Just another bump for this. Made another toon and was reminded about it being incorrect. Also, adding some proof via this archived
'Everquest Rangers' site. The site is undated, but the description talks about the Ranger/Hybrid experience penalty in the first paragraph, so we know it was made before they got rid of the penalty. In the Race descriptions it mentions that the starting city for Human rangers is Surefall Glade, and that Half Elves have a choice of Surefall Glade or Kelethin.
The site stops its spells at level 49 for ranger, which was pre RoK. So we know that pre RoK, the starting city for Human Rangers and Druids (and optionally HEFs) was Surefall Glade, not Qeynos. This should clear up any doubt as to whether starting in Surefalls was classic. It was.