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This Just In! 

Welcome to our new monthly blog post called “This Just In!” These posts will highlight recent acquisitions of the Edmonds Historical Museum. Any item that is donated or purchased may end up being highlighted here. We may even have mystery items that you can help us identify from time to time. So buckle up and stay tuned!

Our highlight this month is a sign from Mar-Vel Marble. This sign, along with the many other items we recently acquired, help us to tell the story of a building. As many who frequent the downtown area may know, the building at 202 Main Street was demolished last week to make way for a new building. This new building will house the foundation Art Start Northwest. The building at 202 Main Street was full of history and thanks to the staff at Mar-Vel Marble, we were able to help preserve some of that history.

P.E. Bacon bought the lot on the southeast corner of Second and Main in May of 1928. In July, he opened his storage and automobile repair garage and service station known as Bacon’s Garage. In February of 1932, P.E. Bacon was named Chevrolet Dealer and Bacon’s Garage became Bacon Chevrolet Company.

E.E. Hopper purchased the building and business on August 1, 1940 and Hopper Chevrolet Company was born. Nine years later in August 1949, E.E. Hopper added a modern showroom, offices, and additional storage space to the building. The business was moved out of the building in 1963.

Mar-Vel Marble then occupied the building for over 30 years. Mar-Vel Marble is the last of the downtown manufacturing companies that once occupied most of the area. With this sign, we will be able to help preserve the history of not only Mar-Vel Marble but that of a building, the manufacturing industry, and downtown Edmonds. We also look forward to the history that will be created with the building at 202 Main Street.

Do you have any items relating to Edmonds and South Snohomish County history that you wish to donate to the Museum? We would love to hear from you! Please fill out the Artifact Donation form, https://historicedmonds.org/artifact-donation/. For further information, please contact us at artifacts@historicedmonds.org.