5 Cool Facts You Didn’t Know About Everett
Editor’s note: Originally published June 11, 2018. Republished July 2, 2020.
Everett’s a surprising place. The longer I live here the more stories I hear. Here are some of my favorites.
1. Everett Beer was a thing
Once upon a time there was no such thing as refrigerated semi trucks. All beer was locally brewed. Everett Beer was the rage in mill town at the turn of the 20th century. Check out Everett Beer swag here.
Prohibition killed the brewery, located (as near as I can tell) near the current site of the Everett Station.
I’m hoping Everett Beer makes a retro-hipster comeback. How cool would that be to crack open a cold one with the gals and your can says “Everett Beer”?
I'd drink to that.
2. Ken Griffey, Jr. hit his first home run here
In 1987 a young Ken Griffey, Jr. hit his first semi-pro home run for the Bellingham Mariners at Everett Memorial Stadium. The spot where the homer landed in left field is marked with a plaque. You can still see it today.
The Mariners will come back some day, as good as they were in the 90’s, right?
Right?
3. Elephants in the theatre
The Historic Everett Theatre: it’s been here since 1901. Biggest theatre West of the Mississippi when it was built. Upon opening it could hold 1/3 of the population of Everett.
It hosted vaudeville shows, including dancing elephants who were loaded in through huge backstage doors. You can still see the outline of the back doors on the building, bricked in.
4. Everett was bombed in WW2
In 1942 a paper balloon from Japan landed near Glenwood Avenue. It had a bomb, but didn’t explode. The American government kept it under wraps. This is not a conspiracy theory, it actually happened. Read about the whole story here.
One of my favorite weird photos. The inside detonator of a Japanese "fu-go" balloon bomb, like the one that landed here in '42.
5. The guy who built the Space Needle lived in Everett
Howard Wright, Jr. owned the company that built the Space Needle. He grew up in Everett, in a home on Rucker Avenue that you can still see today.
The home itself is a most interesting story, one that has to do with fires and squatters and an alleged donut machine inventor.
Read about it here.
Hey, I'll take some more health tonic! A vintage Everett Beer tray.
What’s your favorite Everett story? Leave us a comment.
Richard Porter is a writer for Live in Everett.