumental in the construction of the Congregational Church.  He remained postmaster until 1896, and passed away in 1929.

Guest speaker Louise Lindgren will talk on “Then and Now: A Century and More of Farming in Snohomish County.” In honor of the Edmonds-South Snohomish County Museum’s Carnegie Building, Lindgren will offer a look back at other century-old buildings, specifically farms. Snohomish County boasts numerous homesteads and barns that are 100 years old or more.

The evening begins with a reception/appetizers at 5:30 p.m., followed by dinner at 6:30 p.m. and the program at 7:30 p.m. Cost is $23 for museum members and $30 per guest. For registration information, call 425-774-0900.

Edmonds, like many towns along the shores of the Puget Sound, has weathered its fair share of storms over the years. It is said that one fateful storm even forced pioneer George Brackett onto shore in 1870 when he was canoeing and scoping timber in the area. Since then, many storms have left their mark on the land that Brackett explored.

The storms of the 1930s and 1940s have been well documented in Edmonds’ newspapers. Rains caused flooding, and heavy winds often sent loose logs into docks or — in one instance — even blew down the smokestack at the Quality Mill. The storms caused even greater concern when rail and ferry services were interrupted.

Sunday, Oct. 24, 1934 was considered one of the worst storms in Edmonds’ history. The storm caused extensive damage along the waterfront and throughout town; surrounding communities sustained 80-mile-per-hour winds, which downed trees and damaged numerous buildings and vehicles. Power and telephone lines were damaged, and ferry routes were suspended until the wind subsided.

Prior to this, several other memorable storms plagued Edmonds’ past. In 1913, high winds drove scows into the Edmonds city dock and took out 160 feet of pilings, causing nearly $2,000 in damage. This was a continuing problem over the years as the docks proved no match for impending storms.

As infrastructure improved, each storm had the ability to cause more damage than the last. By the 1930s, people were more reliant on telephone services and electricity, and the loss of these services due to weather was often detrimental.

In April 1943, a downpour of rain and hail flooded gutters and transformed streets into rivers. The intersection of Fifth and Main became a lake, and a two-foot-wide rut opened down the middle of Dayton Street. The street superintendent at the time announced that it would take a month to repair the damage that the rain caused in just a few minutes. His words rang true, and this pattern repeated itself many times in the course of history.

First school in Edmonds with students out front, circa 1889.

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 September, we’ll revisit the school days of yesteryear.

September is back-to-school month, and the Edmonds School District has a long and interesting history to celebrate this month. Edmonds School District No. 15 organized in 1884, holding its first classes in George Brackett’s feed barn.

In these early years, school was only held about three months each year. A schoolhouse was built between Third and Fourth, north of Main Street, and attendance reached more than 32 students by 1889, necessitating an addition.

By 1891, the population had outgrown its first schoolhouse and other options, so Brackett once again donated a site for a new school, this time above Seventh Avenue. The school district passed a $10,000 bond to build the frame schoolhouse that served Edmonds’ schoolchildren for many years.

By September 1907, enrollment had increased to more than 200 students. At this time, the district offered two years of high school studies.  In 1909, facing ever-increasing enrollment, the school district decided to build a separate high school building. On June 9, citizens voted to construct the building on a two-acre lot between Third and Sixth, north of Daley Street; the contract was awarded to Ward & Robertson of Seattle.

The high school’s cornerstone was laid on Nov. 30, 1909, and in May 1910 it graduated its first class (three students). By 1911, enrollment in the city was more than 350, not including the four rural schools in the area. Attendance steadily increased over the years, and voters approved several bond issues to construct additions and purchase additional land. By 1924, a record-breaking 850 students were enrolled, and talk was already circling about constructing a new grade school building. Grade school children moved into their new Spanish Mission Revival style building on Oct. 15, 1928.

During the next couple of decades, the district saw increased enrollment, the construction of a high school athletic field with help from the WPA, the expansion of the grade school, and the addition of an Art Deco auditorium to the high school with assistance from the Public Works Administration.  Enrollment continued to increase during the 1940s, and in 1950 attendance reached more than 2,400. Voters approved a $475,000 bond issue in September 1950 for the addition of more classroom space.

In 1957 a new Edmonds High School opened at Holmes Corner, and the old school building became the city’s junior high.  The school was closed in 1975 and used as a community college until 2001. Edmonds Grade School closed in 1972 and became the local community center in 1979.  In 2005, the high school building was demolished and groundbreaking began for the Edmonds Center for the Arts.