Everett, WA

Everett, WA: the location and home of the Talbot Pack, as well as the other mishaps and monsters that the Pack has to fight from time to time.

Information and History[]

The land on which Everett was founded was surrendered to the United States by its original inhabitants under the 1855 Treaty of Point Elliott. Permanent settlement in the area by European descendants started in 1861 when Dennis Brigham built a cabin on a 160-acre (0.6 km2) claim on the shore of Port Gardner Bay. Over the next several years a handful of settlers moved to the area, but it wasn't until 1890 that plans for platting a town were conceived.

On July 17, 1890, the steamship Queen of the Pacific left Tacoma for an Alaskan cruise with Henry Hewitt, Jr. and Charles L. Colby aboard. During this "Fateful voyage" initial plans for an industrial city on the peninsula along the banks of the Snohomish river were formulated. On August 22, 1890, The Rucker Brothers filed their plat at Port Gardner, a 50-acre (200,000 m2) townsite on the bayfront side of what is now the city of Everett. This plat was later withdrawn to accommodate the plans of the Hewitt-Colby group.

On September 1, 1890, Henry Hewitt filed a bond on the Davis tract at the north end of what was to become the Everett town site, beginning the process of acquisition that would become the Everett Land Company later along with Charles L. Colby and Colgate Hoyt. In October 1890, the Hewitt-Colby syndicate decided to name their industrial city after Everett Colby, the fifteen year old son of investor Charles L. Colby, who had displayed a prodigious appetite at dinner. Everett Colby in turn was named for orator Edward Everett.

On November 19, 1890, the Articles of Incorporation for the Everett Land Company were filed, with Henry Hewitt Jr. as president. On November 26, 1890, the Rucker Brothers transferred 434.15 acres (1.7569 km2) of property on the Everett peninsula to Hewitt. Three days later, "The Remarkable Document" was drafted, setting the terms by which the Rucker Brothers would donate half their remaining holdings to Hewitt in exchange for promises of specific development.

The Company bought much of the Ruckers' land, taking them in as junior partners. Everett was officially incorporated on May 4, 1893, the year the Great Northern Railway came to the town. Both Hewitt and the Ruckers had speculated that James J. Hill would make the town the terminus of his railroad. However Hill continued the railroad along the shore of Puget Sound to Seattle. Although it succeeded in building the city, the Everett Land Company was a failure for its investors. The outside investors withdrew, and the Company's holdings were transferred to a new company controlled by Hill. The Ruckers, who helped broker the deal, stayed in Everett and became leading citizens of the young city.

Railroads and mines played a part in Everett's future. The mining community of Monte Cristo depended on a railway for supplies. It was hoped that the railroad would cross the mountains and bring in traffic. For a while ore was smelted in Everett, then sawmilling and port activity commenced. A dozen steam riverboats were built in Everett for the Yukon gold rush.

Several survivors of the Bellingham riots settled in Everett for two months, until they were beaten and forcefully evicted by a mob on November 5, 1907. Everett also was the site of the Everett Massacre of 1916 which was an armed confrontation between a mob, led by local Sheriff Donald McRae, and Industrial Workers of the World members. The IWW members were on the steamer Verona and sought to land, but Sheriff McRae denied them his permission. Shooting broke out and at least five IWW's were killed and two in the Sheriff's mob were killed, though they might have been accidentally shot by others in their allegedly drunken group.

Everett streets are named after each of the three founders. Adjacent streets Colby Avenue and Hoyt Avenue run north and south and are intersected by Hewitt Avenue running east and west just south of the BNSF Railway tracks cutting across Everett. There are several other streets named for their associates such as Bond Street named for Judge Hiram Bond, President of the Everett & Monte Cristo Railroad. Parallel to Colby and Hoyt are avenues named for other investors, John D. Rockefeller, railroad executive T.F. Oakes, shipbuilder Alexander McDougall, and McDougall's associate Charles W. Wetmore.

Economy[]

Everett's early economy was tied to the lumber trade. The city's 2006 Labor workforce was more than 80,000, predominantly employed in technology, aerospace, and service-based industries.

Crime[]

In 2012, Everett was ranked with the 104th highest crime rate in the United States, the highest in the Pacific Northwest outside of Tacoma, WA. (of 437 communities ranked).

In 2012, Everett had 970 car thefts. The city also had 46 rapes, or 43.7 rapes per 100,000 people, twice the national average rate of 27 rapes per 100,000 people.

And lately, in 2014, a new rise of crime involving the paranormal and supernatural has occurred, making Washington a hot spot for these events.