Vernonia eagle., December 14, 1923, Image 21

VERNONIA EAGLE—COLUMBIA COUNTY SECTION
payroll cities in the state. Upwards of $3,000,000 an­
nually is paid to employes in the lumbering and ship
building industries and allied industries in St. Helens.
Every appearance of St Helens, its fine homes, good
streets, and modern facilities make it unlike a saw mill
town; yet through its gateway passes, by rail and
water, forest wealth drawn from about ten billion feet
of merchantable timber, principally Douglas fir in the
ranges tributary to St. Helens. Three logging com­
panies are operating in the vicinity, having an annual
output of 120,000,000 feet with 500 men on their pay­
rolls disbursing more than a million dollars.
Taxable wealth of the city is $ 1,063,000. 1 wo banks,
the Columbia County Bank and the First National
Bank, have deposits, which combined, aggregate $905,-
000. An excellent light and pure water system, thor­
oughly modern schools, and similar facilities, offer the
best of inducements to families.
Seven churches contribute to the religious welfare
and upbuilding of the community. Civic activities
are carried on through a live Chamber of Commerce
and the town is well supplied with social, fraternal and
recreational organizations.
Manufacturing
Of manufacturing industries there are four large saw­
mills, spar factory, veneer plant, creosoting plant,
ship-yard, dock and terminal facilities and smaller
enterprises. Four sawmills on the river have a capacity
of 200,000.000 feet and furnish steady labor to 800
men. The mills cut all classes of timber from lath to
the largest sticks. Most of the lumber is exported by
water. During 1922 1,500 car loads were shipped by
rail to the Middle West. The sawmills in operation
are the St. Helens Lumber Company, Island Lumber
Company, St. Helens Tie and Timber Company, and at
Columbia City, two miles distant, the Western Spar
Company. The St. Helens Creosoting Company *s the
largest wood treating plant on the Pacific Coast. The
St. Helens Ship Company, established in 1911, is equip­
ped with four ways and builds ocean going vessels,
barges and tubs. The Columbia Contract Company
operates a quarry supplying crushed rock and paving
blocks.
Commercial fishing is another industry, about 300
tons of the famous Columbia River Chinook Salmon,
is caught in the river near here, giving employment
to a hundred fishermen during the fishing season.
part of Columbia County is noted for its pure bred
livestock. Dairying forms the principal industry on the
large ranches and when operated by those who have
proper knowledge of dairy conditions, highly profitable
returns are realized. Forage crops, as well as succulent
feeds, such as roots and ensilage, are economically pro­
duced to greater advantage than in many other places,
and offers the best returns for professional dairymen.
Farm Land Prices
Good improved farm land within a seven-mile radius
of the city can be purchased from one hundred to two
hundred fifty dollars per acre; unimproved land from
twenty-five to seventy-five dollars per acre. Land can
be purchased on reasonably easy terms. Many farmers
find part time employment during a year in the mills
and logging camps.
Columbia County employs a county agricultural
agent whose activities consist very materially in dealing
with the agricultural problems of the district. Farmers
are progressive in organization activities through their
Farm Bureau and Grange organizations.
Co-operative marketing is in process of being estab­
lished. A cheese factory which has been established
is selling its entire output to one concern and can con­
sume much more milk than is produced in the county.
Among the Columbia County herds are several with
wide reputations for record producing cows of the dairy
breeds.
Other trading points in the neighborhood, off the
railroad, are Yankton and Trenholm. Trading points
on the railroad are Columbia City, Warren, Deer
Island, Goble. Nearby trading points along the rail­
road are Warren, center of a fine farming district;
Columbia City, a location of ship building activities
during the war; Deer Island, prosperous center; Goble,
important rail and water shipping point, also a transfer
point, and Kalama, Wash., across the Columbia River.
At Prescott is a large sawmill.
and the living conditions highly agreeable, \ernonia
is on the banks of a fork of the Nehalem River near
the confluence of Rock Creek It is on the Inland Loop
Highway connecting Astoria and the Pacific Ocean with
Portland, by way of Vernonia. Forest Grove and Hills­
boro; also, the Columbia River Highway at Clatskanie
via Mist. A road via Pittsburg to St. Helens is to be
improved bringing the county seat within a distance
of 25 miles. The Nehalem Valley has had good smooth
gravel and rock roads north and south through the
valley for a generation. I here is no more picturesque
valley country to drive through than this section with
many delightful camping grounds and fishing streams.
Other towns and trading points in the Nehalem val­
ley northward are Pittsburg, Mist, Keasey, Kist and
Birkenfeld.
Four tributary valleys center near Vernonia. Dairy
and fruit farms are found in various stages of develop­
ment. From the time of pioneer settlement dairying
has been a leading ranching industry. Poultry raising
is carried on.
Favored with a mild climate, an ideal growing sea­
son, nearly all-year grazing and other conditions, cattle
and dairying are profitable.
The numerous streams and the deep forests draw
fishermen and hunters
Hundreds of campers and
tourists are found throughout the valley in the summer
season. Small game, deer and bear are found in the
thickly wooded hills.
