James J. Hill Iii And Iv Bring Centennial Memories -- Railroad Still A Driving Force

With nostalgia and memories of the past, James J. Hill III and his son James J. Hill IV visited the Everett City Council chambers recently to be recognized and honored during our Centennial Celebration.

You see, it was just 100 years ago that the railroad builder came to Everett to mark the completion of the Great Northern Railroad from the Midwest and Chicago to Everett and the shores of Puget Sound.

Hailed as an "empire builder," Hill's railroad and its influence are still forces to be reckoned with in Everett history, its present and future.

Just this week, Japanese-built components of the new Boeing 777 plane came to town by boat, were offloaded and taken out along the waterfront to Mukilteo, there to be taken up the Burlington-Northern spur line to the huge plane manufacturing or assembly plant. That was one of James J. Hill's dreams, to trade with Asia.

Player in commuter rail

And now Burlington-Northern has asserted itself as a player in the use of its railroad tracks and right-of-way from Everett to Seattle to Tacoma for the transport of commuters as part of the answers to our overcrowded highways. The company has the tracks already in place and has been recognized in passenger-rail circles by the lines they run into metropolitan Chicago.

In a moving ceremony, Everett Mayor Pete Kinch welcomed the two scions of the Hill family and presented the 10-year-old great-great-great-grandson of founder James J. Hill with a Centennial wristwatch as a souvenir of his visit.

Everett City Council President Ed Diamond, County Executive Bob Drewell, County Council President Liz McLaughlin and Stewart Aldcroft, retired Great Northern local agent and president of the "Rails Northwest '93" program, were all introduced and added their welcome to the Hills.

The Great Northern was extended to Seattle and the present line continued on south to Tacoma. But the early Everett dream of being the place where "the rails meet the sails" did become an actuality.

The whole of Everett is now in the throes of various Centennial celebrations. We had a big symphony concert and slide show at the Everett High School auditorium; a charter-signing day ceremony at the new Navy base that honored 100 leading citizens and 100 young future leaders, plus the visit of mayors of three "sister cities" in Japan, Ireland and Russia; a fun-filled Seniors Week which included a parade uptown past city hall, costumed riders, a high school band, and then the historic Hill visit that re-enacted the coming of the railroad almost 100 years ago to the day.

Another of the railroad builder's contributions to Everett was the huge timber sale of 900,000 acres of prime forests to Hill's next-door neighbor, Philip Weyerhaeuser, and that is what brought the midwestern lumberman to the shores of Puget Sound. The first Weyerhaeuser mill was on the Everett waterfront, and they became a major employer.

Hill spurred `Milltown'

Following the collapse of the mining dreams in the Monte Cristo area, Hill moved into the local picture by sending his agent to Everett and in turn bringing other mills to our waterfront. Hill was quick to realize he needed freight moving eastward for his railroad. . . . Lumber and shingles were to provide that freight. That is how we became the one-time lumber-mill capital of the U.S.; that is how we gained the dubious title of "Milltown."

There are many more events to take place this year, among them the Salty Sea Days parade and celebrations, the opening of the new community theater, the mid-summer antique auto show, historic river cruises and the rail heritage festival. Already we have produced books on the fire department, a history of school districts, the earliest theater, the postcard history and a big new book on Everett history is in the making. All these things are very positive forces in the life and times of a small western city named Everett.

Civic pride is getting a large lift with all these happenings. So many thanks to the Hills, father and son, number III and number IV for coming here from Pebble Beach, Calif., to share in our Centennial.

"On the Main Line," Robert Humphrey's column about the history of South Snohomish County, appears occasionally in this section.