Pomeroy Pioneer Portraits

Ten Years Ago

October 28, 2009

Puget Sound Energy donated $12,000 toward the purchase of the Garfield County Fire District’s new rescue vehicle.

Pomeroy High School students will hold a Halloween Bash at the high school on Halloween with all proceeds to be donated to the Garfield County Food Bank.

Pomeroy High School senior Scott Wolf has restored the elk head at Spinner’s Hall. This elk is believed to have been one of the first elk brought into this county in 1913, and was shot in 1927 by Otto Ruchert and Oscar Niebel (both shot at the same time) during the first elk hunt allowed here.

Twenty-Five Years Ago

October 26, 1994

The Pomeroy Pirate football team has the distinction of having the only manager for miles around to have come 5,000 miles for the job. Tetsuo Furuki is an exchange student from Japan living with Randy and Vonnie Mulroney and their three children.

Jennifer Hunte is Pomeroy High School’s exchange student from Germany and a guest of Rod and Franny Norland’s family.

Fifty Years Ago

October 23, 1969

Preserving historic landmarks, maintaining hope for a museum, working for city betterment and resuming welcome wagon calls were part of a Chamber of Commerce panel discussion recently. Muriel Bott gave an interesting history on three important historic landmarks in the county: Pataha Flour Mill, the building at Columbia Center which was part of the old Bean and Blackman sawmill constructed in 1876, and the Mayview tramway site which also offers an excellent view of the Snake river. All three sites are now privately owned, but perhaps someday could be developed as tourist attractions.

Seems the new Columbia Center shopping mall in the Tri-Cities derived its name from a comment made by Walla Walla resident, Don Sherwood, who was working with a group on plans for a shopping center and told them he had owned a ranch between Pomeroy and Troy, Ore., which he named after a post office that once had served that rural area.

All Pomeroy high school students are invited to a car rally being held this Sunday by the Methodist Youth Group.

Seventy-Five Years Ago

October 26, 1944

The Pomeroy Junior Chamber of Commerce (Jaycees) met in the K.C. hall with 45 members attending. The matter of purchasing the Maple hall from W.L. Meyers was brought up with all those present in favor of buying the recreational hall at a reported consideration of $3,000, a sum considerably less than what it cost to construct the building in 1928.

What is believed to be an all-time cash price record paid for land in Garfield County was established when 160 acres of stubble land, 2 ½ miles north of Pomeroy, sold for $130 an acre, $20,800, at public auction in front of the courthouse door. The buyer was Tom Keatts and the sellers heirs of the Knettle estate. Bidding against Keatts was Bob Ferrell. The land was in crop this year and contains no improvements whatsoever. Old-timers say this is the highest cash price ever paid for land in the county. In the past a few deals have been made with a higher figure per acre but they have always been involved with other property being taken in exchange and were not considered out and out cash deals.

One Hundred Years Ago

October 25, 1919

Some interesting communications are unavoidably crowded out of this issue.

The lower tramway on Snake river is putting down about 2,000 sacks of grain daily.

Jos. Clary is at work fitting up the Gibson building on Main street for J.D. Tyrrell, who will move the P.O. thereto. The location is excellent.

The ladies of the Cumberland Presbyterian church will serve chicken dinner at the Gibson building Nov. 3 and 6, commencing at 11 a.m. and closing at 9 p.m., meals 25 cents. To aid in completing the new church.

The rains have brought the plows from their hiding places, and the undaunted farmers are preparing to raise another crop of twenty cent wheat.

Notwithstanding the hard times and the low prices of wheat, Jim Oliver has been renewing his barn.

For the benefit of the young ladies of the neighborhood we will state that James Silvers is stopping at the residence of Mr. Noyer.

Politics and “rheumatics” seem to be more troublesome than wood ticks during this season.

Mr. Ashby made a business trip to Tukanon last week, bringing back a load of nice red apples. There’s the place to go to spend the evening.

One Hundred Twenty-Five Years Ago

October 27, 1894

That the famer receives the lion’s share of the cost to the consumer and that he is a profiteer, is the belief of many who know comparatively little or nothing about farming and what it costs to produce, according to the dean and director of the college of agriculture at Washington State College.

The chairman of the improvement committee told the Civic club that all public swimming pools in Spokane, Walla Walla and Dayton were not heated. It was reported that the water in the Cosgrove springs stands at a temperature of 71, which is considered warm enough. The committee was instructed to find out if the water could be secured. The location east of the city park is preferred by the club, and arrangements will be made to secure it if possible.