Edmonds Undressed, by Tracy and Jana Cobbin - 206-353-4804
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Edmonds is the oldest incorporated city in Snohomish County. Logger George Brackett founded Edmonds in 1890, naming the city either for Vermont Sen. George Franklin Edmunds[4] or in association with the nearby Point Edmund, named by Charles Wilkes in 1841 and later changed to Point Edwards.[5] Brackett came to the future site of Edmonds while paddling a canoe north of Seattle, searching for timber. When a gust of wind hit his canoe, Brackett beached in a location later called “Brackett’s Landing”.[6] The town was named Edmonds in 1884, but was not incorporated until 1890 as an official “village fourth class” of Snohomish County. In that same year, Brackett sold 455 acres to the Minneapolis Realty and Investment Company. The town was plotted and a wharf was added along the waterfront. Modest houses and commercial structures sprouted up with a row of shingle mills dominating the cityscape. In 1891, the Great Northern Railroad came through and early settlers and investors grew hopeful that Edmonds would prosper. Unfortunately, the Panic of 1893 created business setbacks and the town owners foreclosed. Brackett reclaimed his town and along with other early settlers continued to develop its infrastructure. By 1900 there was regular passenger ferry service available by the steam-powered “mosquito fleet” of private ferryboats from Edmonds to Seattle.
