We have two historic images this month because the usually quite northeast corner of Third and Avenue C, in the heart of our historic district, is the site of a migrating church replaced with a house, and most recently, a roof raising.

Our earliest image was taken by Lee Pickett (18??-1959), a Michigan born photographer who settled in Index, Washington, in 1909, and worked exclusively for the Great Northern Railroad company through the 1920’s. To capture our undated image, Pickett was standing in the intersection of Third and Avenue C, facing east, up Third Street. The Sanborn insurance maps at the time listed this street as “impassable for teams,” meaning that a team of horses pulling a hose and water wagon wouldn't make it to a fire.

The First Methodist Church was designed and built by John S. White in 1885. It may have been his first commission after arriving in Snohomish the year before from Topeka, Kansas, although he grew up in New Hampshire, which shows in his graceful design for this building. Some years later, the St. Michael’s parish built their Roman Catholic church on the up hill corner at Avenue B, using wood salvaged from a roller skating rink. A. H. Eddy built it, and he too was a popular contractor in Snohomish; in fact, he went on to build the first Avenue D Bridge in 1891, all out of wood.

Our bonus historic image is of John and Mary Tompkins standing in front the home they built on the site vacated by the church when it moved up hill to the corner opposite St. Michael’s on Avenue B. This image was published as a postcard and donated to our Historical Society by Bess H. Gainer in 1993, who noted on the back that it was taken around 1910.

The growing Krikawa family has owned the house for some 16 years. In 2004, Meg and Ed, pictured here with their son Sean, tore off the roof of this house in order to add several bedrooms to the second floor, and then built a new roof – all while living on the first floor! Although Ed’s day job is a Captain with the Mukilteo Fire Department, he has a secret life as an architect and should be very proud of his historically sensitive remodel.

Be sure to take note of the two steeples on the left. Perhaps a reader could contact me if they know the real reason why the First Methodist congregation decided to move their building -- the story on the street is that the Methodists wanted to be higher than the Catholics.