Edmonds Beacon - Your Hometown News Source

In the past, I leafed through the 1889 R.L. Polk directory – which listed businesses – in the Edmonds Historical Museum. (The museum is currently closed due to the coronavirus pandemic.) It was the original business-to-business long before computers. It enabled business looking to buy or sell could find suitable contacts in other towns.

Polk made money by selling the directories, which were filled with advertising. Many businesses, and often banks, would publicize themselves via advertising.

Washington Territory became a state in 1889 and, one year later, Edmonds would incorporate. It...