Dudley’s Second Term: Garbage, Sewage, and Bowling
In construction, it is important to lay a solid foundation before beginning to build any structure. This foundation is sometimes not visible, and this can lead to its underappreciation. Mayor G.A. Dudley’s first term laid that foundation. Remodeling the city’s waterworks system, fixing transportation issues, and addressing fire concerns among citizens. Because of this, his second term which ran from June 1956 to June 1960, could begin the process of building things in Marysville that were visible, and able to be used and appreciated by the citizens. While the foundational projects that started in his first term continued into his second, thanks to this work Marysville was able to mature between 1956 and 1960 and become a self-sufficient town that people were proud of and build a community that people wanted to be a part of.
Periodically between nationwide censuses, the state mandated a city conduct a census if they believed it had grown substantially. In 1952 when G.A. Dudley took office the population was 2350, by the time he left office in 1960 the that has gown to 3115. This included two new annexations between 1956 and 1960, bringing the total number of times the city grew its boundaries to four. The first of these was between Liberty and Armar from east to west and between sixth and ninth from north to south in early 1959. This brought in 21 new homes to the city. The second annexation was later that year and included 200 new homes along Grove to Allen Creek and south to Sunnyside Boulevard. With all these new residents the city continued to update its waterworks system and even formed its own garbage department, which created its own controversy. Due to all this growth, the city budget grew from $106,000 in 1955 to $256,020 in 1960. This included new revenue as much as new expenditures, but it was clear during this whole period, that the city leaders were budgeting very carefully, as things became tighter and tighter as the years went on. Budget problems and growing cities go hand in hand and the improvements that the city-funded helped grow the city in many other ways during G.A. Dudley’s second term as Mayor of Marysville.
Now We Don’t Have to go to Everett
Marysville grew remarkably during G.A. Dudley’s first term as Mayor. New infrastructure projects put the city in the right place structurally, and financially the city was in great shape, receiving clean audits from the state all eight years. That being said, new water pipes and reservoirs are not the most exciting projects, especially for younger people. For most recreational activities, people had to leave Marysville and go to Everett. This could be bowling, skating, sports, the city didn’t have the facilities to host these kinds of activities. During Dudley’s second term, however, the building of recreational venues in town skyrocketed, and they all became instant hits among the residents.
The first of these facilities to open was the Strawberry Bowl, in November 1957. Known today as Strawberry Lanes, this bowling alley opened to great excitement and was an instant mainstay in the community. The next Strawberry Festival that was in the process of being planned when it opened, even incorporated an extremely popular bowling tournament to its 1958 calendar of events. Upon its opening, the Marysville Globe praised the facility stating that it “will give close by opportunity for both experienced and neophyte bowlers.” The word “close by” sticks out in this article, as it shows the desire among residents for expansion of the Marysville business community to the area of recreation.
The next new business to open was the Thunderbird Drive-in, the following year on May 1st, 1959. The drive-in movie theater is one of the quintessential pieces of 1950s culture and is depicted in movies and TV shows to this day, and Marysville’s teens were excited about this addition to their community. On top of the movies and activities for teens and adults, a playground was installed on the property for kids to use before the shows began. It became such a popular place for people of all ages to go, that during the season (Spring and Summer, weather dependant) the theater was open seven days a week. The first two films played during its opening weekend in May 1959 were “My Man Godfrey” and “Man on the West.”
The final recreational facility to be opened during Dudley’s second term was the Marysville Skate-Inn on November 7th, 1959. This was perfect timing, as the season was ending for the Thunder Bird Drive-In, and skating was an indoor activity to take its place in the cold months. Skating was already popular in Marysville. Lessons had been offered to kids and adults in town one night a week at the IOOF Hall (The Opera House), and with demand only growing, it was decided to build a skating rink off Grove Street. The Globe described the opening night as “a ‘grand’ grand opening” as the parking lot was at capacity, requiring Police officers to come direct traffic, and inside the new rink ran out of chairs. Mayor Dudley spoke at the event thanking the owners Mr. and Mrs. Fred Grove for their contributions to the community through the lessons at the IOOF thus far and for the construction of the new rink. As with the bowling alley, the skate-inn would become a mainstay in the community for years to come, and was a regular participant in community activities such as the Strawberry Festival.
