Edmonds is a city in Snohomish County, Washington, United States. It is located in the southwest corner of the county, facing Puget Sound and the Olympic Mountains to the west. The city is part of the Seattle metropolitan area and is located 15 miles (24 km) north of Seattle and 18 miles (29 km) southwest of Everett. With a population of 39,709 residents in 2010 U.S. census, Edmonds is the fourth most populous city in the county. The estimated population in 2015 was 40,490.
Edmonds was established in 1876 by logger George Brackett, who bought the land claim of an earlier settler. It was incorporated as a city in 1890, shortly before the arrival of the Great Northern Railway. Early residents of the city were employed by the shingle mills and logging companies that operated in the area until the 1950s. The hills surrounding Edmonds were developed into suburban bedroom communities in the mid-to-late 20th century and subsequently annexed into the city.
Edmonds is a port in the Washington State Ferries system and is served by a ferry route to Kingston on the Kitsap Peninsula.
Video Edmonds, Washington
History
Prior to the 19th century, the Edmonds area was inhabited by the Suquamish tribe, who foraged and fished near the flat beach forming modern-day downtown. No archaeological evidence of a permanent settlement in Edmonds has been found, despite claims that a fishing village had existed near the modern-day downtown.
An exploratory expedition of Puget Sound led by Charles Wilkes charted the Edmonds area in 1841, naming "Point Edmund" (now Point Edwards) to the southwest of the modern-day downtown. A 147-acre (59 ha) land claim for the area was filed by Pleasant Ewell in 1866 and was sold to various landowners before being eventually purchased by Canadian-born logger George Brackett in 1872 for $650. Brackett had allegedly found the future site of Edmonds in 1870 while searching for potential logging areas on his canoe, which was blown ashore during a storm. Brackett and his family moved from Ballard to Point Edmund in 1876, intent on creating a town. He drained a marshland near the waterfront and began logging the area, then known as "Brackett's Landing". Additional settlers arrived over the next few years, necessitating the construction of a wharf and general store by 1881. In 1884, the settlement was platted and gained its first post office, christened with the name "Edmonds", either a misspelling of Point Edmund or the name of George Franklin Edmunds, a U.S. Senator from Vermont who Brackett admired.
By the end of the decade, Edmonds had gained its first schoolhouse, sawmill, hotel, and drug store. The Town of Edmonds was formally incorporated as a fourth-class village of 600 acres (240 ha) on August 14, 1890, following an election by residents on August 7. To meet the minimum population of 300 residents required for incorporation, a popular legend states that Brackett added the names of his two oxen to the census conducted prior to the election. Edmonds is the oldest incorporated city in Snohomish County. Brackett was elected as the town's mayor for several months and the new town council passed ordinances to regulate or ban saloons, gambling establishments, and boarding houses. The same year, Edmonds was selected as a stop on the Seattle and Montana Railroad (later absorbed into the Great Northern Railway), sparking interest from real estate investors. The Minneapolis Realty and Investment Company bought 455 acres (1.84 km2) of the townsite from Brackett for $36,000 and built a new hotel and wharf. The railway arrived in 1891, but failed to spark a land rush and fell apart during the Panic of 1893, leaving Brackett to foreclose the land from investors.
Edmonds was supported by four shingle mills that prospered in the 1890s, along with an iron foundry that manufactured steel plates for shingles. By 1908, the town had gained its own water system, electricity, paved streets, and telephone service. In September 1908, Edmonds voted to become a third-class city, with a reported population of 1,546 residents. The city unsuccessfully lobbied for a branch of the interurban line from Everett to Seattle, which would have supplemented passenger steamships on the Mosquito fleet and passenger trains operated by Great Northern. A major fire on July 8, 1909, destroyed one block of buildings on Main Street and caused $20,000 in damage. After the fire, the destroyed buildings were bought by a city councilman and was replaced by a two-story concrete building.
