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About Vernonia's voice. (Vernonia, OR) 2007-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 20, 2015)
The Good Ol ’ Days By Tobie Finzel We mourn the passing of one of our longest-living and beloved Vernonians, Faith Hiatt Reynolds, who died July 23, 2015, just two months past her hundredth birthday. Although she was born in Stanfield, Oregon, she lived in Natal and Vernonia most of her life. She and her husband, railroad engineer Ralph “Boomer” Reynolds, were married in 1933. They lived together and raised their two children, Marjorie and Roy, in a house on Rose Avenue from 1938 until his passing in 1988. Faith remained in that same home until age 97. We will share more of her story in a future column. Naming of Places, Part One Researching the history of an area often leads to speculation on the story behind the names of towns, creeks and geographic features. In the case of Vernonia, settled much later than the Columbia River side of the county, we’re only four to six generations away from the first settlers. Descendants of those early pioneers have shared books and other documents written by or about family members that solve some of the mysteries. In other cases, we rely on books like Oregon Geographic Names or early newspapers to learn the source of place names. Most long-time Vernonians know the story of how our town was named, but we’ll repeat the short version for those who don’t. Two cousins, Judson Weed and Ozias Cherrington - who also were the first schoolteachers - came to this area in 1876. There were enough settlers by then to establish a post office, and a meeting of the residents resulted in a vote for “Vernona,” the name submitted by Cherrington for the widower’s young daughter who remained in Ohio with relatives. The United States Post Office designated the town “Vernonia.” An “I” was inserted in the application, either by the first postmaster, David Baker, or by a clerical error in Washington, DC; who actually made the change remains a subject of debate. One version asserts that it was Baker who put the “I” in after the fact because he liked the sound of “Vernonia” better than “Vernona.” Weed had proposed the name “Auburn,” possibly due to family connections in Auburn, New York. The precinct was named and remained in other words 2015 “Auburn” for several years until the county changed it to Vernonia to eliminate confusion. The U.S. Post Office would not have granted the name “Auburn” had it been submitted, however, because there was already an Auburn post office, established in 1862, in Baker County. Coincidentally, that town name may have been chosen by miners who came to Oregon from a California gold camp of that appellation; the first miners at the California camp were from Auburn, New York. Auburn, Oregon, is not even a ghost town today. The post office closed in 1903, and by 1945 no remnants of buildings remained. Due to the dense, old-growth forest of the Upper Nehalem Valley that limited forage for deer and elk, there is little evidence of any permanent settlements by Native Americans and thus only one local name of tribal origin. The river that starts in the Coast Range, makes nearly a full circle through the four northwestern counties of Oregon and empties into the Pacific near the town of the same name, is taken from a Salish coastal tribe that lived along the lower section of that stream. Arrowheads found in the flood plains along Timber Road suggest that tribal bands - not necessarily Nehalems - followed the herds and salmon seasonally. The prosaically named Rock Creek, one of over seventy similarly named creeks in Oregon, is a major tributary of the Nehalem. drive. Got to Mist at 6:30 and back to M. about 9. Not very warm any of the day and was fine for driving. Got home at 10 p.m. Monday, August 22, 1910: Started up on my fire ride about 10:30. Went up to Clarks. Came back by Bakers and called somebody up on the phone. Pretty cool most all day. Got home about 5 p.m. Tuesday, August 23, 1910: Started up on my fire ride at 7:45 a.m. Got up to Mellingers and Edna was there to go out to Clatskanie with Keasey. Went on up and looked at a slashing. Not extra warm any of the day. Got home at 12:45 p.m. Wednesday, August 24, 1910: Went off on my fire patrol and did not get back till about 3 p.m. Went up to camp meeting in the evening. Started up at 6 and got home about 12. Awful windy all day. A big fire burning between Mist and Clatskanie. Thursday, August 25, 1910: Went up above early in the morning and looked over Mellingers slashing. Went on up around Crooked Creek and got home about 1 p.m. Went up in the evening and burned the