 New Bayside Plaza concepts emerge at Hewitt Avenue The history of Everett scored a major save on June 7, 2007. We were notified by the City of Everett that BNSF had withdrawn its application to demolish the 1910 railroad bridge at the western foot of Hewitt Avenue. BNSF wanted to replace the bridge with a 45 foot wide solid earth berm that would have blocked physical and visual access to the waterfront and would have covered the historic red brick street with 10,000 cubic yards of dirt. This historic site is particularly important for many reasons. Native people used it for hundreds of years as a summer encampment since fresh water flowed in nearby Forgotten Creek. It is close to the place where in the 1860's Dennis Brigham, Everett's first non-native settler, built his cabin. The riveted steel plate girder bridge is an increasingly rare type that was erected as a permanent replacement for what was most likely the original wooden bridge and a significant element marking the the western terminus of the Great Northern Railroad. The docks at the foot of Hewitt Avenue and the original train depot, only a few hundred feet away, were the places where most immigrants to Everett first arrived. The Bayview Hotel (Everett's first) on Bond Street, was located just paces away. The Hewitt Avenue Trolley ran down near this location. The foot of Hewitt Avenue with its original brick street and the bridge above is the closest site, still in pristine condition, which marks the location of the 1916 Everett Massacre. It is an obvious point of departure for public access to our shorelines. More than 40 volunteers including local business owners, neighbors and Historic Everett joined forces on June 23 to pull weeds, mow grass, sweep bricks and haul out more than 50 sacks of clippings and garbage. The time was used to think of ideas for a name for our newly reclaimed public space: Milltown Historic Plaza, Immigrant Park, Whistle Stop and City Dock are a few that surfaced immediately. The City and Parks Department are mulling the prospects as an interpretive compliment for Downtown. Port Gardner and Bayside neighborhoods may apply for a joint mini-grant for design work. The Zonta Club of Everett is interested in helping provide signage to document our history there and The Cascade Land Conservancy is exploring ways to partner as part of their Green Cities program. Ed Morrow, Peter Jackson and David Mascarenas are heading the effort. If you want to be a part of Everett's newest public space, or would like more information on this intriguing project, please call 425-259-6432 or email at info@Historiceverett.org.
Hewitt Avenue BNSF bridge appeal letter April 4, 2007 CITY OF EVERETT RE: Appeal of Final Mitigated Determination of Non-Significance ATTN: John Jimerson Please consider this our formal appeal of the Final Mitigated Determination of Non-Significance for SEPA06-066: The removal of the existing BNSF railroad bridge crossing Hewitt Avenue, and replacing it with a new berm to support tracks. The reasons for our appeal include the following: The MDNS was based on incomplete and incorrect information in the check list. The MDNS cites consistency with policies in the Comprehensive Plan, but the project also violates just as many policies of the Comprehensive Plan, the Shoreline Public Access Plan, The Parks Department Strategic Plan, The City's Connective Trail Plan, the Downtown Plan, and past plans that dealt with the Everett Shoreline and Harborfront area. It flies in the face of the spirit of the Shoreline Management Act. Please refer to the measures described in the SEPA Mitigation of Adverse Impacts fails to address the consequences of the proposed actions: 1. Improvements to gateway corridors are inclusive in the
City's Comprehensive Plan and ought not to be considered additional
mitigation for public loss. Additionally, regarding the checklist: Under section 3 - Water - BNSF responded there was no surface water in the immediate vicinity of the project. Puget Sound is approximately 100 yards away. Under section 13 - Historic and Cultural Preservation - BNSF
indicated there were no places or objects listed on, or proposed
for national, state or local preservation registers known to
be on or next to the site. Affected neighborhoods were not adequately notified of the Final MDNS. Utility upgrades and sanitary sewer lines can be installed at the Hewitt Avenue location in its present condition. Sincerely, David Mascarenas
Nomination to endangered properties list WASHINGTON TRUST FOR HISTORIC PRESERVATION Describe the current use and condition of the site. Our nomination involves two aspects of an interconnected site: a bridge and the street below. The railroad bridge is on a main Amtrak Line and BNSF freight line where Hewitt Avenue meets the waterfront as it crosses under the bridge. It most likely replaced a wooden bridge built in 1902 that marked the western terminus of the Great Northern Railroad. The bridge is virtually unchanged since its construction in 1910. It is structurally sound, but in need graffiti removal, cleaning and a coat of paint. The street portion is a City owned approximately one-half acre of right-of-way that has been crudely fenced off since 2001 as part of past policies and concerted efforts by the Port and BNSF to close the docks to the public while eliminating traffic conflicts with the trains. Currently, the area is an unsightly mess complete with chain link fencing, broken pavement, tall weeds and windblown garbage. The setting provides a panoramic view of the commercial activity that has been and continues to be one of the hallmarks of Everett. What is the historical significance of the property? Has it been placed on a national, state or local register? If not, has it been determined eligible for the National Register? The bridge is an increasingly rare steel girder bridge and in fact may be the last surviving one in Everett, a town known as the place where rail meets sail. For hundreds of years native people spent summers at this site since fresh water flowed down nearby Forgotten Creek and in an unnamed stream that flowed down Everett Avenue. About 1861, the first non-native settler in Everett, Dennis Brigham, built a cabin very near