Odd Fellows Hall in Hillyard

This sad looking building in northeast Spokane (Hillyard, actually) was an important social hub back in the day. It was built to serve the booming railroad community that sprang up after James J. Hill decided to avoid Spokane taxes and build his railroad shops in that area..which ultimately was named after him. 

In the 1880s, Spokane was becoming the premier rail hub of the west and tycoon James J. Hill wanted it on his Great Northern line to the coast. Hill had the "hutzpah" and pulled the right strings to achieve his goal. The Hillyard yard became the biggest rail shop west of the Mississippi. 

To help the families and the workers, several fraternal organizations sprang up in the area. The Odd Fellows Hall was one. Located on North Market Street, the hall hosted community dances, meetings and charitable gatherings but the purpose of the organization was to "visit the sick, relieve the distressed, bury the dead and educate the orphan." Since one goal of the group was to provide burial for its members, they established Resthaven Cemetery (now Evergreen Cemetery). The building was completed in 1896.

According to an article in The Spokesman Review, March 7, 1996, "Built by lodge members from Waverly, it opened on March 17, 1896, according to John Nunn, a member who keeps many of the lodge's historical documents." The article spotlighted that the Lodge's centennial celebration was being held on March 10, 1996, with members planning a picnic "and the lodge will lay out its old photographs and letters, dues ledgers, attendance books and documents, including the original deed that passed the property to the lodge."

The question screaming into my mind is where are those documents today????? My husband's grandfather worked for the railroad in Hillyard in the 1920s..... might he have been a member of this lodge? Wouldn't we like to access these records of our ancestors? 

P.S. In 1900, there were about 170 Odd Fellows Lodges in Washington; some 25 are still active today. 

Who Was John Day?

 

Little is known about the man for whom a river, a dam and two towns (John Day and Dayville) were named.  The following story is based on historical fact - some of it may be true. Pictured is an illustration of what John Day might have looked liked.

"John Day,1770-1820,  was a hunter from the backwoods of Virginia.  He had been employed by Ramsay Crooks for several years when he arrived in Oregon, at about 40 years of age.  He was described as "six feet two inches tall, a handsome man with a manly countenance, straight as an Indian with an elastic step 'as if he trod on springs'".  It was his boast that in his younger days nothing could hurt or daunt him, but he had lived too fast and injured his constitution by excesses.  Still, he was strong of hand, bold of heart, a prime woodsman, and an almost unerring shot."

Website FindAGrave has his biography of him (plus several more pages). He was most surely quite the guy. His death and burial place as noted on FindAGrave states "buried or lost at sea. Specifically: Drowned in Snake River." 

John Day Dam, spanning the Columbia River kinda between The Dalles, Oregon, and Goldendale, Washington, was constructed between 1958 and 1971, costing $511 million dollars. It has a fish ladder and a navigation lock, that lock being 110-feet, the highest lock-lift on the river. The dam forms Lake Umatilla, a 76-mile long reservoir. 

Next time you zoom along I-80 in Oregon along the Columbia River, pause to appreciate the John Day dam and remember the hardy frontiersman who was John Day. 

Summer Joke Time

 

JOKE: A Russian and a Czech bear scientists came to the Rocky Mountains to study bears; they chose the mating season, a bad time for bear encounters. They were warned about the dangers but headed off into the woods anyway. After four days with no word from them, the rangers followed their tracks. They found a female Grizzly bear; shot her and opened her up and sure enough, inside was the Russian guy. So, said one ranger to the other….. ARE YOU READY?  “The Czech must be in the male.”  L J

*** *** *** ***

This from a newspaper clipping of which I did not note the paper nor the date, sorry:  "Denver, Colo. March 6 --  "Here is a dead man," was the comment made by a parcel post clerk here as he held up to the view of his fellow clerks a package nine inches square and weighing seven pounds.

The package contained the ashes of Edward E. Knotts of California, who died here a few days ago following an attack of appendicitis. The package was addressed to the widow, Mrs. Ada Knotts, San Francisco. It cost 51cents and bore a ten-cent insurance stamp."

Just for fun, I did a bit of research to learn more about Edward and Ada Knotts but found nothing. If it's your family, do go for it!

