in other words
april20
2017
7
The Good Ol ’ Days
By Tobie Finzel
Museum Notes
An astute reader of last month’s
column, none other than Vernonia Pio-
neer Museum President and railroad
buff, Jay Anderson, noted that last
month’s column about the wreck of train
#104 was definitely not a Shay but rather
a tank engine. To top that off, the engine
number on the train in Shay Park is 102.
We always appreciate feedback and cor-
rections, even the embarrassing kind!
There are three news items of
interest to Vernonia history fans to share.
First, thanks to a training program for in-
mates of the Oklahoma State Prison, we
were able to have nearly all of the Ver-
nonia High School yearbooks from 1924
to 2016 scanned into digital format and
written to DVDs at no cost to the mu-
seum. Watch for the press release in the
next issue of Vernonia’s Voice and a re-
quest to borrow the few we, the school,
and a museum patron didn’t have so
those can also be scanned and saved.
We will soon announce the
availability of the second edition of the
Vernonia Walking Tour, first created by
Vernonia Pride in 2004. If you’re not
familiar with the tour, you may have
noticed the numbered plaques on many
downtown buildings. The accompany-
ing guide has been out of print for a few
years, and two wonderful young women
have completely updated it with a fresh,
new look. It will be available for sale at a
nominal fee in multiple locations around
town.
The Oregon Folk Life Network
visited here several months ago and in-
terviewed us about our local artisans and
long-time residents. The result of this
project is a Community Conversation
that will be held Tuesday, May 2, 6:30
pm at the Vernonia Library. They will
present a program featuring Don Webb
and Fred Heller. Be sure to mark your
calendars!
Fires in Downtown Vernonia
As we updated our research
for the Walking Tour book, we noted
the number of buildings that had been
destroyed by fire. The combination of
wooden buildings, wood-burning stoves,
kerosene lamps, and combustible interi-
or finishes was an early cause of many
home and commercial fires in Vernonia’s
early years. There were so many com-
mercial building fires before the mid-
1920s that the city required new struc-
tures to be built with brick or other non-
combustible materials. As noted in the
Vernonia Walking Tour, the entire Stuart
Block where Subway and the Post Office
now stand went up in flames in the early
1920s. All of the fairly new wooden
structures on the block were destroyed.
The first motion picture theater,
the Majestic, located on Bridge between
what is now Madison and Jefferson
Streets, had a devastating fire in Decem-
ber 1927. Started by an overheated stove
near the stage, the fire went undetected
for some time. When the fire truck was
eventually called and responded, the
heat had burst the windows, letting in
fresh air that further fanned the flames.
The fire was made far worse by the large
supply of firewood that had been stored
under the stage. Water had to be pumped
from the fire truck as there were no fire
hydrants in those days. It took over
2,000 gallons of water just to douse the
woodpile blaze.
The greatest loss was the Ma-
jestic’s magnificent theater organ, used
to provide the music for the silent films
of that era. Projection equipment and
the current films being shown had been
safely stored in the fireproof projection
room, and the next night the feature film
was shown at the Rose Theater on Ad-
ams. The building was declared a total
loss, however, and a commercial build-
ing was planned for the space. The
American Legion later held a special
luncheon at City Hall for all the firefight-
ers who responded.
That same week, a fire broke out
in the Reynolds Shoe Shop, located near
the Mile Bridge - now more commonly
known as the Green Bridge at the east
end of town. The cause was presumed
to be arson as earlier that week, the shop
was broken into and a fire started. That
first fire was quickly spotted and extin-
guished, but the second destroyed the
building.
In September 1938, the for-
mer Commodore Hotel structure was
consumed by flames. Located on Rose
Avenue, it was somewhat notorious
during the mid-1920s for federal raids.
Prohibition was the law of the land, and
federal marshals broke into the build-
ing on numerous occasions to seize al-
cohol and arrest those providing it. For
a short time, the Commodore was under
new management as the Rose Hotel and
boasted hot and cold running water in all
rooms. Apparently vacant by 1938, the
structure was still known as the Com-
modore. This was one of several fires
in vacant buildings during the lean years
of the Depression. Insurance fires, per-
haps?
The 1948 Hotel MacDonald fire
started in an upper floor of the combi-
nation residential and standard hotel.
Thanks to quick response by the Verno-
nia Fire Department with help from the
nearby Crown Zellerbach operations,
the fire was suppressed before igniting
a nearby home. Between fire and water
damage, however, the half-block long
building was declared a total loss and
left Vernonia with a shortage of over-
night and residential rooms.
Structure fires, of course, still
persist, but given all the fires in the
“Good Old Days,” we are properly
grateful for modern building and fire
codes that have significantly reduced the
number.
From Virgil Powell’s Diary
Virgil Powell (1887-1963) was a long-
time resident whose family had a farm
in the Upper Nehalem Valley between
Natal and Pittsburg. Each year from
1906 until 1955, he kept a regular diary
of his activities. April 1907 alternated
between rain and heat. It was time to
prepare the fields, sow wheat and oats
and get a garden patch ready.
Wednesday, April 17, 1907:
Rained pretty hard most all
day. Did not do very much
work for it was too wet. Filed
the saw in morning. Ploughed
a little corner for garden in the
afternoon. Went up to Pittsburg
in evening and mailed a postal
to Alice. Had a big gabber with
the old lady C.
Friday, April 19:
Harrowed
all day on wheat with drag
harrow. Very warm all day.
Mr. Spencer and Carl (Carroll?)
Keasey were here for dinner.
Saturday, April 20:
Finished
Donʻt wait for the sun!
Get your MOWERS tuned up now!
Oil Change • Sharpen Blades
Filters • Cables • Pull Ropes
We pick up & deliver!
Baseline
Pawn, Inc.
Family owned & operated for over 45 years
2245 Baseline St., Cornelius
State Licensed PB-0388
Saturday, April 27: Sawed some
wood in morning and hauled
wood and oats out in field in
the afternoon. Fixed the road
in front of house and had
dandy bicycle ride in evening.
Also rode wheel up to Pittsburg
after the mail. Very hot all day.
Sent postal to Alice.
Sunday, April 28: Took a bicycle
ride in morning up the river
about two miles. Sowed oats in
the afternoon and got almost
through. Awful hot all day.
Monday, April 29: Run the disc
harrow all day. Done a terrible
big day’s work. Got about ¾
over all that ground. Received
a postal from Lemeck.
Will
carry the mail tomorrow. Very
hot all day.
The Vernonia Pioneer Museum is
located at 511 E. 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.
291
A
Street
For fast cash!
503-530-8119
Sunday, April 21: Went down as
far as the Pringle School house
in the morning horse back for
a little ride. Awful hot all day.
Wrote to 55131.
Vernonia’s Voice is published twice each month on the
1st and 3rd Thursday. Look for our next issue out May 4.
Don’t Sell it!
Pawn it!
(Across from Fred Meyer)
harrowing wheat ground with
drag harrow about 3 P.M.
Grand day at Natal. Very hot
all day. Got two postal cards.
Sent a leather postal to Alice.
Here’s to my girl.
Open
everyday
at 10 a.m.
834 Bridge St., Vernonia (503) 429-6364
call Kim
Lovable service at
a reasonable price
• Bathing
• Haircuts
• Nail Clipping
• Nail Polishing
• Specialty
Shampoos