The First, Second, Third, and Fourth Planning Commission
During his first term, Mayor Dudley decided to form the inaugural Marysville Planning Commission. Realizing that a group focused on planning for Marysville’s future would be helpful to him and future leaders in deciding how the town should grow and develop. The first commission, Chaired by Ralph Spurlock met a couple of times, and once they felt they had “planned”, Spurlock resigned and the group stopped meeting. The Mayor naturally wanted this commission to continue meeting, so he replaced Spurlock, added a few new members and requested they build on the work of the first group. Then in the words of Mayor Dudley, it died. In April of 1958, after the group had gone through two new Chairmen, and numerous members Dudley announced that the commission is to “show evidence of functioning as it should by June 1st, or resign and be replaced.” The group had not held a meeting in a year and a half, and when a meeting was called there were never enough to constitute a quorum, and the Mayor and city council were beginning to think the group didn’t care about the planning of the city.
The next month, however, under the direction of Chairman Vernon Bartilson, the commission established monthly meetings and attendance requirements for members. By the looks of things, the commission was getting back to work, and by August they had prepared their first report to the city council. The report consisted of one request, a freeze on all construction in Marysville until the commission could properly establish zoning ordinances. The city council remarked that this was unreasonably and sent the Planning Commission back to the drawing board. One member commented that the “erection of a slaughterhouse in the middle of town” was needed to “emphasize the need for zoning.” This set back did not encourage the group on a path forward, and by December of that year, Dudley again announced the Planning Commission was dead.
Mayor Dudley wiped the slate clean in March of 1959 and replaced the entire Planning Commission under the direction of new Chairman John Yocum. This group got to work and continued meeting regularly, establishing zoning recommendations and a comprehensive plan for the city. After almost six of battling to get a functioning planning commission, they presented their comprehensive plan for Marysville on June 9th, 1960, nine days after G.A. Dudley left office.
Vindication for the Ludwig Street Reservoir
After the monkeywrench that was the Ludwig Street Reservoir, the success of the Sunnyside well sight was something that could get the overhaul of the waterworks system back on track. Within months of beginning his second term, Dudley and the council decided to raise water rates to $2.50 for 7000 gallons inside the city and $2.75 for 4000 gallons outside the city to help raise funds for the connection of the Sunnyside well to the established system. The plan was to connect the Sunnyside well to the Ludwig Street Reservoir, and to the existing water system within the city. As was the case with most waterworks projects in Marysville a few snags were hit along the way, but nothing as major as the reservoir, and in June of 1957, the council was able to issue $175,000 in bonds to fund this connection process. Surprisingly enough, the first phase of construction, connecting the well to the reservoir, went smoothly and in December of that same year the piping was complete and the city accepted the project. Over the next year, the pumphouse at the well site and the connection to the downtown system was constructed, and no major problems got in the way. By the end of Dudley’s time in office, the Sunnyside well was operating smoothly within the city’s system. While this project went off without issue, there would be plenty of others that caused headaches for Dudley during his second term.
The City, Its People, and Its Slough
The relationship between Marysville, and Ebey Slough, the town's physical border to the south has always been complicated. The town relied on the slough early on for industry, as logs were floated down from logging camps, to be delivered to mill inside and outside of town. It also served as a mode of contact to the world, steamboats docked at the end of Beach Street, and those ships coming to Marysville via the Slough carried mail that residents had been waiting sometimes months for. This relationship was changing, and many were now looking to the slough for recreation, and the community had to figure out how to make that transition. The Geddes Marina had been established along the water, but that was about it until the 1950s.
