Good old days:

125 years ago

The Commoner

Dec. 30, 1892

The recent heavy rain resulted in severe damage to the new Hotel Colfax building, now in course of construction. The foundation under the front portion of the block became unsettled and the strain produced a burst on one of the stone sills and lowered the masonry work about two inches. The contractor was promptly on hand, however, and by means of additional supports prevented further damage.

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Sheriff Pugh of Spokane County came down Tuesday and took back with him Charles Wright, who is wanted in Spokane for burglarizing a residence there. Wright had just served a term in the Whitman County jail for petty larceny.

100 years ago

The Colfax Commoner

Dec. 28, 1917

The people of this city and the surrounding country woke up Christmas to find the ground covered with a white mantle of snow which fell early Christmas morning. Christmas was welcomed by many families of the county, for it meant the return home of many of the soldier boys who were granted brief furloughs by the officers of their command so that the young people might spend the holidays with their parents.

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The mail at Albion was the largest amount ever received at that point since the establishment of the rural routes deliveries.

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One of the smallest boys that has ever faced a charge of burglary in this state is a small child, who was arrested by the Tekoa officials and who has been sent to the state training school at Chehalis.

75 years ago

The Colfax Gazette-Commoner

Dec. 25, 1942

Wm. T. Smith, dairyman, charged with violating the city milk ordinance by having employed a person who was not qualified to handle milk for lack of a health certificate, was given a suspended fine of $5 in the police court of G.A. Weldon Thursday afternoon last week.

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Monday Musicals of Colfax is collecting used phonograph records, band and string instruments for use on troop transports which are denied radios because of interference with ships' radios.

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R. L. Dempsey, 38, who passed a worthless $15 check on R. E. Lee, Oakesdale tavern operator, last Sept. 21, pleaded guilty to petty larceny before Superior Judge M.E. Jesseph Saturday and was given one year in the county jail, sentence to be suspended on condition he pay the costs of $33.80 and reimburse Lee.

50 years ago

The Colfax Gazette

Dec. 28, 1967

Gifts ranging from a bank account for baby to a meal for mom and dad await Mr. (or Miss) 1968 in the annual Colfax businessman’s stork derby.

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Saturday, Dec. 30, will mark the 96th anniversary of the founding of Colfax, according to an article in the “Palouse Gazette” of 75 years ago calling attention to Colfax's “21st birthday”.

25 years ago

Whitman County Gazette

Dec. 31, 1992

Although regulars on the Main Street scene in Colfax have few dues, Colfax, indeed, is now the headquarters of a brand new railroad, the Palouse River Railroad Co.

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Colfax city crews Tuesday pulled the plug on the old east hill reservoir which will now be officially sidelined by the new 1.5 million gallon tank.

10 years ago

Whitman County Gazette

Dec. 27, 2007

A New Year's party at the Longhorn will have a special edge next Tuesday because when the long-time Rosalia bar closes down in the early hours of 2008 it won't open up again.

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With the agrarian economy of Whitman County, the price of commodities grown in rich Palouse topsoil has a marked effect on the business community. When prices double, triple, even quadruple, it makes a tremendous impact on the county's business community.

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With more than $1 million in funds from several state agencies, Palouse city officials look forward to an extreme makeover for the town in the coming year. On tap for the year are a complete reconstruction of 600 feet of Whitman Street; construction of an RV park; extension of sewer lines to a new town addition and transformation of a mobile home park into a city park.