Soil, Farming and Fruit
The altitude of the valley at its center is 650 feet.
The valley soils and creek bottoms are deep loam and
silt. On the bench lands, shot lands, with clay and
gravel, are found.
Berries, small fruits and truck of all kinds are grown
General crop farming is carried on, the average yields
being high. Oats and barley yield as high as 75
bushels to the acre. Hay, timothy and clover run three
Port Activities
With a metropolis of over 300,000 people only 29
miles distant, a ready market is at hand for the prod­
ucts of dairymen, poultry raisers, and truck fanners,
and these operations are rapidly increasing.
In the district tributary to St. Helens the fanning
is diversified. The principal activities being directed
to the small fruits, berries, poultry raising, livestock
and dairying. Among small fruits the greatest acreage
is set to red raspberries. They yield from two to four
tons per acre, and canneries offer a prevailing price of
ten cents per pound.
Other berries commercially grown are strawberries,
loganberries, blackberries and red currants. There are
many orchards of other fruits.
St. Helens is the eastern terminus of the St. Helens-
Pittsburg Market highway, the principal outlet for the
Nehalem Valley, a macadam road with a grade not ex-
. ceeding five per cent.
Dairying
Numerous productive dairy farms are located within
the trade zone of St. Helens. They produce large
quantities of milk marketed to the retail trade of Port­
land. The cream is handled by the St. Helens Co­
operative Creamery, a co-operative institution. This
Loop Trips Into and Through Columbia
County
A study of the panoramic map contained in the
center pages of this publication shows the various high­
way routes into and through Columbia County, which
are suggestive of trips of a day, a week-end or for
longer periods, and any of which are well worth while.
A circuit trip through the county, taking in all promi­
nent points, is an easy day’s driving.
The Columbia River Highway in Columbia County
presents many features of interest to the sightseer.
Between Scappoose and St. Helens are splendid vistas
of farm homes, with’ modern facilities. Stylish dairy
barns with concrete floors, electric lights and such ac­
cessories familiarly dot the landscape. St Helens has
commanding views. West of St. Helens the highway
swings out upon open spaces along the river's shore
Passing Goble the highway climbs Prescott hill sur­
mounting sheer bluffs overlooking the river. Beyond
Rainier, westbound, the highway climbs by easy turns
Rainier hill and every moment is full of interest and
inspiration. 1 hen the Beaver Creek and Clatskanie
River valleys are followed leading out again to the
broad expanse of dyke lands spreading out before
Clatskanie.
One of the loop trips suggested is from Portland by
way of Forest Grove up the Gales Creek Valley, thence
by easy grade over the Low Divide at Timber into the
Nehalem Valley, following along the Nehalem River
for many miles to Vernonia. Another route, not so
well traveled, but alluring for summer tourists and fish­
ermen, is by way of Hillsboro, Banks and Buxton,
through the Beaver Valley into Vernonia. From Ver­
nonia a trip up Rock Creek takes one to a favorite
trout fishing stream.
Hundreds of camping, fishing and picnic spots are
found along the winding Nehalem River. The streams
of Columbia County all yield trout and especially the
Nehalem River which is always a rendezvous of anglers
Sport With Rod and Gun
I he coast streams of this section no doubt furnish the
best salmon fishing to be found. Particularly is this
true with respect to the Chinook salmon, king of all
salmon, a beautiful fish weighing from 10 to 50 lbs.,
and producing the richest and choicest meat that swims.
I his salmon, when emerging from salt water, is an
exceedingly powerful and gamey fish. They take the
spoon and, once hooked, make a thrilling fight for lib­
erty. I he Lower Nehalem River is well known for the
sport of salmon fishing. Trolling for salmon in the
Columbia while done commercially, is also available
for sportsmen.
Schools and Social Facilities
Farming in St. Helens Neighborhood
country.
Continuing on from Vernonia the Inland Loop High­
way leads to Mist and Birkenfeld and on to Young's
Bay and Astoria. At Mist the well traveled highway
leads over to Clatskanie. At Pittsburg, near Vernonia,
the new market road may be followed across to St.
Helens and at St. Helens, as well as at Clatskanie, the
Columbia River Highway is followed back to Portland.
7 he reverse of this route may be followed, going first
to Clatskanie, thence to Mist and Vemonia and back
by Forest Grove to Portland. 7 he start may be made
from St. Helens across to Pittsburg and Vernonia and
then to Clatskanie.
The local industries have excellent rail and water
physical connections.
The St. Helens Dock and
Terminal Company numbers in its equipment a three-
mile railway line, crane, locomotive and cars.
In 1922, 220 ocean-going vessels called at St. Helens
taking in excess of 168,000,000 feet of lumber for
Australia, Africa, Japan, India, Hawaiian Islands, West
Coast of North and South America, the United King­
dom and Atlantic Coast points.
St. Helens became a second class postoffice July 1,
1923. Two rural routes serve the well settled neighbor­
hood and the postal savings depository reflects the pro­
gressiveness and well-being of the citizens.
There are two thoroughly modem and well equip­
ped school buildings providing accommodations for the
one thousand pupils of school age. An accredited high
school course is provided. In the adjacent country
near St. Helens there are a number of schools housed
in modern buildings and provided with good teachers.