With the exception of the Geddes Marina, there was no place to launch boats within the city limits. As the Slough became a place for recreation many citizens and members of the Marysville Sportsman Association began to request the city build a boat launch on city property at the end of Beach Street. The same spot the original steamboat stop was at. The city seemed very open to this idea, and Mayor Dudley had the Sportsman Association work with the council to put together a plan. In the middle of this process, the Weiser Mill which was rebuilding from a fire two years earlier requested the city sell them the property at the end of the south end of Beach south of First Street to expand their mill. The city had a dilemma, on one hand, this property was the historic home of slough access for Marysville, but on another, the Weiser Mill promised to create hundreds of new jobs for Marysville residents. The request from the Weiser Mill was in March of 1957 and the City Council did not make a decision until February of 1959, which shows how hard it was to come to a workable solution with the mill and the Sportsman Association. The final vote of the council was 4–1 to allow the mill to have the property, but in the time taken to study the property, another idea was adopted to make all involved happy.
Until 1959 the city only owned one area of land on the slough, and that was the lot at the end of Beach Street. While working with the mill and the Sportsman Association over a couple of years the city decided to purchase a new chunk of land just west of the “new” Highway 99 overpass (now I-5). The Sportsman Association immediately went to work constructing the new boat dock as soon as it was purchased and on May 2nd, 1959 Mayor Dudley officially christened the dock with what the Globe described as a “bottle of spirits.” With its close proximity to the Memorial park owned by the Marysville Veterans Club, this new boat launch became a popular destination for boaters from outside of town even and ushered in a new era for the city’s slough.
The development of the slough for a mix between recreation and industry led to many other interesting changes. In early 1957 it was purposed that there should be a boat race along the slough in the summertime. Many organizations in town agreed and formed the Marysville Outboard Club. The event was planned for May 1957, and no one was really sure how the event titled the “Strawberry Cup” would go. It was very weather dependent (May in Washington is iffy at best), and would anybody show up? The event, however, beat every expectation. Thousands of people showed up, and it was a smash hit. The next year radio stations from Seattle asked to broadcast live from the Strawberry Cup, and the Ebey Slough/Steamboat Slough race track was listed as an official outboard racing track by the national outboarding committee. In 1959 the Strawberry Cup was added to the Strawberry Festival events, where it got even bigger. Look out for a future piece on the Strawberry Cup, and its lasting effects on Marysville.
The “embarrassment” on the Slough
As the waterfront of Marysville began to attract new marine-based activities, the question of sewage outflow on the slough came to the forefront. To this point, raw sewage was directed down Columbia Street and dumped into the Slough. Business owners described it as “embarrassing” for their customers to see certain things floating down the slough while they’re trying to conduct business. The solution for the city was obvious, just move the outflow to further down the slough bypassing the businesses. This was a relatively inexpensive fix, only $3500, but while completing this project, city leaders began to think long term about the sewage situation. In late 1957 the city council instructed the city engineer to draw up plans for a sewage treatment lagoon near the slough. At first, this was seen as a dream project, that would take a considerable amount of time to complete, but in 1958 the city proceeded with the purchase of 80 acres of the John Regan ranch on the end of Columbia Street along the slough. The plan was to build one sewage lagoon which could serve up to 18,000 people, with space to build more in the future. This, of course, would be a costly endeavor, and the city didn’t have the money to finance the project.
The city applied for federal grants for the project throughout 1958 and raised sewage rates from $1 to $1.75 to help secure $80,000 in bonds. The certainty of the project was questioned throughout this year, but in December of 1958 at the last city council meeting of the year, it was announced that the federal government would award $51,778 in grant money for the lagoon. Together with the bond money, it was thought that the city could afford the project, however, reality would not be a friend of the Mayor in the coming months. In July of 1959, after getting estimates and hearing bids the city went the lowest bid submitted, which was still 30% higher then what the city engineer had thought it would be. In response to this, the council pruned back the project and decided to complete some of the work in house, including the fencing and pumphouse. The total came to be $149,189 but because of the good financial position they city was in, they were allowed to increase the requested bond amount to cover the additional costs. Upon the acceptance of this bid, Mayor Pro Tem Wallace T. Rounds remarked that this was probably the “last major improvement project” for Marysville. This shows just how far the city had come since G.A. Dudley took office seven years earlier. While the bid was accepted in July 1959, and the lagoons started operating in December of the same year, issues arose that dragged the project into Dudley’s final months in office.
