in other words
february21
2019
The Good Ol ’ Days
By Tobie Finzel with Robb Wilson
Vernonia Businesses, Part One
Grocery stores are an important
element of town life, especially when
that town is thirty miles or more from the
next. In its earliest days, settlers had to
plan a three day trip to Astoria from Mist
and Birkenfeld or Cornelius from Verno-
nia to buy the provisions they couldn’t
grow or make themselves. This was an
annual or semi-annual event for most
families as transportation was limited to
rough wagon roads.
The first known store, McNutt’s,
appears in the earliest known photograph
of Vernonia. Robert McNutt was one of
the early settlers. His store, a rough
wooden structure, was built in 1887 on
the northwest side of Rock Creek amid a
scattering of cabins, the first “hotel” and
a printing office in a tent. We assume
that it was a typical general mercantile
of the time selling staples such as flour,
beans, a selection of canned goods, cof-
fee, spices, and other non-perishable
items since refrigeration and electricity
were still decades away.
Across Rock Creek on the south
side of Bridge Street, just west of Gary
Meyer’s Auto Body, was Zillgitt’s Store;
it was also built in the 1880s. German-
born Zillgitt was one of Vernonia’s first
mayors. Zillgitt’s also housed the city
hall and a post office. A large open room
upstairs was used for community meet-
ings and dances. Zillgitt sold the store
in 1899 and, like most of the downtown
buildings, there was a succession of
owners and businesses located there un-
til the building was demolished in 1939.
A few long-time residents of
Vernonia were chatting on Facebook re-
cently about the multiple grocery stores
that flourished in Vernonia back from
the 1920s through the 1960s. Once the
mill opened and the population soared,
markets opened in various parts of town.
On the east side of the Nehalem, Harry
and Emily King established a market in
the early 1930s. Their first location was
on the river side of what is now Pebble
Creek Road, but a 1935 flood caused
them to move across the road and built
a new store with residence in the rear in
1936. As was true with other stores in
those days, home delivery of groceries
was part of the service. King’s motto
“You Ring, We Bring” appeared in their
newspaper ads. They delivered locally
and also put grocery orders up for the re-
mote logging camps such as Wilkerson.
Harry died in 1950, but his son, Earl, and
other family members managed the store
until 1972. Emily continued to live in
the back until her death in 1981. It still
stands just to the left of the turn north off
the Green Bridge onto Mist Drive.
Just across from the Oregon-
American mill was the Mill Market.
Its ads stated that “You are as close to
the Mill Market as your telephone.”
Like King’s Grocery and other stores
of the day, the store carried a full line
of meats, produce, canned goods, dairy
products, and household products. The
Mill Market also boasted freezer lock-
ers. Before the widespread use of home
freezers, people rented locker space to
store home-butchered meats and freshly
caught fish and game. According to Bob
New, VHS Class of 1947, the Mill Mar-
ket was known as “The Locker” because
of that. Patrons would rent or purchase a
box in the freezer and put their own pad-
locks on. The boxes had open slats to
let the cold air in, and occasionally some
people would break a board and steal the
frozen food. There was no insurance
or payment if that occurred; Bob said it
happened to him once. The Mill Market
was acquired by Cliff’s Supermarket in
1969; by 1971, the building was rented
for other use until it either burned or was
torn down.
Mrs. Reeher’s store was locat-
ed at the bottom of O-A Hill on Bridge
Street directly across from Washington
Grade School. Many long-time Verno-
nians remember going across the street
to buy candy and soft drinks there. We
presume it was an even smaller store
than the other markets, a neighborhood
“corner store” type of operation dur-
ing the days of penny candy. Licorice
sticks, jawbreakers, and such were avail-
able in open boxes from which to select
one’s favorite. Wrapped candy bars sold
for a nickel, and a Popsicle or a bottle of
Coke was a nickel or a dime.
Down in the heart of town there
were many grocery stores over the years.
The building west of the current day
laundromat and barber shop, all now part
of the Black Iron Grill complex, was the
site of a flower shop followed by a series
of grocery stores: Nehalem Market, He-
ber’s with Mr. Adams butcher shop, Bob
Curl’s, Culver’s, and Child’s Grocery.
In the next block, the current Blue House
Café was built in 1924 to serve Skagg’s
United Store. It later became a Piggly
Wiggly grocery until 1935 when it be-
came a Safeway store; Safeway closed
this location in the 1950s, presumably
after the Vernonia population dropped
precipitously with the closure of the
mill.