Washtucna: A Tiny Town

Thanks to an article in The Spokesman Review last April, I learned about a tiny town in the southeastern corner of Adams county that has a great big heart. 

Folks are trying their best to save their piece of Washington history, the Bassett Hardware building, which is 125 years old, according to the folks at the Washtucna Heritage Museum and Community Center. Michelle Plumb, officer in that society, shared "I don't know how many things in this area are that old. It would just break our heart to lose this building."

Built in the town's center in 1901 by George W. Bassett, the building has survived through "boom and bust, storm and sunshine" and remains a fixture of the town's frontier past. "The upper part of the building was always some sort of community space," Plum said. Several fraternal organizations held their meetings there over the decades. In the 1910s and 1920s, plays and movies were shown there. 

Fear not, lovers of old historic buildings. This building has been placed on the Washington Trust for Historic Preservation's list of Most Endangered Places which hopefully will guarantee its future.

Why the spotlight today on an old building in a nobody-knows-where town? Because the people who built the place, used the place and loved the place are collectively all our ancestors. That's why. 

Website www.FindAGrave.com has this photo of GWB and information on his family. He was a pioneer for many. He and his wife Alice were parents of seven children. 

 

Swimsuits Of Yesteryear

 

This was an ad in The Spokesman Review from days long, long ago. If you cannot read it, here goes:

First Showing of Bathing Suits

Tomorrow we place on sale our new line of ladies' misses' and children's bathing suits. The line includes many new styles never shown before. Come in mohairs, brilliantines and the new jersey goods that is all the rage this season. Suits have the new collars and staple sailor collars and the new vestee effects. Come in tans, browns, red, black and blues, trimmed with braid. 

Prices for ladies' suits.... $6.60 to $2.75

Misses' and children's.......... $4.00 to $2.50

Children's One Piece Suits..... All sizes from 2 to 6, in blue, at.... $1.50

Bathing caps... $1.00 to 25cents

Bathing shoes.... 50 cents

Aren't you shaking your head and saying good grief?? Can you imagine "bathing"...... which really meant wading in perhaps to your waist, never jumping in....... wearing a woolen dress and SHOES? And of course black stockings, heaven forbid bare legs would be viewed. Did you catch that they're not called "swimming suits?" 

This is a photo of my great-grandmother, Viola Belle Evans Gurney, 1872-1962, and was labeled "her school outing." She's the fourth from left, dark hair with braid-bun. 

No wonder they didn't jump in and swim around! They'd surly have drowned in those heavy "bathing suits." 

George Washington's Personal Flag

 

Would you have guessed that General George Washington had his own personal flag? Well, he surely did.

His flag, known as the Commander-in-Chief Standard, marked his location on the battlefield and at his headquarters. The flag features 13 white, six-pointed stars representing the original colonies arranged on a faded blue silk background.

One of his original flags still survives. It measures roughly 27-inches by 35-inches; the six-pointed stars (unlike the five-pointed stars on our U.S. flag) mimics the English heraldic designs found on Washington's military epaulets. The blue background was chosen because it was the same color he used for the sash and ribbons that designated his rank. 

If you would like to see the original of General George Washington's flag, you will have to visit the Museum of the American Revolution in Philadelphia. Here is what it now looks like, faded with time:

Thanks to the Flag Museum in Spokane and Google for the information and images.

In Honor of July 4th

 

Did you realize that each fold of the United States flag, when taken down at retreat of used at a military funeral, has a specific meaning. The flag is folded from the stripes end to the stars to acknowledge the thirteen original colonies that have now become fifty states represented by stars.

* First fold:  the symbol of life

* Second fold: the belief in eternal life

* Third fold: honors the veteran who gave his/her life

* Fourth fold: American citizens trust in God

* Fifth fold: is a tribute to our country

* Sixth fold: represents where our hearts lie (holding our hands over our hearts)

* Seventh fold: is a tribute to the Armed Forces, protecting our country

* Eighth fold: is for mothers of those "entered into the valley of the shadow of death"

* Ninth fold: is a tribute to womanhood

* Tenth fold: is a tribute to fathers

* Eleventh fold: is a tribute to Jewish citizens

* Twelfth fold: is a tribute to Christians

When the flag is completely folded with only the stars showing, it represents our National Motto, "In God We Trust." 

How many of us, good American citizens, know this? I did not.