- Woodway residents vote to incorporate on February 18, 1958. (historylink.org)
On February 18, 1958, voters in the small, upscale community of Woodway in Snohomish County go to a private home to vote on incorporating as a fourth-class town. The measure passes with 99 in favor and 83 opposed. The vote is a response to concerns that the growing town of Edmonds is likely to envelope both Woodway and the nearby Esperance neighborhood into its boundaries. To gain the required population, Woodway’s boundaries include several nearby neighborhoods and parts of adjacent Standard Oil and Union Oil properties for a total of 405 persons. (Some portions of these are later withdrawn.) On this day, Woodway citizens unanimously choose Seattle accountant Chesley M. Cook (1905-1977) to be the first mayor and Irma Jean Canon (1920-2009) to be treasurer. Of six city council candidates, five are elected: Dr. Edward Stoddard DeMarsh (1911-1998), Herbert H. Randlett, Leslie C. Streeter, Norlin Wolfe (1909-1998), and Harold L. Worthington (1901-1994). Mayor-elect Cook announces that the first council meeting will be held soon. Council meetings will be held in private homes until 1963, when a city hall is built. A new town hall will be built on the same site in 2013.
- Edmonds — Thumbnail History (historylink.org)
The city of Edmonds rests along a shoreline and the hillside beyond about 15 miles north of Seattle. Native Americans of the Snohomish people occupied coastal and river areas surrounding the site, and Euro-American explorers encountered their canoes, but they apparently had no permanent village sites in the immediate locale. Its founding father was George Brackett (1842-1927) (arrived 1876) and in its early decades Edmonds thrived as a mill town. During the late twentieth century the city became increasingly urban, while retaining elements of its small town character.
- Memory (plato.standford.edu)
Memory plays important roles in many areas of philosophy. It is vital to our knowledge of the world in general and of the personal past in particular. It underwrites our identities as individuals and our ties to other people.
- HistoryLink.org
HistoryLink.org is the continually evolving online encyclopedia of Washington state history. We provide a free, authoritative, and easily accessible reference for the benefit of all. With a few noted exceptions, all articles on this site are original works prepared exclusively for HistoryLink.org by staff historians, contract writers, volunteers, and consulting experts.