Everett to Marysville 1890 - 1927
By Curt Cunningham

The Snohomish River Bridge

The first bridge across the Snohomish River east of Everett was constructed in the 1890's. This bridge connected to a road which ran across Ebey island to Cavelero's Corner. The corner was named for Domino Cavalero who had settled in the area east of Everett in the 1880's. Cavalero's Corner was the junction of the roads coming from Everett, Snohomish and Marysville.

Sunnyside Boulevard

In 1913 the Pacific Highway ran eastward from Everett across the old bridge and Ebey island to Cavalero's Corner. Before the 1936 trestle was built, the first road across the flats was at ground level using wooden planks over the worst parts of the road. Later this road was paved in concrete. The reason to build the highway this way was to avoid having to build 4 large bridges over the Snohomish River and the numerous sloughs that make up the delta of the river between Everett and Marysville. From Cavalero's Corner, the highway turned to the left and continued north on what is now called Sunnyside Blvd.

On October 23, 1902 the Sunnyside post office was established on the road between Everett and Marysville, with J. H. Kelly as the postmaster.

Trip to Marysville 1902

Printed in The Ranch dated May 1, 1902 was an article written by a Stanwood resident about his trip From Everett to Marysville on April 24, 1902; "On Monday morning I shouldered my bundle and drove Shank's ponies from Everett to Marysville. The walk was a pleasure indeed, offering much varied scenery. The road was "plank" in a very good condition; it crossed the river by means of several large and quite expensive bridges, one very nice one having been but very lately completed."

"From the latter point I struck a very fair gravel road, quite above the average, crossed frequently by culverts, which proclaimed in eloquent silence how slipshod we are concerning our public improvements and notably our highways. Nearly every one of these culverts had one or more bad chuckholes on either side of them and some had the covering forced down, leaving holes in the middle of the road which are a positive menace to the safety of man and beast, especially alter night. A few dollars worth of plank and a few days' work would correct everyone of these horse traps, and little more would fill the holes and give speed and safety to the traveling public, but a saving of construction by a little mending would leave no room for officialdom to the officious."

The Pacific Highway Everett to Marysville

In July of 1915, work began on the 3.3 miles of highway from Marysville south toward Everett. This work consisted of clearing, grading, draining and surfacing the roadbed. The work was done by the highway department using the day labor system. The work was completed in November of 1915 for a sum of $16,187.34. The roadbed was the standard 30 feet wide in the cuts and 24 feet wide on the fills. The roadbed was then surfaced with gravel 16 feet wide and 6 inches deep. By 1921 this 8 mile section of the Pacific Highway had been paved with concrete 20 feet wide.

The Marysville Cut-Off

In 1927, the Marysville - Everett Cut-Off was completed and this new section of highway bypassed the old road through Cavalero's Corner which shortened the Pacific Highway between Everett and Marysville from 11 miles to about 5 miles.

Bridging Ebey Island

On January 15, 1936 traffic began crossing Ebey island on a new wooden and concrete trestle 2.5 miles long. This trestle at first carried both directions of traffic. The old bridge across the Snohomish River was also replaced by a new concrete drawbridge. On April 8, 1968 the second trestle was completed at a cost of $7,300,000 which now carries the westbound traffic. This is when the old highway was connected to the freeway on the west end, and U.S. Highway 2 at the east end. This new alignment had off ramps installed so autos could still reach Cavalero's Corner. In 2001 the old 1936 trestle was replaced by a new viaduct which cost $100 million. In 2022 the older westbound trestle is in the planning stages of being replaced.