The Company that built the lagoon, which was out of Seattle, claimed after the final payment was made that the city still owed them $18,000. The city disputed this amount and charged the company $1050 in late fees. As was the case with the Ludwig Street Reservoir, the company threatened legal action against the city, and the city held its ground. In April of 1960, Mayor Dudley instructed the City Clerk to write a letter to the company offering to drop the late fees if they drop their ridiculous claim of $18,000. The company refused, and the city continued to refuse payment, but still accepted the completed sewage treatment lagoon in May of 1960. Payment for the lagoon would continue to be disputed even after Dudley left office.
Neither Snow nor Rain nor Heat nor Gloom of Night
Like many other agencies in Marysville to this point, the Post Office was servicing thousands of people outside the city limits in rural Snohomish County. At one estimate, Post Master Leon Stock said the Marysville Post Office delivered mail to over 11,000 people. Because of this, the old post office on Second Street was bursting at the seams. Post Master Stock took matters into his own hands and flew to Washington D.C. to lobby for a new Post Office in Marysville. He was successful and in 1957, began the search for properties. Many places in town were considered, one site on the corner of Third and Columbia was almost chosen, but ultimately the new Post Office was to be built on Fifth Street between State and Delta. Construction of this building started in February of 1958, but as has been seen time and time again in Marysville, not everything went according to plan.
In March of that year, the Marysville Chamber of Commerce accused the Post Office of accepting a bid that was submitted four days late, and shouldn’t have been considered. The implication here was that there were shady backroom deals going on. This was reported to the office of Congressman Al Westland, and the project was ordered to stop. For an entire month, while Congress investigated, no work could be done on the new post office, and the site sat cleared but not completed. Finally, on May 15th Congress sent word that the investigation concluded no wrongful action took place, and the construction could start again. From there the new post office was built smoothly and was opened to much fanfare in September 1958.
With the new Post Office built, the task was now to streamline service to those 11,000 people who relied on the Marysville branch. Many rural routes were changed to carrier routes, with postmen now driving trucks instead of delivering on foot. It was discovered that many homes in rural areas north of town did not have addresses. They would have mail sent as:
John Doe
Marysville Route One
In this case, Route One refers to the mail route a person's house was on. Because of certain Post Men delivering routes regularly, they could deliver off names alone. Because of this, the Post Office then went to work assigning addresses to all these houses and decided to stick with the county’s street numbering system as opposed to the street names many rural citizens were accustomed to. An example was that a man who lived on Robinson Road told the Globe that his mailing address was on 84th Steet NE, but he lived on Robinson Road. In addition to this, the Post Office requested Marysville change to the universal system that roads running north to south were avenues, and roads east to west were streets. All of this confused people living inside and outside the city limits, and it took months to iron out, mail began to back up at the post office that couldn’t be delivered, and the Globe complained that people were not receiving their newspapers. Not surprisingly this whole mess came to a natural conclusion in December of 1958 when residents realized unless they figured out the new system and adopted it, they wouldn’t receive their Christmas packages.
(Almost) Everything was Still on Fire
The issue of fires within the city limits, and in the unincorporated area around Marysville continued to plague the Marysville Volunteer Fire Department, and Fire District 12. Early in his second term on September 24th, 1956 Mayor Dudley proclaimed the following week to be Fire Prevention week in Marysville. In his proclamation, he stated that residents should “Act always with fire safety in mind, thus assuring this community a better fire record in the coming year.” In 1956 alone the city counted $25,490 in fire losses and by 1958 that had increased to $30,000 with over 1400 volunteer hours logged annually. The summer months proved increasingly dangerous, and there was a residential or business fire at least once a week. The city took action to help curb this by banning fireworks, which had caused numerous grass fires during the dry months, and in 1957 Mayor Dudley passed an ordinance that stated all people in Marysville wishing to burn anything had to get a permit from City Hall. During summer, these permits would be much harder to get, and there were steep penalties for illegal burning. As fire calls increased, the stress on the city department and district 12 got to a breaking point, and in April of 1959 it was announced that starting in 1961, the two entities would stop responding to calls outside their jurisdiction, and rural areas outside the boundaries would need to form their own fire districts.