and possibly on the site. Originally paved in locally manufactured red brick, Hewitt Avenue has been "Main Street" for Everett since its incorporation in 1893. Historically, Hewitt Avenue marked the entrance to the Port and crossing under the bridge provided the link for people between downtown and The City Dock where many goods, services and passengers arrived and departed to and from Everett. The west end of Hewitt Avenue and a half block to the south on Bond Street was the heart of commerce and activity when Everett was young. The surrounding property included many no longer surviving significant structures: The Bayview Hotel on Bond Street which also acted as the rail depot until a proper one was constructed across the street to the west. Directly adjacent to the bridge is Mulligan Saloon built in 1906. Renamed the Anchor Tavern when prohibition was repealed, it has survived as one of a handful of continuously operating saloons in a city known as a hard drinking, hard working logging and mill town. Although some people in Everett are trying to obliterate history by ignoring the Everett Massacre of 1916, the labor conflict which took place only a few hundred feet from the site, inspires inquiries to this day about the struggles that workers and business owners encountered in the early 20th century. In the Historical Survey Report of November, 1973 prepared by David Dilgard and Margaret Riddle of the Northwest Room of the Everett Public Library, the suggestion was made that this site ought to be placed on the National and State Historic Register. The recommendation was never acted on. Give a brief history of the property and tell us why it continues to be important to your community. For all of the reasons mentioned above, this site reminds people of the City's connection to the waterfront, and their own relationships to the people who lived before. Of what it must have been like to be a new person in the last of the American Frontier. Considering its blue collar origins - what an exciting place Everett must have been. Why do you consider the property to be endangered? Please be specific about impending threats to the property. No reason has ever been given for the need for replacement,
but on October 2, 2006 BNSF made application to the City of Everett
to demolish the bridge and replace it with a 45 foot wide earth
berm. The City has issued a Final Mitigated Determination of
Non-Significance allowing What is currently being done currently to save the property? Who is involved and what resources, financial or otherwise have been directed toward this effort. We have filed an appeal with the City challenging the Final MDNS. A group has formed consisting of prominent citizens, business people, The Pt. Gardner and Bayside Neighborhood Associations, property owners in the immediate vicinity and Historic Everett. The neighborhoods have agreed to adopt the site and will apply for Office of Neighborhoods matching grants funds to help with restoration and maintenance. We have participated in meetings with City Planning Staff. We are working with Parks and Recreation Staff. And they have assured us they will help with the design, construction and maintenance of the site as a park. Both local newspapers, The Daily Herald and The Everett Tribune, have written supportive articles about preserving the site and the attendant history as recently as December 2006. What is your long term goal for this property? Immediate preservation of the steel plate bridge along with continued maintenance. Preservation of the turn of the 20th Century brick street. To create a more visually pleasing setting on the publicly owned property. Honor the place with historical markers that educate the public about the early railroad, the Everett Massacre and the original industrial waterfront and its connection to Downtown. Create open space for the people who live and work in the increasingly dense downtown core. Ensure visual and physical public access to the waterfront and related shorelines of statewide significance. |
Pitch in at plaza
park Historic preservationists
EVERETT -- On the surface, the trash-strewn foot of Hewitt Avenue near Port Gardner is too humdrum these days to attract much attention. Yet if the red brick road there could talk, passersby would learn the area holds a special place in Everett's history. It's where countless immigrants arrived in town at the Great Northern Railway depot and where at least seven men at the city docks were gunned down in the 1916 Everett Massacre -- one of the Pacific Northwest's bloodiest labor disputes. Now some in town have taken it upon themselves to turn the strip of land beneath a railroad trestle into a historic park. In 2006, Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway filed plans with the city to tear down the steel bridge and to replace it with a 12-foot high dirt berm. Several concerned residents filed appeals against the railroad's plans with the city, arguing the application was incomplete and that it failed to recognize the historic significance of the property. BNSF made no mention of the Everett Massacre, which took place a few hundred feet away, or that the site is possibly where Dennis Brigham, the first non-native settler to arrive in Everett, built a cabin where he lived in 1861. It's also believed that American Indians spent summers at the site where fresh water flowed from nearby Forgotten Creek. BNSF has since withdrawn its application and residents have talked with the city parks department and office of neighborhoods about gaining support for a historic park. Nothing is official yet. Still, residents aren't waiting. During the summer, a few dozen people spent a Saturday morning mowing grass and hauling away more than 20 trash bags of brush and debris from the fenced-off property. Another work party is planned for this Saturday. Eventually, Everett's history buffs envision a parklike setting with historic markers educating people about the Milltown site where rail met sail. Reporter David Chircop: 425-339-3429 or dchircop@heraldnet.com. Pitch in Advocates for a historic park at the west end of Hewitt Avenue will hold a work party Feb. 9 at 10 a.m. at the corner of Hewitt Avenue and Bond Street. |
