In this installment of A Look Back in Time, the Friday, Dec. 13, 1935, edition of The Chronicle featured a story about Washington National Guard 41st Tank Company commander Captain A.S. Kresky clashing with Centralia City Commission members over the proposed site of a new National Guard armory in the Hub City.
Four East Lewis County residents were convicted on charges of production, possession and distribution of moonshine according to the Monday, Dec. 13, 1965, edition of The Chronicle.
And in the Saturday, Dec. 13, 1975, edition of The Chronicle, it was reported that an estimated $160,000 in damages were caused by Cowlitz River flood waters at Tacoma City Light’s Cowlitz Salmon Hatchery in Salkum and the Cowlitz Trout Hatchery near Ethel.
A Look Back in Time is compiled using Chronicle archives stored at the Lewis County Historical Museum — located at 599 NW Front St. in Chehalis — along with digital archives on newspapers.com.
Friday, Dec. 13, 1935
• Washington National Guard 41st Tank Company commander Captain A.S. Kresky was butting heads with Centralia City Commission members over the proposed location of a new National Guard armory in the Hub City, The Chronicle reported. “Kresky appeared at a commission meeting this morning with the proposal that the armory be built on the site of the proposed Centralia normal school on Seminary Hill. The commission, however, countered with the proposal that the armory be built on city property south of the city reservoir, stating they would be willing to donate the land in order to obtain the construction of the armory.” Centralia Mayor Dale Nugent led opposition to Kresky’s proposal, wanting the land on Seminary Hill to be used for its original intended purpose as a school. Ultimately, the National Guard armory was constructed on Seminary Hill and still stands there today, located at 309 Byrd St. in Centralia.
• A rehearsal for the new Lewis County Symphony Orchestra was scheduled that night in downtown Centralia, The Chronicle reported. “The first rehearsal of the newly-organized Lewis County Symphony Orchestra has been called for tonight at the Lewis-Clark Hotel. A meeting of the board of directors of the association has also been called. Both meetings will be called at 7:30 o’clock.”
• The Columbia Construction Company had begun work on a new rail spur to provide train access to a Skookumchuck granite deposit near Mulqueen east of Tenino, The Chronicle reported. “The route will provide for connections with the main line railroad by taking the rock through Vail. Fourteen men are engaged in the preliminary work with C. Robins in charge. A large shovel was assembled this week. This will probably be used to clear away blasted rock in clearing a right-of-way between the walls of the Skookumchuck Gorge.”
• Six piglets, all two months old, were listed for sale in The Chronicle’s classifieds for $5, while a bicycle with 28-inch wheels in “good condition” was listed for sale for $12.
Thursday, Dec. 13, 1945
• An Oregon man was locked up in the Chehalis City Jail on drunk driving charges after he crashed into a telephone pole and a home at the intersection of Fifth and Market streets in Chehalis, The Chronicle reported. “According to police, the driver, Gordon Weber, Parkdale, Oregon, attempted to pass a freight truck and lost control of his machine, jumping the curb. His sister, Ila M. Hindmann, Portland, riding with him, suffered lacerations of the hands and wrists.”
• Teachers and students at Chehalis schools, members of local Chehalis clubs, the local USO and even Chehalis Mayor Louis Vimont were working together planning a trip to visit the USS Chehalis, which was scheduled to dock in Olympia on Dec. 22, The Chronicle reported. A U.S. Navy Patapsco Class tanker ship, the USS Chehalis was paid for by the purchase of war bonds by Chehalis residents during World War II and launched in April of 1944 and sailed the waters of the Pacific Ocean during the war, providing refueling to other Navy vessels in WWII’s Pacific Theater. “Ellaborate plans for the visit include the opening of the ship to visitation by people of the community, with efforts being made to make it possible for every school child to be transported to Olympia to view the fighting tanker and pay the community’s respects to the men who have manned her during her service in the Pacific.” The USS Chehalis’ captain and crew were also being invited to visit the Mint City. “Plans are being made for a dinner to be held in Chehalis that evening, at which officers and crew will be guests of the people of the community, after which they will be honored at a huge Christmas party to be held in the Chehalis USO quarters in the civic auditorium.”