The first automobile owned by an Edmonds resident arrived in 1911 and was followed by the completion of the North Trunk Road through modern-day Lynnwood. A branch road to Edmonds was completed in 1915 and stagecoach lines were extended to the city. Automobile ferry service began in 1923, with the inauguration of the Kingston ferry, which would be acquired by the Puget Sound Navigation Company and continue to serve the city after the decline of the Mosquito fleet. During the 1920s, Edmonds expanded its wharf and ferry dock, while a site on the south end of the waterfront was acquired by the Union Oil Company (later Unocal) for the construction of an oil terminal in 1922. A second major fire struck downtown Edmonds on April 11, 1928, damaging several buildings on the same block of Main Street as the 1909 fire. Despite the increasing scarcity of local timber, the sawmills on the Edmonds waterfront remained the city's main industry in the 1920s. During the Great Depression, all but two mills continued to operate and were supplemented by local improvement projects organized by the federal Works Progress Administration, including regraded streets, new parks, and the addition of an auditorium and sportsfields to the high school.
The popularity of new materials for roof shingles and scarcity of available timber in the state forced most of Edmonds' mills to close by 1951. New companies were established in place of the mills, including an aluminum fabricator and an asphalt refinery at the Unocal terminal. The now vacated waterfront was redeveloped under the direction of the Port of Edmonds, established in 1948 by a public referendum. During the 1950s and 1960s, the Port constructed a breakwater, marina, public beach, and a new ferry terminal for the Washington State Ferries system. The hills surrounding downtown Edmonds to the north and east were developed into suburban subdivisions, centered around small commercial centers, and were annexed by the city. Edmonds reached its present eastern boundary along State Route 99 in May 1959, a few weeks after the incorporation of Lynnwood as a city. By 1963, the city had completed its largest annexations and petitioned to become a first-class city, with a population of 19,000 that placed it second among cities in Snohomish County. Despite the population growth, Edmonds restricted the construction of multi-family dwellings in an effort to keep the downtown area and older neighborhoods "rural-like" and low density. By the end of the 1960s, Edmonds had also gained a new hospital, a community college, and civic center campus.
In the 1970s, the number of businesses in downtown Edmonds declined as suburban shopping centers lured away customers. After a number of buildings in the downtown area were demolished and replaced with condominiums and office buildings, a movement to preserve and restore historic buildings emerged with the support of the city government. The "Main Street Project", funded by local businesses, restored empty storefronts and attracted restaurants to the city in the late 1980s, fueling a downtown revival. Portions of the waterfront were acquired by the city and redeveloped into a public beach, named Brackett's Landing Park, and a public fishing pier was opened in 1979 as the first saltwater fishing pier in the state. Edmonds celebrated its centennial in 1990 with a series of events and the dedication of the Centennial Plaza. Several neighborhoods in southern Edmonds were annexed between 1995 and 1997, forming the city's southern boundary at the King County line.
The Point Edwards oil terminal on the city's waterfront was closed by Unocal in 1991 and the 53-acre (21 ha) site was sought by Edmonds and Snohomish County for redevelopment. The city favored the construction of a new multimodal transportation hub at the site, including a ferry terminal and commuter rail station, while the county proposed the construction of a sewage treatment plant to be used by King and Snohomish counties. The sewage treatment plant was opposed by the city government and citizen groups, and was ultimately moved to an alternative site near Woodinville in 2003. The transportation plan was put on hold after costs increased and the state ferry system diverted funding to other projects. The hilltop portion of the site was cleaned up in the 2000s and redeveloped into condominiums that opened between 2007 and 2008.
Maps Edmonds, Washington
Geography
Edmonds is located in the southwest corner of Snohomish County in Western Washington, and is considered a suburb of Seattle, located 15 miles (24 km) to the south. The city is bordered to the west by Puget Sound and the city of Woodway, which lies south of Pine Street and west of 5th Avenue South. To the south of the county boundary at 244th Avenue Southwest is Shoreline in King County. The city's southeastern border with Mountlake Terrace is defined by the Interurban Trail, while the eastern and northern borders with Lynnwood run along 76th Avenue West, Olympic View Drive, and Lund's Gulch. The unincorporated area of Esperance, located in the southeast corner of the city, is an enclave of Edmonds and has resisted several attempts at annexation. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 18.42 square miles (47.71 km2), of which 8.90 square miles (23.05 km2) is land and 9.52 square miles (24.66 km2) is water.
