Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
125 years ago
The Commoner
July 29, 1892
In the successful upbuilding of a city there are many essentials; but in the line of progress and healthy advancement, none other are so necessary as first-class hotels, and plenty of them, for the accommodation of not only the traveling public and occasional or frequent visitors but the home people as well.
Though served by a number of good houses already, the large influx of people into the city has resulted almost daily in an overcrowded condition of affairs. This fact has been the seed from which a clamorous demand for a new and first-class house has grown; and that demand, it would now seem, is about to be supplied.
As is well known, negotiations have for some months been in progress between Mr. Burton, of Butte, Montana, and citizens anxious to secure a large hotel, looking to its construction, but nothing of a satisfactory nature, beyond the pledge of about $6000 bonus and an additional gift of $2000 or thereabout toward the purchase of a site, had been done until quite recently.
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SamuAnderson Waite, proprietor of the Elberton townsite, was in Colfax Wednesday purchasing a bill of hardware necessary for the erection of a brick store building at Elberton, 40x70 feet. He will begin work upon it next Monday. Mr. Wait is pushing Elberton and her natural advantages to the front.
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Over half the business portion of Oakesdale is in smoking ruins today. All the wooden structures in the thickly built part of First street, on both sides, were wiped out by last evening's terrible fire. There were no fatalities, and no serious injuries have been reported. The loss is over $60,000 and may reach $70,000, and over half the loss is covered by insurance. The citizens this morning ordered a large number of tents from Spokane. The hotel boarders may have to camp out till building operations are under way.
100 years ago
The Colfax Commoner
Aug. 3, 1917
The county engineer completed the survey of the twenty-three miles of new road known as the St. John-Ewan road late last week and the office force is now busy engaged in complying maps and charts of the new route.
As soon as the maps, and profiles are completed these records together will be placed in the hands of a board of appraisers which will be appointed by the commissioners and these men will be required to inspect every tract of land lying within a radius of two miles on each side of the road and give an estimate of what benefit or damage the property owners have gained or suffered.
These men are given sixty days to complete their work and they will be appointed as soon as the work in the engineer's office is completed.
Several men are candidates for the appointment of appraiser but as some of these men are residents of the district through which the road runs, they are disqualified for appointment. The new law under which it is proposed to construct the road says that the appraisers must be men who are not directly interested in the district through which the road runs. In view of this fact it is thought that the board of county commissioners will select their appraisers from sections of the county remote from the territory through which the road runs.
As soon as the appraisers submit their report, the county commissioners will notify those who are interested of the date of the hearing and this hearing no doubt will be one of the largest meetings that has been held for some time as the cost of constructing the road will fall upon every resident of the county.
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The first July frost to occur in the Palouse country in many years occurred last Saturday night and potatoes and vegetables were the principal sufferers from the visit.
Thin films of ice formed on the surface of the water tanks in some localities in the county and the cold wave was general throughout this part of the state extending from the Canadian line as far south as Oregon. No great damage has been suffered by the potato growers in this county and only the tops of the plants being killed by the frost. Mellon vines and flower plants were severely injured by the frost in many parts of the county but no damage was done to the principal crops of this county.
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The Buck Canyon road was closed to traffic Thursday morning and it will remain closed for the next six weeks until the grade up this Canyon is completed. The farmers who have formerly used this road will now be obliged to come to town over the Steptoe road which enters the city by way of the old brewery.
Additional help has been employed on the Buck Canyon grade and it is the intention of the contractor to complete the work in ample time so that the road can be used for wheat hauling this fall.
The contractors are now busy putting in the new culverts and owing to the narrowness of the road it is impossible to widen the grade at these points in order to allow teams to pass the points where these culverts are being placed. Mr. Clemen said that every effort would be made to complete the work as soon as possible and have the road again opened for traffic.
The Buck Canyon grade is on the main road connecting Colfax and Spokane and this road carries the largest volume of traffic of any road entering the city.
75 years ago
July 31, 1942
The Onecho, Star and Hickman (Long Hollow) school districts became a part of the Colfax consolidated district, voters in all four districts authorizing the mergers by a poll of 137 to 33.
It was the Colfax majority of 113, the vote being 117 to 4, that determined the issue of reorganization as proposed by the county and state reorganization committees, since the propositions were turned down in the rural poll 29 to 20.