• A three-bedroom “modern” home on three lots of land in Bucoda was listed for sale in The Chronicle’s classifieds for $1,500, while a four-room home on 10 acres of land on Crego Hill was listed for sale for $1,400.
Tuesday, Dec. 13, 1955
• Flood waters on the Newaukum River were still preventing repairs to the City of Centralia’s 14-mile-long gravity water supply line, The Chronicle reported. “City Water Superintendent Gordon Hoover said there is no danger of a water shortage despite the fact the gravity line loss could continue for several days. Hoover said the break came sometime Monday and is located at the line’s second crossing of the river, directly at the end of the county road. He said the rushing river has endangered the bridge there and created a log jam. It was apparent the wedged logs had crushed the line, which is below the river bottom at that point … No work can be done on the line break until the water subsides. Then city crews will decide whether to enter the river and repair the line or if it will be wiser to lay a new line in the area.”
• The St. Helen Hospital in Chehalis was one of 67 hospitals in Washington state designated to receive part of $6,942,294 in Ford Foundation grant funding for renovations and service expansion, The Chronicle reported. “The St. Helen institution will be given $23,000, and Sister Mary Fidelis, hospital administrator, said the funds will provide much-needed improvements at the hospital … Sister Fidelis said the grant is almost a Christmas gift, and a welcome one for the hospital, and she readily enumerated improvement projects needing attending which a 1952 remodeling program did not permit. The hospital is still using its original kitchen in the old building since no kitchen is located in the new building. The laundry also needs modernization and the hospital is now in a position to secure new equipment in the surgery department and an Isolette for premature babies in the nursery, Sister Fidelis pointed out.”
• A three-bedroom home with a full basement, hardwood floors, a fireplace and a furnace close to downtown Centralia “on a beautiful landscaped lot” was listed for sale in The Chronicle’s classifieds for $10,500. Two- and three-room apartments in downtown Centralia at the intersection of Main and Iron streets were listed for rent starting at $20 a month.
Monday, Dec. 13, 1965
• Four Lewis County residents were fined and sentenced charges related to production, possession and distribution of moonshine, The Chronicle reported. “The men were arrested Thursday by State Liquor Control Board agents and Lewis County Sheriff’s deputies. Charges were: Alva E. Woodall, 39, Kosmos, possession of unlicensed spirits; Ted R. England, 65, Mossyrock, aiding and abetting unlawful sale of intoxicating liquor (two counts). Claude A. Lester, 49, Mossyrock, was charged with unlawful sale of intoxicating liquor (four counts), operation and possession of still and mash, and possession of unlicensed liquor. Edward W. Briese, 32, Mossyrock, was charged with unlawful sale of liquor (four counts) and operation and possession of still and mash. The men were sentenced to six months in jail and a $500 fine on each count. The fines and jail sentences, however, were suspended pending good future behavior. The court pointed out the offenses were the first for the defendants.”
• Around 50 local attendees came to a Lewis County public hearing concerning a proposed new road west of Centralia going through residential development areas. “The proposed county road, to include a Chehalis River bridge to cost an estimated $210,000, is roughly from the Cook’s Hill area directly north across the river to the former Pacific Highway route north of the Fords Prairie school … Because of the increasing residential building, efforts will be made to secure adequate right-of-way at this time. At one point in the hearing, a vote by raised hands saw 28 persons supporting the road project and seven opposed. Most of the latter are property owners who may lose land to the right-of-way.”
• Mason County Sheriff’s Department deputies were “digging to keep its dog in (search and rescue) school,” The Chronicle reported. “The department has $188 in the piggy bank. By January, it is going to take at least $450 to pay the educational tab for its canine staffer, at present in boarding school in Port Coquitlam, British Columbia. The department sent the dog to Canada on Oct. 1 for training in search and rescue. At course’s end, three county deputies will join their four-legged colleague in a three-day workshop in rescue operations.”
