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Library Resources
Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps
Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps of Snohomish County show the footprints of commercial buildings and houses and indicate building materials. Sanborns can be used to determine if a building on your property is "pre-existing" or "non-conforming" because they predate the 1955 County cutoff. This information may be helpful during the rebuilding or remodeling permit process.
The Everett Public Library has physical and digital color copies of the 1914 and 1955 Everett Sanborn maps. The library also has microfilm copies of all Sanborns issued for Arlington, Edmonds, Everett, Gold Bar, Granite Falls, Index, Marysville, Monroe, Mukilteo, Silvana, Snohomish, Stanwood, Startup and Sultan.
Other Maps
The Northwest Room has historic editions of the Kroll and Metzger plat books, and the 1910 Anderson Map Company Plat Book of Snohomish County. Details include property owners and some building detail.
AncestryLibrary
Users with access to AncestryLibrary or personal Ancestry accounts can use the uploaded census records to find out more information about the people who lived at a given address. Use the below precinct maps to determine your ward and precinct designations.
Newspapers
Newspapers often include information about buildings. The Everett Public Library has copies of the Everett Herald, Everett Morning Tribune, Monroe Monitor, Stanwood Tidings, Snohomish EYE, and the Northern Star. Indexing is limited and searches are most productive using a known date. The Everett Daily Herald has been digitized and can be accessed from any library computer by visiting the Newspapers and Magazines page. Select the second link titled Full Image Version for the most complete collection available. If you are unable to visit the library to view this resource, it is available to anyone with a personal Newspapers.com subscription.
Most non-Everett libraries will have the Library Edition of Newspapers.com which will not have access to the full run of digitized Everett Daily Herald because because it only provides access to materials that are out of copyright. Everett Public Library's full access was provided by the Everett Daily Herald as a result of the library's assistance in digitizing their full print run. Northwest Room staff continue to respond to research requests for newspaper articles from researchers who are not able to visit the library. Use the appointment, research, and image request form at the top of the Using the Northwest Room page to request assistance.
Photographs
The Northwest Room Digital Collections contain a variety of scanned materials from the archives and through partnerships with outside organizations. Users will find views of the early Everett townsite, commercial photographs of local industries and businesses, digitized architectural drawings, maps, and annuals, and much more. If you are looking for photographs of your home or business there is a chance they may be in the Digital Collections, however the most reliable source for identified historic property photos remains the Snohomish County Assessor's Historical Records. More information about how to use those online resources can be found on the Northwest Room's Other Building History Resources page.
City Directories
The Polk’s city directories were issued from 1893 to 1999. They contain an alphabetical index of residential and business properties. County communities were included in some early volumes, but county addresses are often vague or non-existent.
The householders index--a listing of properties by address--is included in volumes from 1932 onward. Before 1932, searching must be done using the alphabetical name index. City directories often include occupations, family members, home ownership, and phone numbers.
The Everett Public Library has copies of the city directories in print and on microfilm in the Northwest Room. If Northwest Room staff is not available to provide access there is a second set of city directories in the Reference section near the 2nd Floor Reference Desk.
Books
The following useful books can be found in the Northwest Room:
- A Survey of Everett’s Historical Properties, by David Dilgard and Margaret Riddle (1996)
- Hands On! The Rehabilitation Handbook for Everett’s Historic Homes, by the Everett Historical Commission and the Everett Planning Department (1992)
- Snohomish County Cultural Resource Inventory, by Brent Lambert (1981)
- Discovering the History of Your House and Your Neighborhood, by Betsy J. Green (2002)
- House Histories: A Guide to Tracing the Genealogy of Your Home, by Sally Light (1989)
- Small Houses of the Twenties: The Sears, Roebuck 1926 House Catalog, Dover (1991)
- 500 Small Houses of the Twenties (also called Books of a thousand homes, vol. 1), Dover (1990)