Giant WhirligigsEary Hawkins (1912-2015)

Eary Hawkins was born in Portal, North Dakota on August 12, 1912. He and his family moved to Riverside where he attended grade school. At the age of nine, he had a farming accident that caused brain injuries and challenged his reading and writing, still Eary learned enough to have a well lived life. At the age of 17, he left home to work on farms and the Grand Coulee Dam. At the Dam, he learned to be a successful welder and was loved by the locals for his craftsmanship at the Omak Machine Shop. 

He was also well known in the community for his whirligigs (referred to as ‘windmills’ by some) which he displayed in his yard, on the south end of Riverside. He is said to have created 112 whirligigs in total, mainly throughout the 1970s.

Eary passed away in 2015, but a number of his whirligigs are still cherished and displayed by neighbors throughout town. 

– Narrative by Leah Zuberer (SPACES intern), 2025

Sources:

• https://www.wenatcheeworld.com/tributes/in_memoriam/eary-hawkins/article_72c0807e-2b52-5b34-b945-175366552b93.html

Be careful there is another Riverside in Snohomish County. Extant as of 9/1989.

~SPACES Archives

metal, paint

1 folder: images

Riverside, Washington, 98841 us
Latitude/Longitude: 48.5022404 / -119.5062252

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