• A two-bedroom home with a barn, hen house, two-car garage and other outbuildings on 17 acres of land in Grand Mound was listed for sale in The Chronicle’s classifieds for $22,000. Furnished one- and two-bedroom apartments in Centralia were listed for rent for $30 and $35 a month.
Saturday, Dec. 13, 1975
• An estimated $160,000 in damages were caused by Cowlitz River flood waters at Tacoma City Light’s Cowlitz Salmon Hatchery in Salkum and the Cowlitz Trout Hatchery near Ethel, The Chronicle reported. “The salmon hatchery, which is upstream from the trout hatchery, was hit hardest with about $110,000, City Light officials estimate. The high water nearly washed away the barrier dam at the hatchery, and caused the public fishing area just below the dam to give way. In the process, the water destroyed lines leading from the incubation wells. Now, hatchery personnel are forced to flush water from the incubation tanks around the clock to prevent the dirt from the muddy river water from suffocating the eggs. ‘We’re keeping the silt off the eggs,’ said manager Bob Ready. ‘I wouldn’t venture to say we’ve lost any fish or eggs yet. We’re keeping a 24-hour vigil’ … Ready said it might be two more weeks before the incubation lines are restored meaning river water will have to be used and constantly flushed from the tanks for some time. He also said at one time he had salmon swimming in his back yard, which is near the hatchery and river. At the trout hatchery, water flooded some of the public fishing parking area and loaded the fish tanks with silt. It also severed power cables at the plant, but they have been restored. ‘It was really nothing we couldn’t handle,’ reported manager Harold Fisher-Benzon. He also said no fish had been lost as a result of the flood. One fisherman near the salmon hatchery said Thursday the Cowlitz had dropped about four feet in the past 24 hours.” County-wide, officials were reporting over $2 million in flood damage to both public and private properties.
• The official U.S. Hang Glider Championship was set to be held at Dog Mountain at the east end of Riffe Lake, The Chronicle reported. “The event is expected to bring about 150 competitors from all over the nation and some foreign countries and will undoubtedly put this otherwise usually quite area ‘on the map’ for a while. Announcement of the area as the site for the championship was made Saturday morning at a news conference in Morton by the National and Northwest Hang Gliders associations. The Northwest association will be hosting the championship, said Dave Freeman, Seattle president … Freeman listed several reasons for the Eastern Lewis County choice for the site. ‘Our association has flown the hill during the last nine months and through comparative analysis of other major flying sites in the country, it was determined this mountain (Dog) possessed the best possible flying conditions and spectator vantage points of any hill in the country,’ he said … Another factor, Freeman added, is that ‘the area is a very scenic place to be. We expect to put on the biggest and best event this year that it’s ever been.’”
• The Chronicle featured a story about the founder of Packwood, Billy Packwood. “No, Packwood wasn’t named because loggers packed a lot of lumber from the surrounding area, although that is true. The Eastern Lewis County town, sniggled at the bottom of the Cascade Range and White Pass, was named for early pioneer explorer Billy Packwood. Packwood (the man, not the town) was born in Patrick County, Virginia.” Born in 1810, Packwood moved west and ended up in Missouri with his parents. In 1844, he, his wife, Rhoda Bell Prothro, and their children decided to go even further west, ending up in Oregon. Eventually, he found himself partnering with James Longmire, and the pair began scouting for a better route through the Cascade Range in 1854. “They followed Skate Creek south of Mount Rainier until it entered the Cowlitz River and were the first white men to gaze upon the beauty of Big Bottom country. Soon thereafter, Packwood discovered Packwood, or Cowlitz Pass, through the Cascades.”
• A three-bedroom “ranch home” with large outbuildings on 20 acres of land in Violet Prairie was listed for sale in The Chronicle’s classifieds for $80,000. A one-bedroom apartment on Tower Avenue in Centralia was listed for rent for $85 a month.
