[21] During an Alaskan cruise via the Inside Passage aboard the steamship Queen of the Pacific in July 1890, lumberman Henry Hewitt Jr. and railroad executive Charles L. Colby drew up plans for an industrial city on Port Gardner Bay.

The pair sought to build an industrial center at a site they speculated would be the first ocean port for Great Northern Railway, to be constructed by James J. Hill, and turn it into a "Pittsburgh of the West".

[22] By September, Colby had secured $800,000 in funding (equivalent to $24.8 million in 2023 dollars)[24] from oil magnate John D. Rockefeller and his railroad associate Colgate Hoyt to begin acquiring land while avoiding property speculators.

[26] The Rucker Brothers' plat was withdrawn after an agreement to donate half of their holdings was reached with Hewitt, who promised a series of industrial developments under the "Remarkable Document", which was also used to acquire property from other landowners in the area.

[34][36] The city's privately owned streetcar system launched on July 3, 1893, with lines connecting the Hewitt Avenue commercial district to mills, smelters, and areas as far as Lowell.

Following an appeal from Snohomish, the Washington Supreme Court declared the result to be invalid and blocked the move, but a recount by the commissioners in October 1895 remained in Everett's favor.

The council had 25 unions by 1907 and became affiliated with the American Federation of Labor, using its influence to stage strikes and work stoppages that resulted in wage increases and safer conditions at mills, where 35 workers had died in 1909.

[57][61] After a heated debate followed by several minutes of gunfire, five people on the Verona were killed and two deputies on the dock had been mortally wounded from friendly fire; an unofficial death toll of twelve IWW members was determined from the recovery of underwater bodies.

[57] At least 50 people were injured, including McRae, and 297 were arrested in Everett and Seattle; only one IWW member, Thomas Tracy, was ultimately tried and found not guilty of first-degree murder after a two-month trial.

[60][61] The local timber industry continued its boom and bust cycle into the 1920s, suffering from price swings but benefiting from the 1923 Japanese earthquake to supply lumber and the opening of the Panama Canal.

[84] The new suburban neighborhoods were linked via Interstate 5, which opened from North Seattle to Everett in February 1965 and bypassed U.S. Route 99 with a six-lane freeway roughly following the former interurban railway.

[99] Downtown Everett also declined as an activity center as retailers and car dealerships moved to suburban areas, despite the opening of a large hotel and several high-rise office building.

[100] A city landfill southeast of Downtown Everett was turned into a recycling plant for millions of rubber tires, nicknamed "Mount Firestone", which caught fire in September 1984 and burned for seven months as the incident gained national media attention.

[137] In response to a projected revenue shortfall of $14 million caused by the shelter-in-place order, which later spread statewide, the city government laid off 160 employees in May 2020 and plans to cut services.

[153][154] The city boundaries also include 3,729 acres (1,509 ha) of forest surrounding Lake Chaplain, a reservoir in the Cascade Mountains that provides part of the municipal water supply.

[157] In the 1990s, local geologists also found evidence of a tsunami and soil liquefaction in deposits under the Snohomish River delta that were not directly connected to the South Whidbey Island Fault.

[176] Several downtown streets are named for the founders of the Everett Land Company and their associates, including John D. Rockefeller, the Rucker Brothers, Charles L. Colby, and shipbuilder Alexander McDougall.

[177][178] The city government approved plans in 2018 to allow for high-rise buildings as tall as 25 stories and with reduced parking requirements to encourage denser development in anticipation of a future Link light rail station.

[219] Everett's homeownership rate is among the lowest in Washington, with 44 percent of homes occupied by their owners, and its residents have a low median income relative to the county and Seattle metropolitan area.

[230] The Everett Police Department and Snohomish County Sheriff's Office began criminal investigations against operators and employees of various bikini barista coffee stands in 2009 for violating adult entertainment laws.

[240] The city government filed a lawsuit against OxyContin manufacturer Purdue Pharma in January 2017, claiming that the company had been grossly negligent in distributing the drug and containing its effect on Everett residents.

[291] The city's largest annual summer festival, the Salty Sea Days, was established in 1970 and included a parade, hydroplane races, a classic auto show, and other events.

[308] The Flying Heritage & Combat Armor Museum opened in 2008 at a renovated Paine Field hangar and houses a collection of restored 20th century military planes and vehicles.

[347][348] The Aquasox announced in 2021 that it plans to renovate Funko Field or build a new ballpark in Downtown Everett with funding from the city government to comply with new Minor League Baseball standards.

[195] Everett's senior center first opened on June 1, 1965, in the Louie's Dance Hall building on Rockefeller Avenue with support from the county chapter of United Good Neighbors.

[395][396] The school district is managed by a five-member elected board and covers 52 square miles (130 km2), including most of Everett, the city of Mill Creek, and the unincorporated area of Silver Firs.

[414][415] In 2007, the state legislature authorized planning funds for a UW branch campus in Snohomish County and a site near Everett Station was named as a finalist alongside candidates in Lake Stevens and Marysville.

[418] The branch campus was conceived as a replacement for the UW proposal and included a WSU takeover of the University Center of North Puget Sound, an alternative degrees program at EvCC, in 2014.

[429] Everett is also the northern terminus of the Sounder commuter rail system, which is operated by Sound Transit and travels south to Seattle during peak hours with stops in Mukilteo and Edmonds.

[454][455] The system primarily sources its water from Spada Lake, an artificial reservoir on the Sultan River created by the Culmback Dam and located 25 miles (40 km) east of Everett in the Cascade Mountains.