The Bergerson Building, erected
in 1900 and rebuilt from the ground up
in 1999 to become the Grey Dawn Gal-
lery, housed a variety of businesses over
the years including the Red & White
Grocery. When it was still Bergerson’s
Hardware, a sign boasted that “Good
Things to Eat, Cigars, Tobacco and
Fishing Tackle” were also available in-
side. On the corner opposite, the 1924
Peterson Bakery housed a succession of
bakeries and later a cafe. When George
Saber owned the bakery, his special was
“two loaves for 25 cents.” The center
of that same building west of the bak-
ery corner was vacant for some years
before becoming Fairway Foods. Sam
Hearing, Sr., came to Vernonia in 1935
and worked at Safeway. In 1938 he pur-
chased Fairway and renamed it Sam’s
Food Store. His son, Sam “Buck” Hear-
ing, Jr., also worked for Safeway at other
locations but came to work for his father
in the new enterprise. When Sam Sr.
Vernonia’s Voice is published twice each
month on the 1 st and 3 rd Thursday.
Look for our next issue on March 7.
sold the store in 1945, Buck stayed on
with the new owner and then bought it
in 1947. He operated Sam’s for 42 more
years until he retired and closed the store
in 1989.
There were many other neigh-
borhood groceries and a food co-op that
came and went over Vernonia’s history.
One of these stores, Sunnyside Market
near Timber Junction, remained in busi-
ness until Highway 47 no longer passed
that way in the early 1990s. Vernonia’s
only supermarket began in the mid-
1960s when the trend toward larger
stores began. The former 1930 Crawford
Motors building became the home of
Dean’s Market in 1964 but before 1967
it became Cliff’s Supermarket. In later
years, it became a Sentry Market, owned
by Gordon Smith, Chuck Hendryx, and
later Randy Parrow. Randy and Sharon
Parrow became the sole owners in the
early 2000s; they renamed it R&S Mar-
ket. R&S and the Chevron gas station
and Mini-Mart on Bridge Street remain
the town’s only sources of groceries.
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 Na-
tal and Pittsburg. Each year from 1906
until 1955, he kept a regular diary of his
activities. February of 1909 was cold
and wet, but that never seemed to slow
him down – even walking from Pittsburg
to Clatskanie in a downpour.
Saturday, February 6, 1909:
Went down to Dave Kayes and
got 5 pigs. Will Elliott went
down with me. Got home at
1:30 just about froze. Rained
all day. Went up to Vernonia
and skated. Started up at 6
and got home at 12:30.
Sunday, February 7: Did not
get up till 9:30. Done chores
and then done a washing.
Jack Ray came about 12 and
stayed till 4. Pretty good day.
Tuesday, February 9: A little
snow on in the morning
so worked around barn
measuring grain, also cleaned
out hen-house.
Thursday, February 11: Did
not do much of anything.
Went up to Petersons with
Bill in the morning. Fine in
7
morning but awful cold in
evening. Going up to Portland
next Tuesday.
Friday, February 12: Packed
phonograph and got ready
to go to Vernonia to basket
social. Started at 1 P.M. Took
wagon and took phonograph
up and played. Bill E. went up
with me. Danced a while then
skated till morning. Had a
dandy time. Rained all day.
Saturday, February 13: Got
home from basket social at 8
A.M. Got breakfast and went
to bed. Did not get up till 2:30
P. M. Pretty fair day. Played
“Rainbow” for Miss Black in the
evening.
Sunday, February 14: Did not
get up till pretty late, done
up the work then Bill E. and
I went up to Wedrick Hall
and skated for about 2 hours.
Rained pretty hard all day.
Go to Portland tomorrow via
Clatskanie.
Monday, February 15: Left
for Portland via Clatskanie.
Bill Elliott and I walked out
together. Left here at 7 and
got to Clatskanie at 1. Rained
most all day.
Tuesday, February 16: Got up
to Portland about 12:15. Went
down to Effie’s in afternoon.
Rained awful hard all day.
The Vernonia Pioneer Museum is locat-
ed at 511 E. Bridge Street and is open
from 1 - 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 do-
nations 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.vernonia-
handsonart.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.
BE PREPARED FOR WINTER
• chains • antifreeze • winter tires mounted & balanced
• wipers • generators • kerosene • flashlights • boots
• batteries • lamp oil • gas cans • candles • propane
Family owned & operated
for over 45 years
834 Bridge St., Vernonia
(503) 429-6364