Edmonds has 5 miles (8.0 km) of shoreline. The city's western side, including the downtown "bowl", has views of Puget Sound and the Olympic Mountains.
Economy
As of 2015, Edmonds has an estimated workforce population of 22,152 and an unemployment rate of 3.8 percent. The city has approximately 13,000 jobs, of which 70 percent are in the services sector. The city's largest employers are the Edmonds School District, Swedish Medical Center, and large retailers. Most of the city's employed residents commute to neighboring cities for work, including 35 percent to Seattle.
Demographics
Based on per capita income, one of the more reliable measures of affluence, Edmonds ranks 20th of 281 areas in the state of Washington.
According to a 2009 estimate, the median income for a household in the city was $66,892 and the per capita income for the city was $42,432. About 2.6% of families and 4.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 3.9% of those under age 18 and 3.3% of those age 65 or over.
2010 census
As of the census of 2010, there were 39,709 people, 17,381 households, and 10,722 families residing in the city. The population density was 4,461.7 inhabitants per square mile (1,722.7/km2). There were 18,378 housing units at an average density of 2,064.9 per square mile (797.3/km2). The racial makeup of the city was 83.4% White, 2.6% African American, 0.7% Native American, 7.1% Asian, 0.3% Pacific Islander, 1.8% from other races, and 4.1% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 5.3% of the population.
There were 17,381 households of which 25.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 49.0% were married couples living together, 9.1% had a female householder with no husband present, 3.7% had a male householder with no wife present, and 38.3% were non-families. 31.3% of all households were made up of individuals and 13% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.26 and the average family size was 2.82.
The median age in the city was 46.3 years. 18.6% of residents were under the age of 18; 7% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 22.5% were from 25 to 44; 32.8% were from 45 to 64; and 19.1% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the city was 47.3% male and 52.7% female.
2000 census
As of the 2000 census, there were 39,515 people, 16,904 households, and 10,818 families residing in the city. The population density was 4,437.6 people per square mile (1,714.3/km²). There were 17,508 housing units at an average density of 1,966.2 per square mile (759.5/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 87.73% White, 1.34% African American, 0.80% Native American, 5.56% Asian, 0.26% Pacific Islander, 1.26% from other races, and 3.05% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 3.32% of the population.
There were 16,904 households out of which 26.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 52.0% were married couples living together, 8.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 36.0% were non-families. 29.0% of all households were made up of individuals and 10.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.32 and the average family size was 2.85.
In the city, the age distribution of the population shows 20.6% under the age of 18, 7.0% from 18 to 24, 27.4% from 25 to 44, 28.3% from 45 to 64, and 16.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 42 years. For every 100 females, there were 89.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 86.3 males.
Government and politics
Edmonds operates as a non-charter code city under a mayor-council government, with an elected mayor and a seven-member city council. The mayor is elected to a four-year term and is a nonpartisan position. The current mayor of Edmonds is Dave Earling, a former city councilman who was elected in 2011 and re-elected in 2015. The city council's seven members are elected at-large to four-year terms and serve as the legislative body that establishes city policy.
At the federal level, Edmonds has been part of the 7th congressional district since 2012, represented by Democrat Pramila Jayapal of Seattle. Prior to the 2012 redistricting in Washington, Edmonds was part of the 1st congressional district, represented by Jay Inslee. At the state level, the city is divided between the 21st and 32nd legislative districts. The 21st district is represented by senator Marko Liias and representatives Strom Peterson and Lillian Ortiz-Self; the 32nd district is represented by senator Maralyn Chase, and representatives Cindy Ryu and Ruth Kagi. Edmonds is wholly part of the Snohomish County Council's 3rd district, represented by former Lynnwood city councilwoman Stephanie Wright since her appointment in 2010.
Culture
Arts
Edmonds is considered a major hub for the arts in Snohomish County, with a dozen galleries and other arts facilities. The city government established the Edmonds Art Commission in 1975 and developed its public arts program in the following decades.
