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About Vernonia's voice. (Vernonia, OR) 2007-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 15, 2016)
The Good Ol ’ Days By Tobie Finzel presume the subscription price was for a year’s worth of weekly papers given other prices of the day. The Vernonia Eagle, established by Paul Robinson, began publication in August 1922. The biggest news of the day was the opening of the long- awaited railroad to Vernonia. A huge celebration was planned for September 9 th with 10,000 visitors expected. The paper suggested that a cleanup of Bridge Street was in order to remove all the “old boards, boxes, cans, overalls, trash and weeds” that gave visitors a bad impression of this newly burgeoning city “even though we are used to it.” The other big news in those first editions was the coming of the new lumber mill and the building of a high school. The Eagle was in continuous weekly publication from 1922 until September 1974. Robinson sold the paper to Mark Moe in the late 1920s, He was followed by Ray Fisher in the 1930s. In 1937, the Eagle was sold to Marvin Kamholz who published the paper until it merged with the Scappoose Spotlight and became, for a time, the Columbia County Herald, with separate front pages for the Scappoose and Vernonia editions. The Spotlight is still in publication as the South County Spotlight, a Pamplin Media paper, but the Eagle ended its long tenure shortly after the merger. Fortunately for Vernonia history buffs, our library applied for and received a grant a few years ago to replace the microfilm copies of the Eagle with a digital file in PDF format. It is available at the Vernonia Public Library and the museum. Marvin’s sons Greg and Ed, along with Jim Blain, wrote the history of Vernonia’s mill for their book, The Oregon-American Lumber Mill - Ain’t No More. They once told us, sadly, that when their father ceased his role as publisher, he destroyed all of the negatives for the newspaper’s photographs. They had urged him to keep them, but he didn’t think that old newspaper photos would be of use to others. The former offices of the Vernonia Eagle became the Eagle Office Restaurant, now owned by Mario Leonetti and known as Mariolino’s. Newspapers of the Upper Nehalem, Part One Until the advent of radio, television and most recently the Internet and social media, newspapers were the only general source of information on world and local events. Several newspapers have come and gone in the Upper Nehalem Valley in the past 127 years since the first local paper was published. From 1889 to 1894, the Nehalem Journal, edited by Gus Brown, kept local residents of Pittsburg and Vernonia informed. To our knowledge, there are no digital images of this publication, believed to be the first in the Upper Nehalem. The Vernonia Pioneer Museum has a few pages from the Nehalem Jour- nal including one front page that was found during a remodel of an 1890s farm house on Stoney Point Road. In those days, many people used newspapers to literally “paper” their walls. It provided a bit of insulation and was readily avail- able albeit highly combustible. When real wallpaper was affordable, it was of- ten applied over the flat surface provided by the old newspapers. The front page in the museum collection was found when old wallpaper was being removed. Discovering the nearly intact newspaper page underneath, the homeowner care- fully removed and framed it and later donated it to the museum. One of the feature stories in that edition was the be- ginning of bi-weekly stagecoach service between Vernonia and Cornelius; the trip only took eleven and a half hours one way. The Weekly Sentinel began publication at Pittsburg in the 1890s, published by H. H. Mitchell. Pittsburg was a growing town in those days with a flour mill, a sash and door factory and plans to be a big manufacturing center. According to a 1968 article in the Columbia County Historical Society’s journal, “the Sentinel offered to take butter, eggs, wood, hay and feed in payment for the $1 subscription price. The paper also offered a combined price of $1.75 for the Sentinel and Weekly Oregonian, advertised cheap land, pure From Virgil Powell’s Diary water, fertile land, and urged settlers Virgil Powell (1887-1963) was a long- to come and make their homes.” We time resident whose family had a farm Hunting Season is here! Archery Equipment - Sporting Goods Calls - Cammo - Boots - Accessories Binoculars - Scent Killers - Targets Family owned & operated for over 45 years 834 Bridge St, Vernonia 503-429-6364 in other words september15 2016 in the Upper Nehalem Valley between Natal and Pittsburg. Each year from 1906 until 1955, he kept a regular diary of his activities. Most of his September 1906 entries refer to shoveling gravel all day, presumably working with a road crew, and the heavy mid-September rains that brought the salmon in. As often is the case in his diaries during his single years, he made a few oblique comments about his romantic interests. Wednesday, September 12, 1906: Poured down rain awful hard all day. The road gang went home on account of the heavy rain. Went up to Pittsburg in evening and got a new pair of shoes from Chicago. Sent for some more postal cards. Thursday, September 13: Went up to where the Rock Creek road turns off and went over the Crooked Creek road to Mist. Seen a bear over on the Burn. Got to Mist at 2:30. Rained very hard all afternoon. Came on up to N. D. Petersons and stopped over night. Had a good time. Got postal cards from Alice and E. M. H. Friday, September 14: Poured down rain hard all morning. The river is up pretty high and the salmon are coming thick. Left Petersons at 11 A.M. Got home at 12 N. Saturday, September 15: Went down to Natal Grange and too in the Grange meet- ing. Had a fine time. Got acquainted with Ada Fisher. George P. came home and stayed over night. Cloudy but did not rain any. 7 Sunday, September 16: Went down to Mist with George and we went on down to the first hop yard. Came back up to the picnic grounds and had pictures taken. Went down the river for a horse race in evening. Got back home about 7 P.M. Sunshiny and very clear all day. L. H. P. was here for awhile in evening. Had the best time today of any of the season. This is the day somebody commenced to get mad at somebody. Monday, September 17: Shoveled gravel very hard all day. Very hot all day. Got some new postals in evening. Tuesday, September 18: Fin- ished hauling gravel down below and came up here and commenced graveling along the bluff. Very hot all day. Sent postal card to P. F. 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. NOTICE OF RECEIPT OF BALLOT TITLE Filed in the Office ox County Clerk 9/7/2016 NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that a ballot title xor a measure proposed by initiative petition 16-7 has been filed with the Columbia County Clerk on September 7, 2016. The ballot title caption is: Columbia County Second Amendment Preservation Ordinance Caption Columbia County Second Amendment Preservation Ordinance Question Shall Columbia County enact an ordinance that prohibits any inxringement ox the right to keep and bear arms? Statement The Second Amendment to the United States Constitution says: “[a] well-regulated militia being necessary to the security ox a xree State, the right ox the People to keep and bear arms, shall not be inxringed.” Article 1, Section 27 ox the Constitution ox the State ox Oregon says: “[t]he people shall have the right to bear arms xor the dexense ox themselves, and the State, but the Military shall be kept in strict subordination to the civil power.” This ordinance would make it illegal xor Columbia County to, in any way, limit the rights granted under the United States and Oregon Constitutions. Specifically, registration, use, ownership ox firearms, including semi-automatic firearms, shall not be restricted. This prohibition extends to parts ox firearms, such as magazines, ammunition, grips, bayonet mounts, flash suppressors and similar items. The Sheriff ox Columbia County is directed to determine ix any xederal, state or local law inxringes on the right to bear arms under the United States and State Constitutions within the County. The ordinance contains civil penalties. In accordance with ORS 250.168 (2), the proposed initiative meets the requirements ox Section 1 (2)(d), Article IV and section 10, Article VI ox the Oregon Constitution. Also, in accordance with ORS 250.175(5), notice is hereby given that any elector may file a petition xor review ox the ballot title in the Columbia County Circuit Court no later than the seventh business day axter the title was filed with the county clerk, (ORS 250.195). Published pursuant to ORS 250.175(5) by Elizabeth B. Huser, Columbia County Clerk
