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
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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.
