.!;
THE WEST SHORE,
TUB TOWN OK POMEROY.
I YIN(I on both banks of Pataba creek, an import
L Ml tribuUry of Snake river, flowing into it
from the south, is the town of Pomeroy, terminus of
tb Pomeroy branch of the 0. II k N. Co's tern,
oouuty seat of (iarfield couuty and the center of one
of the most pnxluctive agricultural regions in EmU
cm Washington. It ha a population approximating
fifu-en buu.lr.Ml, and it rapidly growing in all the ele
nienta that go U make a largfl and prosperous inland
town. Ai a terminal point it possesses many advan
tage, but u the commercial center of a large and
pnxluctive region which must always trade there, no
matU-r U what point the railroad might be extended,
it (mimm-mi more and better one
In the oouuty are opwardi of five hundred thou
aand acre of land all of which ia arable and the
greater iortion possessing a moat fertile and produc
tive anil. Of thia leas thau one-fifth ia now under
cultivation, leaving fully four hundred thousand acres
of gd laud yet unturned by the plow. A crop can
m raised the first year and the land can thus be made
to pay for itaolf at once, including improvements of
moderate coat. Huch an opportunity as this does not
exist in the mountainous or timbered portions of the
wrwt, and the time is rapidly approaching when they
will not exist rveu bore, for the value of laud in this
country is rapidly iucreasiug ami uuimproved land
will soon I hard to flud. If one deaires improved
projwrty it can now lw purchased at from (10 00 to
fi'i(K( Hr arre, aoording to the improvements and
iU nearness to town. This land li' s in that famous
grain twit along the base of the lilue mountains,
whert irrigation is uiiueeomry and a failure of crops
is unknown. Vtith proper cultivation wheat yields
thirty bushels r acre iu an ordinary seaaon, and
many farms largely exceed this, at times going as
high as forty five and fifty bushels on tracts as largo
aa a hundred acres. Lark of adt quale shipping fa
cilities for the gtaio raised has retarded the agricul
tural development of Oat field couuty in the past, but
now that watit is supplied and the area of cultivaUd
laud ia being rapidly enlarged.
Pomeroy is Uie jH.int from which all this region
is supplied and where it transacts its business. Id
trade lut year amounts to (I (MUKHHNI of which
l.'-O.tMHM rrprearnt agricultural implements alone.
An iraportaut eleweul in the business of the town is
the rrt National Hank, which was incorporated in
April, aud which erected haudsouie brick
block lbs following year at a eot of ( Jii Oui (o. The
Incairiioratori were such well-known businea. men as
l. P. Thompson, W. F. HurMI and John R Pavii
of Portland, and Jala Urady, C, .V. McCain, Elmon
Scott and J. H. Walker, of Pomeroy. Operating
with a capital stock of $50,000.00, the bank now hag
loans and securities to the amount of $8G,48C.0O,
and a surplus and undivided profits of $17,800.00.
The officers through whoBe careful management this
splendid condition of affairs has been reached are W.
F. Burrell, president; Elmon Scott, vice president;
and E M. Hathaway, cashier. Besides this institu
tion the business of the town is carried on by a pri
vate bank, two large general merchandise stores, two
drug stores, two millinery stores, four grocery stores,
three large agricultural implement houses, two hard
ware stores, two shoe stores, one furniture store, two
hotels, two jewelery and notion stores, one market,
two harness shops, two restaurants, three livery sta
bles, five blacksmith shops, two wagon shops, two
barber shops, two good weekly newspapers, five phy.
sicians, six attorneys, two dentists and five real es
tate, loan and insurance agents. Business in all the
lines mentioned is good and the stores all carry large
and well assorted stocks of goods. There are a num
ber of brick buildings in Pomeroy and others are be
ing erected this year. There is also a large opera
house capable of seating six hundred people, and the
Methodists, Christians and Catholics have good hous
es of worship. The Presbyterians and Episcopalians
also have organizations and the former are making
preparations to erect a church edifice. In the town
are two public schools and a school maintained by
the Catholics, while the school system of the county
is excellently organized, offering good educational op
portunities to every family within its limits. Devo
tion to the publio school is one of the characteristics
of the people of Garfield county, and the formation
of school districts was the fiast aot of the settlers in
every neighborhood. School houses weft-built al
most as soon as cabins to live in, and now in travel
ing over the country it is almost impossible to get
out of sight of one of these evidences of intelligence
and good citizenship. In Pomeroy there are about
two hundred and fifty school children, who are under
the care of five teachers. It is proposed soon to erect
a commodious brick school house, at a cost of about
f.D.iXtO W), and when this is done Tomeroy's school
equipment will be second to no city of its size in the
t'nited States.
Pataba creek is capable of supplying water power
sufficient for a number of industries that might be
carri.nl ou there to advantage. It already has a roll
er flouring mill and a chop mill, but the products and
characteristics of the country suggest a tannery,
creamery and other industries for working the raw
matertals produced. In the mountains aloDg the
outhem border of the county are splendid forests of
merchantable Umber, offering an opportunity for the