The balloting at Onecho showed a vote of 29 to 19 against that district coming into the Colfax system, and at the third polling place, Penawawa, a lone voter cast an affirmative ballot.
A second proposition, that the newly reorganized district assume the $24,212 bonded indebtedness of the old Colfax consolidated district carried by a vote of 122 to 43. But here again the question was settled by the Colfax poll of 114 to 3 as compared to the rural vote which registered opposition at 39 to 8, the tally including the one favorable vote at Penawawa.
The bonded indebtedness of the old Colfax district is $28,000, but in its retirement fund is $3788, leaving $24,212 to be raised by levy on a new assessed valuation of $5,884,983, the highest of any district in the county.
50 years ago
Colfax Gazette
Aug. 1, 1967
Directors of Oakesdale Grain Growers, Inc., this week finalized the purchase of the Gordon T. Shaw elevator facilities located at Farmington and Seltice.
According to Manager Larry Brownell, the Seltice facilities consist of 271,000 bushel capacity, and the Farmington facilities consist of 615,000 bushel capacity, in addition to a hardware store, and a lentil processing plant. This will give the Oakesdale Grain Growers a total capacity of 2,600,000 bushels at their seven different locations.
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With the 1967 wheat crop moving into the elevators on the western side of the county, reports indicate a crop lower than expected. County Agent Felix Entenmann terms the early crop “somewhat spotty, with some good yields and some not quite so good.”
At the LaCrosse Grain Growers, Manager William Dawes reports the 13-elevator system reached the peak on Monday with the busiest action now at the Dusty and Hay elevators.
Dawes said the crop yield appeared to be “less than anticipated” with loads ranging from 20 up through 40 bushels per acres. A good year for the LaCrosse system is in the 46-47 bushel per acre range, Dawes said.
Quality of the wheat coming to the elevators indicates light weights and downgrading, Dawes said.
Omar and Burt varieties seemed to be the worst shape with several loads downgraded for shrunken or broken kernels, he added. Test weights at the LaCrosse stations are running between 55 and 61 pounds.
25 years ago
Colfax Gazette
July 30, 1992
The county commissioners ordered the planning department last week to develop a plan by January for controlled development in the Pullman-Moscow corridor, according to commissioner Nora Mae Keifer of Pullman.
It will be the best effort the county has put forth on the corridor, she commented.
The commissioners also decided against holding a referendum on corridor development on the September ballot, in opposition to the planning commission, Keifer said.
The county planning commission had proposed the following ballot issue: should there be further economic development in the Moscow-Pullman corridor?
Most people want controlled development in the area, Keifer explained. So a yes/no ballot issue such as that would not be representative.
Commissioner Bill Schmick of Endicott said he liked the idea of feedback and would like to see workshops and public hearings instead of a ballot issue.
The commissioners and county planner Mark Bordsen met recently with 23 of the 33 landowners in the corridor to discuss the planned highway expansion, the bike path and the owners' intentions for their property.
Bordsen said after those meetings they are better able to craft a new zoning ordinance which prioritizes transportation and safety with specific guidelines for economic development.
The planners will use what information and feedback they have to draft a zoning ordinance, he explained.
They would be able to build on what is already there by prioritizing the goals as listed in the 1988 Corridor Zoning Ordinance amendment, Bordsen added.
Those goals included protecting the scenery, not increasing traffic, promoting economic development, developing a bike path and preserving existing land uses.
The commissioners were concerned that any plan for corridor development might be negated because some areas already are zoned and can't be changed.
Schmick said it would be better if the county had a clean slate to start.
Then they could set priorities such as safety, economic development which is environmentally sound and architecturally attractive.
10 years ago
Whitman County Gazette
Aug. 2, 2007
Market price for soft white wheat topped a record last Thursday with price boards in Colfax hitting $6.65 per bushel for coast quotes. The record for the market topped an upswing which has been building through the market year.
Grain firms in Colfax noted the high mark wasn't greeted with a flurry of sale orders. Advance contract marketing for the past several months, and probably a tendency to wait to see what happens next, are marketed factors at present.
The price dipped to $6.60 over the weekend, to $6.54 Monday and $6.49 Tuesday.
The market a year ago, Aug. 1, for soft white was $3.96 or $2.59 below the record price 12 months later.
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