Deborah Cuyle - Haunted Everett, Washington

Published by Haunted America

A Division of The History Press

Charleston, SC

www.historypress.com

Copyright 2019 by Deborah Cuyle

All rights reserved

Cover image courtesy of author.

First published 2019

e-book edition 2019

ISBN 978.1.439667.965

Library of Congress Control Number: 2019943359

print edition ISBN 978.1.467142.847

Notice: The information in this book is true and complete to the best of our knowledge. It is offered without guarantee on the part of the author or The History Press. The author and The History Press disclaim all liability in connection with the use of this book.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form whatsoever without prior written permission from the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

DEDICATION

Some things have to be believed to be seen.
Ralph Hodgson

Death is no more than passing from one room into another.
Helen Keller

It would be a shame to dedicate this book to anyone other than David Dilgard of the Everett Public Library. His unwavering devotion to the history of Everett was incredible. Unfortunately, David is no longer with us, but I hope his spirit is still roaming the Northwest Room at the library he so loved. He will be remembered for his storytelling, fascinating tours, historical books and preservation efforts. The manuscripts and files he left have been a great and valuable resource for many of these ghost stories. He had a liking for anything haunted, and he would always chuckle and say, None of us gets out of here alive! Perhaps David now roams the halls of the library with the spirit of Alice McFarland Duryee (18751914) who served as the first head librarian at the Everett Public Library in 1898. Originally from Maine, Alice was an early Everett pioneer who also had a great love and devotion for the towns library.

This book is also dedicated to all of my friends, my son Dane and every other fellow ghost hunter out there. Without them, I would be wandering around dark rooms all by myself with my EMF detector and ghost radar, which wouldnt be very much fun at all.

Happy ghost hunting!

Deborah Cuyle

These two images depict early Everett. The top image is of Hewitt and Wetmore Avenues with horse-drawn carriages and trolley cars. The bottom is of Hewitt Avenue with fancy new automobiles. Everett Public Library.

CONTENTS

PREFACE

If you knew that your life was merely a phase or short, short segment of your entire existence, how would you live? Knowing nothing real was at risk, what would you do? Youd live a gigantic, bold, fun, dazzling life. You know you would. Thats what the ghosts want us to doall the exciting things they no longer can do.
Chuck Palahniuk

This book project was inspired by the ghost stories of my friends who live in Everett. Some of them told me that they felt an eerie hand touch the back of their neck while at the old Everett Theatre. Others claimed that they saw apparitions while wandering the grounds of Evergreen Cemetery. Paranormal researchers from the area shared photographs, EVPs and personal experiences from their investigations with me. I love all of the lore, legends and ghost stories from Everett that I have been told throughout the years, so I gathered them all to share in this book in the hopes that it brings Everett, the old mill town, back to life with its fascinating and frightening tales.

My interest and respect for the early pioneers, my fascination with Washingtons local history and my personal passion for old buildings also inspired me to write this book. It was fun to walk the same streets as those early pioneers and think of how it was for them back in the old days. History is full of people who haunt us, who want to be recognized and never forgotten for what they did, what they created, what they offered. This book is about those fascinating spiritsthe spirited people who made Everett what it is today.

Top: Street lights and automobiles adorn Hewitt and Rucker Avenues. Bottom: This 1900 postcard by photographer Norman Edson shows Hewitt Avenue looking west with the Mohawk Block, Mitchell Hotel (later known as the Cascadian Apartments), Grand Leader Department Store and Lobby Saloon. Everett Public Library.

The stories in this book are all told for fun and for the love of history and lore. This book is not intended to be a nonfiction project, despite the hundreds of hours I spent hunched over, reading and researching. While writing this book, I found conflicting dates and inconsistent historic details, so please take these stories for what they are. I tried to be as accurate with names, dates and details as I possibly could, but this, ultimately, is just a fun book full of tales of mischievous ghosts and history of the town.

Ghost stories, legends and folklore exist in every town, big and small, new and old. Human beings are fascinated with the afterlife and are eager to somehow capture proof of the spirit world. But what are these spirits that people are so eager to find proof of ? Hauntings that are created by accidents or incidences of trauma are called residual hauntings and are the most common form. Ghosts in residual hauntings tend hang around because they have become trapped by past traumatic events. A kind nudge to go to the other side is sometimes all it takes to get the spirit to move on. Another type of haunting is called intelligent, in which the ghosts can communicate and interact with the living, which cause the more classic types of paranormal activity. When spirits use their energy to move objects, make noises or make items disappear and reappear, it is known as a poltergeist haunting. This type of activity is what I have found to be fairly common, and it is typically just playful.

Apparitions and odors are the most common forms of paranormal activity, although odors are impossible to capture and prove. Strange noises are also common forms of paranormal activity. These noises often imitate the sounds of human, environmental and animal activities such as crying and moaning, but they can also imitate the sounds of chairs moving or dishes breaking. Paranormal activity can also come in the form of a crisis apparition, or the appearance of a passed loved one offering comfort. These are single events that typically occur when a living person undergoes a personal crisis. Unfortunately, these crisis apparitions are commonly shrugged off as daydreams or ignored and labeled as strange events caused by personal stress. However, I would like for my readers to keep in mind how much energy it takes for a spirit to manifest itself. It is an extremely hard task, so it is very important that the spirit is acknowledged and given words of thanks. While single instances of paranormal activity are exciting, the apparition of an animal or a person is only considered to be a haunting when it continues to appear in the same location.