Looking Back

This year, Memorial Day will be observed on Monday, May 25.  However, because of the present health issues, there will be few, if any, gatherings of people for public ceremonies. Instead, I hope the day will be a quiet time, filled with personal reflections. In Edmonds, because it has been 75 years since the ending…

Much like the Biblical Job, during her lifetime, Katrina Bagley endured one loss after another. Through it all, she never faltered in her love of life, her church, nor her love for her family. While talking with three of her grandsons, I learned much about this indomitable lady and her enjoyment of life. With that…

Through the years, Edmonds High School became noted for its music department. Since the school’s early days, and especially under the direction of William Osburn in the 1930s, the high school started winning awards, beginning with an excellent rating in April 1933 at the Western Washington Music Meet held at the University of Washington. Only…

In Seattle, on June 20, 1877, Etta Jones was 18 years old, still a teenager, when she married George Brackett, a 36-year-old man, twice her age. It must have been an overwhelming experience for her when the following year, along with baby George, she and her husband moved to a new home on their land…

Over 86 years ago, when I entered first grade in the Edmonds School District, I certainly never had any idea that so many years later I would still remember many of my school teachers. A few are remembered in special ways. My first four years were spent at Alderwood Manor Grade School, and there I…

The Reporter was a newspaper established in August of 1949 and published in the community of Lynnwood — before the city’s 1959 incorporation. With its office located at the crossroads of State Highway 99 and 196th Street, the newspaper covered happenings in the Alderwood Manor, Lynnwood and Edmonds areas. Founded and edited by Seley Alvin…

What did former Edmonds and Alderwood Manor resident Robert Earl Bonney, and famed aviator Charles Lindbergh have in common? The answer: They were both awarded this country’s Medal of Honor for their heroic actions during peacetime. Chief Watertender Robert Earl Bonney, U.S. Navy, was honored for extraordinary heroism in saving the life of another crewman…

Part 3 of historian Betty Gaeng’s series on the history of garbage collection in Edmonds.You can read Part 1 here and Part 2 here. Entering the second half of the 20th century, the Edmonds waterfront slowly began changing — especially with the closing of the last shingle mill in June of 1951. Another major change was…

You can read Part 1 here. In April of 1930, when North End Disposal Co. of Seattle began its weekly door-to-door garbage pickup service in Edmonds, it seemed as if the town’s long-standing problem of rubbish disposal had finally been solved. Whether it was because of the financial troubles of the Great Depression, when perhaps…

For those who may wonder what happened to me, Anchorage, Alaska is now my home. I will continue to write from here about some of the history of Edmonds, Lynnwood and Mountlake Terrace. However, what follows this time is a wonderful story written by a newsman from Alaska. It is an unusual story and I…

Looking Forward to a new and final home. Just in time to celebrate its 70th anniversary, the South Snohomish County veterans memorial monument has found a new home. This memorial had its beginning in the spring of 1948. With its move this month from downtown Edmonds, the memorial monument is now located at the Edmonds…

The 1880 federal census for the area we know today as Edmonds presents us with a look-back at an early and interesting part of the city’s history. Before George Brackett chose the name Edmonds for his town in 1884, the United States Census Bureau in June of 1880 conducted the 10th U.S. Census. The Census…