Everett’s dreams gave rise to
Monte Cristo
The Monte Cristo Ballroom at Everett’s historic hotel is an all-inclusive wedding venue.
This 1902 photo shows the original Monte Cristo Hotel on the corner of Pacific and Kromer avenues in Everett. It was torn down in 1924. Photos courtesy of Everett Public Library
Both Monte Cristo hotels were built during boom times for the city — the 1890s and the 1920s
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STORY BY SARA BRUESTLE
t’s been 125 years, but the Monte Cristo Hotel still holds promise.
The building at 1507 Wall St. is listed on the National Register of Historic Places for representing Everett’s economic prosperity in an earlier era. While its purpose has changed throughout the years, the building’s quality has inspired the Monte Cristo Awards — which recognize neighbors who help make Everett special by taking pride in their property. Though the original was built in 1892 and a second one replaced it in 1925, the hotel got its start in 1890. It was in a dream. The city’s founders, Henry Hewitt Jr. and Charles Colby, had a grandiose vision for a new city on the Port Gardner Peninsula. Hewitt and Colby worked to attract investors from the East Coast by sharing
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their plans for a great industrial port flanked by Port Gardner and the Snohomish River. They incorporated the Everett Land Co. that same year. A construction boom soon followed. The land was cleared for a nail factory, a barge works, a paper mill and smelter — though the stumps were left in the building frenzy. The plats between the river and bay were swiftly filled in with homes, schools, churches and theaters. A wharf, sawmill, warehouse and a hotel were also built during this time. While numerous buildings were erected between 1891 and 1893, it was that last one — the Monte Cristo Hotel — that was as grand as the dreams of Everett’s founders. “It was the most luxurious structure in town,” Everett historian Jack O’Donnell said. “More than any other building of that time, it was a symbol of Everett’s progress and promise.”
WASHINGTON NORTH COAST MAGAZINE · SPRING 2018
Everett architect Charles Hove designed the handsome hotel for the Everett Land Co. to provide first-class accommodations for visiting Eastern capitalists. It was built for around $50,000 — about $1.3 million in today’s money. It opened on Nov. 12, 1892. The city’s finest hotel was named for the gold mines in the Cascades that shared a railroad with the town and, thus, also shared a history. “The mines were on everyone’s minds,” Everett historian Mindy Van Wingen said. “The name ‘Monte Cristo’ represented wealth and prosperity.” The 14,396-square-foot wooden hotel on the corner of Pacific and Kromer avenues was three stories high, had 80 rooms, large verandas and elegant turrets built in the Stick and Queen Anne styles. It was a extravagant affair. Not only was the Monte Cristo a place where investors could enjoy a visit and