in other words
may18
2017
7
The Good Ol ’ Days
By Tobie Finzel
Museum Notes
As published in the May 4th
Voice, the new release of the Vernonia
Historic Walking Tour is now available
for $3.00 at the museum and in multiple
downtown locations: R&S Market,
Vernonia City Hall, Vernonia Public
Library, Black Iron Grill, Blue House
Café, Cedar Side Inn, and All in Pub.
In that same edition of the
Voice, we asked if VHS grads or their
descendants might have the few missing
yearbooks for our digitization project.
We now have a source for the 1967 and
1968 books but are still looking for a
1928 Verhian or Memologs from the
years 1973, 1974, 1984, or 2004. We
just need to borrow them to scan. Call
(503) 429-3713 and leave a message if
you have one of the missing.
Vernonia High School
The second edition of The
Verhian, Vernonia High School’s
yearbook name from 1924 to 1930,
included a brief history of the school. To
date this is the only record we’ve found
about the forming of the high school,
and the italicized paragraphs below were
taken directly from that history.
“On September 10th in 1915,
County Superintendent Allen called a
meeting to organize a union high school
in Vernonia. George Trageser was
elected chairman of the board and F. E.
Malmsten, clerk. The school board then
rented a school room and equipment
from District No. 47. Professor J. P.
Claybaugh taught the first two terms of
the new school.”
The rented high school room
was in the first Washington School that
was replaced in 1930 by the former brick
structure on Bridge Street, Washington
Grade School. District No. 47 to that
point only had elementary schools in
its territory. Prior to that, school either
stopped at eighth grade or students had
to move to a community with a high
school to further their education.
“Ten Sophomores and seven
Freshmen enrolled the first term, but five
dropped out later and two others changed
schools. It was during this first term that
our high school piano was bought. At
the beginning of the second term twenty-
one students started, but eight of the
boys joined the Navy during the term.
They were Everett Tucker, Omar Sheeley,
Glan Sheeley, Gale Stanton, Russell
Stanton, Cyril John, Curtis John and
Dewey Van Blaricom. Eighteen enrolled
for the third term and only one dropped
out. It was that term that our VHS put
out its first graduating class. Mr. J.B.
Wilkerson was the principal that year and
was elected for a second term with Miss
Deerwester as his assistant. Twenty-four
students entered school the next term
under Mr. G. W. Brown and Miss Davis.
Lola Brown and Hazel Malmsten were
Vernonia High’s first debating team.
The next term (1920-21) thirty students
entered school. The high school entered
the State Athletic Association and put
out its first basketball team.”
The exodus of the eight boys into
the Navy coincided with America’s en-
try into World War I so we presume this
was the reason for the group’s departure.
By the time the basketball team was as-
sembled, the war was over and male en-
rollment numbers were sufficient to field
a team. By the early 1920s rumors of
a big lumber mill brought hundreds of
new residents to Vernonia in search of
jobs. A new high school was built the
north side of A Street where the first one
room school in the central city had stood.
We have not found historical proof as of
this writing, but we understand that the
Oregon-American mill funded its con-
struction as it had done with the grade
school at Camp McGregor.
During the 1923-24 school
year, the first girls’ basketball team
was established. They went on to win
the county championship followed
in 1924-25 by winning the upper
Columbia district championship and the
next year the lower Columbia district
and competed at the state level. The
population continued to soar throughout
the 1920s and the school enrollment
grew along with it.
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. In May he got a new
rubber-tired buggy and retired the old
one and worked on road improvements.
He’s still corresponding with the
mysterious 55131.
Friday, May 17, 1907: Sawed
some wood in the forenoon.
Took a bicycle ride in after-
noon and went where they were
working on the road by Wood’s.
Cloudy all day and looks very
much like rain. Guess I will be-
gin work on the road Monday.
Saturday, May 18: Sawed wood
in morning also hauled wood.
Rained quite a little all day.
Did not do much of anything
in the afternoon. Grange day
at Natal. Sent postal to Alice.
Received a letter from 55131.
Sunday, May 19: Went up to
Omar Shannahan’s in the
buggy. Got back to Vernonia
about 2:30 and Fisher crowd
were there. Sold my old buggy.
Rained quite a bit all day. Got
home about 5 P.M. The road
gang went down below to work.
Monday, May 20: Went up to
Vernonia the first thing in the
morning and got a Post Office
Order to send for my new rubber
tire buggy. G.P. came and got
the old buggy. Got home from
Vernonia about 1 P.M. Rained
most all day.
Ordered my
buggy in the afternoon.
Sunday, May 26: Took a little
bicycle ride down the road in
the morning.
Awful hot all
day. Wrote a letter to 55131.
Went up to Pittsburg in evening
and mailed some letters.
Monday, May 27: Worked on
the road. Pretty warm all day.
Commenced to grade. Worked
with scraper most of the 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.
Tuesday, May 21: Sent for my
new buggy. Very warm all day.
Sent a postal to Alice.
Vernonia
Veterinary Clinic
Wednesday, May 22: Worked
putting ceiling on up stairs.
Pretty hot all day. Ma and
Grace went down to Mist.
Small and Large Animals
Thursday, May 23: Went down
to Hattie Deeds funeral. Start-
ed down at 11:30. Cloudy all
day and looks much like rain.
I will commence work on the
road tomorrow.
Friday, May 24: Commenced
work on the road down by
Haseletts. Cloudy most all day.
Vernonia’s Voice is published twice each month on the
1st and 3rd Thursday. Look for our next issue out June 1.
Open
Mon, Wed & Saturday
9 a.m. - 4 p.m.
Call for Appointments
(503) 429-1612
Or 24 hr. Emergency Number (503) 397-6470
700 Weed Ave. Vernonia, OR
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Vernonia
Dental
Saturday, May 25: Worked on
the road again. Cloudy most
all day. Done quite a lot of
blasting.
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622 Bridge Street Vernonia, OR 97064
phone (503) 429-0880 -- fax (503) 429-0881
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Vernonia, OR 97064
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