In response to this a few fire districts were formed, a Shoultes-Midway Fire District, a Lake Goodwin, Lake Shoecraft, Lake Ki Fire District, and Fire District 15 which was Tulalip Bay Fire. The last of these would become a headache for the entire county. As late as 1957 Tulalip Bay Fire was growing and operating well, taking some burden off Marysville fire. That year construction was started on a new fire hall on the reservation to increase service, and it boasted a plentiful number of volunteers. However, in April of 1958 after a dispute between the volunteer firefighters and the District 15 fire commission over leadership, the commission padlocked the building and refused to allow the volunteers access to the equipment. This essentially reverted fire protection for Tulalip back to Marysville. In addition to this, the Military/Boeing storage facility on the reservation was now left without fire protection. This led the Department of Defense and Boeing to request fire protection to this site from Marysville Fire for an annual cost of $1500. This partnership would last over a year until in August of 1959 Tulalip Bay Fire was able to take back protection of the facility, and come to an agreement with its commission.
Housekeeping of a City
Many issues that came up during Mayor Dudley’s second term were dealt with in a reasonable time frame. Regardless of the timing, many of these issues did cause controversy.
In early 1957 the Marysville Globe published an editorial regarding free rights and lane painting on State. Their argument was that State is wide enough for four lanes, and the city should paint four lanes and take away street parking. In addition to this, the Globe wanted to see an ordinance passed allowing free rights in the city limits. This opened up a much larger conversation among city leaders surrounding pedestrian safety and driver caution. Not only did they decline to enact either of the Globe’s recommendations, but they also proceeded to outlaw jay-walking, and moved to paint actual crosswalks along State. In a sense, this went against what the Globe editors were advocating for, which was smoother traffic flow, but in the end, it helped to make it safer to walk downtown.
In 1959, a movie theater in town began to show movies that were labeled as “adult-only” films. There isn’t much of a description of what these films were, but it still upset the sensibilities of Marysville’s residents. In March of that year, a group of local Church leaders and members of the PTA groups from each school in Marysville came to the city council meeting asking city leaders to prohibit these films. Judging by coverage of this meeting, the Mayor and City Council members did not have the appetite for such issues and recommended those offended not pay to see these films, and that lower turn out would tell the theater to switch its showings.
For a period of time, the Marysville Police Department was having a tough time keeping its vehicles in order. At the beginning of Dudley’s second term, the city had one police car, and a paddy wagon to transport prisoners. In 1958, the council approved the purchase of a new patrol car from Thornberry Chevrolet in Marysville for $1,187. Within two months while on a high-speed chase along “new” highway 99 near Stimpson Crossing the patrol car was totaled (the officer was uninjured). The department, now being back to two vehicles allowed officers to use the paddy wagon to patrol during the day. While making a phone call at the malt shop in June of 1958, the paddy wagon was stolen by a group of kids from Officer Earl Davis. While the vehicle was found a few hours later on Wilson Road, the Globe reported that the Police Department “was not amused.”
The Community of Marysville
As Marysville grew even more from 1956–1960, the sense of community that had been abundant from 1891 onward, was as present as ever. Members of the community took an active role in groups throughout the town and participated in projects to make their home better. The March of Dimes, which was active in Marysville for decades, continued its mission to eradicate polio from the world, and for the first time, in 1959, Snohomish County had no cases of polio one year. This, of course, was thanks to the hard work by the March of Dimes every year, and by vaccine drives that took place in schools, and fire halls across the country.