slashing. Pretty good sized crowd there. Stayed till From Virgil Powell’s Diary 11. Had a dandy time after Virgil Powell (1887-1963) was the slashing was burned. Very a long-time resident whose family had smoky all day. a farm in the Upper Nehalem Valley Saturday, August 27, 1910: between Natal and Pittsburg. Each year from 1906 until 1955, he kept a regular diary of his activities. Then as now the threat of forest fires was part of late summer. During the 1910 fire season, Virgil was a Fire Warden in addition to his usual farm chores and social life. Saturday, August 20, 1910: Started up the road horseback about 9:15. Started down the Mellinger road and met somebody and we fooled around for a long time and had a dandy time. Gave somebody my Fire Warden star. Got back home at 1 p.m. Hitched up at 2:30 and went up and got Edna and we went down to Mist for a Insurance sending you in the wrong direction? Let us send you in the right direction. Meyer’s Auto Body • 493 Bridge St • 503-429-0248 august20 7 Went up on the Fire Trail pretty early and did not get back till 4:30 p.m. Went up to the Wedrick place on my way back. Will and Effie and cousin Stella and the balance came over. Pretty warm most of the day. Sunday, August 28, 1910: Was raining in the morning so I did not go out on Fire Patrol. Received a telephone message from Astoria about 11 a.m. Will and I left for Clatskanie at 3:45 and got out at 7 p.m. Saw Grady and sister on the road. Took the evening train and went down to Astoria. Got down there at 10:30. Saw Grace after we got there. The Vernonia Pioneer Museum is located at E. 511 Bridge Street and is open from 1 to 4 pm on Saturdays and Sundays (excluding holidays) all year. From June through mid-September, the museum is also open on Fridays from 1 – 4 pm. There is no charge for admission but donations are always welcome. Become a member of the museum for an annual $5 fee to receive the periodic newsletter. We now have a page on the Vernonia Hands on Art website, www.vernoniahandsonart.org If you are a Facebook user, check out the Vernonia Pioneer Museum page. The museum volunteers are always pleased to enlist additional volunteers to help hold the museum open and assist in other ways. Please stop by and let one of the volunteers know of your interest in helping out. Council Eases Water Restrictions continued from front page is for the safety of student athletes when the ground is too hard from lack of watering. Miller told Council the District has Water Rights and takes their water for the field directly from Rock Creek below the City intake and, not from the City water system. Council took no action to grant an exception based on the District having their own Water Rights. Vernonia’s Voice was unable to verify the District’s Water Rights. According to Ordinance 796 the purpose and intent is to conserve the water supply for the greatest public benefit, which is defined as domestic use, sanitation, fire protection and aquatic life. Nonessential uses of water are defined as the washing of any vehicle except at a commercial washing facility, washing of any hard surfaced area or building or structure, the filling or adding of water to any indoor or outdoor pool or jacuzzi, and the use of water fountains except to support fish life. Water Curtailment Measures for the City of Vernonia were originally defined in 2002 as part of Resolution 24-02 which remains in effect as well. The First Level of Concern, which takes effect when water flow on Rock Creek reaches 14 cfs calls for a voluntary reduction of water use by all water users. The Second Level of Concern becomes effective when flows reach 12 cfs and limits times and types of outdoor watering allowed. At 10 cfs the Third Level of Concern is enacted and prohibits all outside uses of water. Vernonia has reached this Level of Concern and Council amended restrictions to allow hand watering of food producing plants. The Fourth Level of Concern goes into effect when the State of Oregon declares a state of drought emergency that applies to Columbia County or when flow on Rock Creek decreases to 8 cfs. At that time mandatory reduction of water usage would be required, with the City setting a maximum daily allotment of water use allowed per resident per day. If a residence uses more than their allotted number of gallons per day, residents could have water service disconnected or be fined. During a Declared Water Shortage Emergency the City is not allowed to approve, or allow to be installed, any new or expanded water service connections. According to City staff, flows on Rock Creek have remained steady at 10 cfs since water restrictions were first put in place on August 5.