In 2006, the Edmonds Center for the Arts was opened. This is one of two current theaters available for general performing arts, the other being the theater at Mountlake Terrace High School.
The Cascadia Art Museum, located in downtown Edmonds, opened in September 2015.
Since 1957, Edmonds has annually hosted the Edmonds Arts Festival, a three-day art exhibit, on Father's Day weekend.
The Frances Anderson Center, located on Main Street, serves as a central hub for many activities in the city. It contains sports facilities, child-care programs, art classes, and is directly adjacent to the Edmonds Library. The Edmonds Arts Festival is also held at the Frances Anderson Center.
Drama
Edmonds has one permanent, privately funded drama group, Edmonds Driftwood Players. Their theater, the Wade James Theatre, is located at 950 Main St., adjacent to Yost Park. Usually, they produce 5 mainstage performances per season, supplemented with 4 TIPs (Theatre of Intriguing Possibilities) alternative stage presentations. They have been present in the community since 1958.
Edmonds Jazz Connection
Every year the Edmonds Rotary sponsors the Edmonds Jazz Connection festival, on Memorial Day Weekend in May. During the day, the festival showcases the best of school-age and high school jazz groups, and the evening show features prominent, professional jazz musicians. The event is a large draw for both local and regional audiences.
Frances Anderson Center
The Frances Anderson Center, located on Main Street, serves as a central hub for many activities in the city. It contains sports facilities, child-care programs, art classes, and is directly adjacent to the Edmonds Library. The Edmonds Arts Festival is also held at the Frances Anderson Center.
Media
The Edmonds community is home to a weekly news publication the Edmonds Beacon. The mayor writes a column each week in the paper, usually responding to current issues, citizen concerns, and planned city projects. An archive of all articles written by the mayor is found on the city website. MyEdmondsNews.com is a local news website.
The Edmonds library was established in 1901 and moved into a building funded by philanthropist Andrew Carnegie in 1910. The Carnegie Library served as a dual library and city hall until 1982. Today, Edmonds belongs to the Sno-Isle Libraries system and is served by a 20,000-square-foot (1,900 m2) library building that was opened in 1982.
Farmer's Market
The Edmonds Museum Summer Market, sponsored by the Edmonds-South Snohomish County Historical Society, is held each Saturday from May to September. Stretching from City Hall to the downtown area near the gazebo, the Summer Market is a large event attracting up to 2,000 people every Saturday. Mainstays of the market include cut flower stands, produce, handmade crafts and occasionally art.
Parks and recreation
Edmonds hosts a variety of parks, including a dog park, City Park on 3rd Avenue South, a small skate park, a salt marsh and the Edmonds Underwater Park.
Edmonds Marsh is one of the few remaining urban saltwater estuaries in the Puget Sound area and is the first station on the Cascade Loop of Audubon Washington's Great Washington State Birding Trail.
In addition, Edmonds has one of the largest marine facilities in Snohomish County, the Port of Edmonds. The marina is partly artificial, being dredged to a depth of 13 feet (4.0 m), and can house 948 craft (668 in the water, and 280 in dry storage).
The Edmonds Fountain/Gazebo
The Edmonds Fountain, a local landmark, has been a major source of contention over the past decades. The current Edmonds Fountain is located in the center of the intersection of 5th Avenue and Main St. Until 1970, every holiday season the Edmonds municipal Christmas tree stood on this spot. In 1970 the original fountain, an obscure twisted sculpture incorporating water elements, was erected. Often the target of high school pranks (such as adding soap so that bubbles poured from the fountain onto the street) and other local humor, that fountain and sculpture were wrecked in 1998 by a drunk driver. The city council and subsequent "Gazebo" subcommittee decided to build a new structure and a wooden gazebo was constructed a year later. In 2005, a driver crashed into it at night and the gazebo met the same fate as the earlier fountain. After a long discussion over whether to replace the gazebo or landscape the center of the roundabout, a decision was made to rebuild the gazebo/fountain, this time with steel rods extending from the main pillars deep underground. It was completed in the summer of 2006.