Other groups continued into Dudley’s second term such as the United Good Neighbors, and the Marysville Community Chest, and the Marysville Cancer Crusaders. One group that took on a new mission during this time that would shape the future of Marysville was the Police Reserves. In 1956, they floated the idea of constructing a youth center to host community activities and give kids a place to go after school and in the evenings. The idea took off, and the reserves began to hold events to raise money, and get the community on board. The reserves hosted dances, dinners, and even canvased the city to raise money. Through this effort, they eventually purchased land on the corner of Beach and 10th and began to construct the building themselves. It was a slow project as the reserves constructed parts of the building as money came in, this meant the project did not get completed during Dudley’s time in office. The facility was eventually completed and serves today as the Marysville Boys and Girls Club.
All Good Things…
It must be remembered in the study of Mayor G.A. Dudley, that being Mayor was a part-time job with no pay. Mayor Dudley also worked a full-time job during this time to support his family which made for long days. In August of 1956, Gerry and Irma bought out their business partner Jim Livingston, who was moving and opened the G.A. Dudley Real Estate Company. Upon its opening, Irma received her real estate license and was an integral part of the business, and she no doubt made sure things were running smoothly while her husband was off being Mayor. Business was good, and the company, along with its owners were chief supporters of community activities, both morally and financially.
As the election of 1960 drew closer, the questions of Dudley’s intentions began to be asked. No Mayor in Marysville’s history has served three terms, but many in town expressed their intent to support Dudley if he chose to run again. However, in January of 1960, he announced he would not seek re-election stating “8 years is enough.” Unlike in 1952 when he first ran for Mayor, there was not a real contest for Mayor in 1960, which may show people’s satisfaction with the state of the city. Local Banker N.P. “Jack” Gardner filed and ran unopposed for the position. The passing of the torch took place in June of that year and was met with little fanfare. Dudley left office, Gardner took the reigns, and that was that. The Globe had a short article, and a party was held after his last council meeting in May. The Globe did not make any comment on Dudley’s impacts on the town, or even a mention of his time in office when he left. In an editorial discussing town growth, the editor remarked that he was “unashamedly proud of the (town’s) growth” citing annexations, and the new recreational facilities, but never mentioned Dudley. The publication should have commented on Dudley’s impact on this growth, as his time in office was a period of great change for Marysville, and it can be said without a shadow of a doubt, that Marysville would not be the town it is today without G.A. Dudley’s leadership in the 1950s. While his name might be forgotten by some today, we still reap the benefits of what he did for our town and that is exactly what a good legacy is all about.
Not long after leaving office, Gerry and Irma moved to Santa Barbara to be closer to family. The Globe published an editorial thanking the Dudley’s for their impact on the community, and the town sent them away in style. This would not be the end of the story, however, in 1985 the Dudley’s returned to Marysville, citing their desire to return to the Pacific Northwest, and reconnected to the town immediately. Gerry passed away in 1987, and Irma continued her community involvement until her passing in 2004. The Dudley’s loved Marysville, and the town loved them. In telling the story of Marysville, its people, and how it became the Marysville we enjoy today, Gerry and Irma Dudley should be given a prominent place for being a steady hand during changing times.
Mayor Dudley was not alone in his service to Marysville during this four year period, below are some people who helped him make Marysville a better place for the residents between 1956 and 1960.
Mayor Pro Tem:
W.T. Rounds
City Council Members:
Ernest Vigil (served through 1957)
Frank “Benny” Mardon (Served 1957 on)
Ernest Thompson (served through 1958)
Don Foxe (served 1958 on)
Arthur Duborko
Edward B. Davis
City Treasurer:
Edward Dockendorf
City Clerk:
Amelie Dockendork
Police Chief:
Herman Broeker
Fire Chief
Max Gottschalk (served through 1959)
Virgil Baxter (served 1959 on)
City Engineer:
Paul Isaacs
City Water and Streets Superintendent:
Claude Wells