Two weekly newspapers, The St. Helens Mist, and
The Columbian, are published at St. Helens.
The following lodge organizations, having a com­
bined organization of over 1,000 have a part in the
community life; Masonic, Knights of Pythias, Odd
Fellows, Modern Woodmen, Eastern Star, Women of
Woodcraft, Rebecca, Pythian Sisters.
The St. Helens library maintains a well equipped
plant having an average circulation of 1,200 books
each month.
There is a National Guard company organized here.
A golf course of nine holes has been established ad­
joining the Columbia River Highway. Godfrey Park,
within three blocks of the down town section, offers a
delightful environment for tourist campers, and there
is, a'jo, a splendid bathing beach in the Columbia
River.
office. There is a graded public school. There are
many streams and resort districts tributary for fishing,
camping and hunting. Good farming and dairying
Columbia County Abounds in Diverss/ied Farms, Dairy Ranches and I rout Streams
VERNONIA—and Its Development
jat J
ERNON1A. population 1,500, is the center of
important new industrial development. It is
located in the south central part of Columbia
County. It is the trade headquarters for the
central and southern part of the Nehalem
Valley, midway between Portland and Astoria on the
Inland Loop Highway, a smooth gravel and rock road.
Town and the country emerged from pioneer isola­
tion when, in September, 1922, the first railroad—the
Portland, Astoria and Pacific—was completed, giving
direct outlet to Portland, 49 miles distant. Market
road development now in progress through the chain
of low mountains paralleling and separating the Ne­
halem Valley from the Columbia River will bring Ver­
nonia into close touch with St. Helens and the Colum­
bia River Highway.
* V®
S&fiX
Employment and Homes for Settlers
Vernonia’s rapid growth is due to the fact that ad­
jacent to it is one of the finest and largest bodies of
standing timber in the Northwest—more than ten bil­
lion feet, now approaching development and manu­
facture.
A steel and concrete sawmill with a capacity of 250,-
000 feet per eight hours’ run is under construction at
an outlay of $1,150,000.00. The mill is unique in that
its products will be dry kilned before being shipped.
Vernonia enjoys the advantage of terminal rates with
Portland. A half dozen other mills in the vicinity are
operating, or are preparing to operate, on a large scale.
These industries, together with the growth of the
town, the demand for business and residence buildings
make the district attractive to homekeepers.
Vemonia has a good municipal water supply, a hy­
dro-electric plant, a bank, churches, several first class
mercantile houses and a newspaper. The Vemonia
Eagle. School facilities are abreast of the times, a
grade school with seven teachers and a high school with
four instructors.
The town’s location is healthful, scenically pleasing,
tons to the acre. Silage, corn, kale, and vetch are
raised for dairy feeds. Root crops do well. There are
prolific yields of apples, peaches, pears, prunes, etc., in
the orchards. A crop failure has never been known.
Improved lands and farms sell from $50 to $100 per
acre. Logged-off land is plentiful and the opportuni­
ties for farmers are excellent. Logged-off land can be
purchased from $6 to $30 per acre.
Land clearing
costs about $100 per acre. A good market for farm
and dairy products is at hand in the big payroll in­
dustries of Vemonia, also the town’s proximity to the
metropolis, with a population of 300,000 people.
I he lure of game and fish is a man’s sport and Co­
lumbia County provides a share of each nearly the
year round. In the hills are deer, bear and grouse. In
pastures and grain fields are the pheasants. On the
lowlands and islands of the Columbia River are the
haunts of thousands of wild ducks. Most of this terri­
tory is in preserves, of course, and there are numerous
shooting clubs.
When interested in following hunting and fishing
sports it is well to obtain a state fishing and hunting
license and information at the office of the Fish and
Game Commission in Portland.
Other Towns and Villages in Nehalem Valley
Keasey, postoffice and store, is on Rock Creek, ten
miles from Vernonia and on the P. A. & P. railway.
General farming, dairying and poultry raising are car­
ried on. 7 here is a graded school.
Pittsburg, a postoffice and store about five miles
from Vemonia.
Mist, population 65, is on the Nehalem River, at the
junction of the Inland Loop Highway with the Mist-
Clatskanie highway. It is ten miles south of Clatskanie
over a good mountain road. Graded public school,
teaching high school course. Has church and grange.
Birkenfeld is a new town, a busy trading point, on
the Inland Loop Highway near the northwest line of
the county. It is on the Kerry logging railroad which
provides freight and passenger rail outlet to the tide­
water at the Columbia River and to the Spokane, Port­
land and Seattle railway at Kerry, 20 miles. Tributary
are many logging camps, shingle mills and sawmills
employing thousands of men. It has a population of
300, with schools, churches, lodges and several mer­
cantile establishments.
Modern ranches carrying on dairying, stock raising,
fruit raising and general farming surround Birkenfeld.
Land cultivation is mostly in the valley, although
development of hill lands is taking place. Logged-off
lands are priced low.
Fishawk is a trading point with a store and post­
Columbia
County