Historic preservation
The Edmonds-South Snohomish County Historical Society resides in the city's only National Historic Place - the old Carnegie Library of Edmonds. Located on 5th Ave, it was built in 1910 to serve as a library and city hall, and opened to the public February 17, 1911. It now serves as the Edmonds Historical Museum. The city also has its own register of historic places maintained by the Edmonds Historic Preservation Commission.
Scuba
Edmonds is home to one of the most popular dive sites in the greater Seattle area, the Edmonds Underwater Park. This park is large and mostly man made. There are several submerged shipwrecks including the large tugboat Triumph. The site is famous for very large ling cod, numerous large friendly cabezon, occasional octopus, many surf perch and rockfish, and a lot of invertebrates. Grey whales have been spotted by divers at this site.
Notable residents
Notable people from Edmonds include:
- Guy Anderson, painter
- Steven W. Bailey, actor
- Brian Baird, former U.S. Congressman
- David Bazan, musician
- Alan Stephenson Boyd, former U.S. Secretary of Transportation
- Maria Cantwell, U.S. Senator
- Ryan Couture, MMA fighter
- Anna Faris, actress
- Morris Graves, artist
- Dave Hamilton, professional baseball player
- Bridget Hanley, actress
- Doug Isaacson, Alaskan mayor and Alaska state legislator
- Ken Jennings, author and Jeopardy! contestant
- Todd Linden, professional baseball player
- Jay Park, musician
- Rick Steves, travel author and television host
- Rosalynn Sumners, figure skater and Olympic medalist
- Helen Westcott, actress
Education
Edmonds is served in its entirety by the Edmonds School District, which also serves Lynnwood, Mountlake Terrace, Brier, and Woodway. Within the city limits of Edmonds, there is one high school (Edmonds-Woodway) and six primary schools (Chase Lake, Edmonds, Seaview, Sherwood, Westgate, and Woodway). The Edmonds School District recently sold the plot of land that was home to Woodway Elementary School and it is now the home of the alternative high school, Scriber Lake High School, and an alternative K-12 program, Edmonds Heights K-12 In addition, Edmonds is served by two K-8 schools; Maplewood and Madrona.
In 1990, Edmonds High School merged with Woodway High School to form Edmonds-Woodway High School, which is currently one of only eight schools in the state to host an IB Diploma Programme.
Transportation
Edmonds is served by several modes of transportation that converge in the downtown area, including roads, railroads, ferries, and buses. The city's ferry terminal is located at the west end of Main Street at Brackett's Landing Park and is served by a ferry route to Kingston on the Kitsap Peninsula. From 1979 to 1980, Washington State Ferries also ran ferries to Port Townsend during repairs to the Hood Canal Bridge. The Edmonds train station lies a block southwest of the terminal and is served by Amtrak's intercity Cascades and Empire Builder trains as well as Sound Transit's Sounder commuter train. These trains operate on the BNSF Railway, which runs along the Edmonds waterfront and is primarily used by freight trains. Two state highways, State Route 104 and State Route 524, connect the downtown area to eastern Edmonds and other points in southern Snohomish County and northern King County. An additional state highway, State Route 99, runs north-south in eastern Edmonds and connects the city's commercial district to Seattle and Everett.
Public transportation in Edmonds is provided by Community Transit, which serves most of Snohomish County and covers 74 percent of Edmonds residents. Community Transit's local buses run on major streets and connect downtown Edmonds to transit hubs at Aurora Village, Lynnwood Transit Center, and Edmonds Community College. It also operates Swift on State Route 99, a bus rapid transit service connecting Aurora Village and Everett. Community Transit also operates three commuter routes that run from park and ride lots in Edmonds to Downtown Seattle and the University District.
Sister city
Edmonds has one sister city:
- Hekinan, Japan
This sister city relationship is designated by a totem pole and explanatory commemorative plaque located on the Edmonds Beach
References
External links
- City of Edmonds
- History of Edmonds at HistoryLink
- Edmonds, Washington at Curlie (based on DMOZ)
Source of article : Wikipedia
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