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Millwood Memory Project |
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Millwood History Enthusiasts Millwood History Enthusiasts enjoyed the opportunity to look over some vintage West Valley High School (WVHS) annuals, also known as school yearbooks from the late 1940s and 1950s. Of particular interest were the pictures of individual faculty members; West Valley School District benefited from a fairly stable cadre of staff members which meant that many teachers and adminstrators began their service at the former WV High School building (later changed to Argonne Junior High) facing Trent Avenue, then followed their careers on to the present-day high school building at Vista and Buckeye Avenue, a few blocks to the west. This memory is from around 1964 or 1965 when I attended Argonne Junior High School. During this time, Argonne Junior High consisted of 8th and 9th grades, 7th grade was housed in the Annex, directly north, across the street on Buckeye, adjacent to the old Millwood Elementary School site.
Review of the annuals was great fun and quickly lead to recollections and amusing stories about a particular student or staff member that were long forgotten or completely unknown. With this thought in mind, I was asked to write down a recollection while a student in a Mechanical Drawing/Lettering class, Mr. Bill Adler being the teacher at the time. Note: Mr. Adler’s class was held in a separate section of the building that also housed the bus barn facility. Students had to walk outside the west entry door and proceed a short distance to the class/bus barn facility. The classroom was arranged in a manner where individual students worked at assigned numbered desks, there could have been 10 to 15 desks in the room. I don’t recall Mr. Adler ever addressing or calling upon a student by his first or last name but simply referred to them as ”boy number 3” or ”boy number 8”, or whatever the desk number happened to be, etc. The numerical student identification method seemed to work for Mr. Adler, I don’t remember students voicing many objections, I just thought it was a humorous way to keep track of students. Oh, by the way, Mr. Adler taught me how to print correctly and I use it to this day. I don’t recall much else about the class however Mr. Adler seemed to be a kind, good-natured, and patient teacher. Isn’t that the type of teacher we would all hope for? marc |
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I remember the photo shoot because I got to wear jeans for the pictures in addition to the ones in the skirt (which I may have in my cedar chest). I was and still am much more comfortable in jeans. The pictures of this photo shot included about 4 that were in a frame. Ahhh, brings back great memories of shopping in "old" Millwood--the 5 & Dime where I had my first purchase on layaway--I still have them I think the total was about three dollars; the hardware store, the meat market watching the butcher cut up half a beef with sawdust on the floor, the bank, the pharmacy, also the doctor office, the dentist, and the Sugar Bowl. Could go down Argonne to Dishman to the drug store and get cherry cokes, etc. The service station where you got "service" and road maps were free. The heating oil company run by Carl Schreck and they had the meat lockers.
And the best, we were in the "old" West Valley before moving to the new location. Then they tore down a
beautiful building for what""
Well, so much for the ramblings!!
Cheryl Ann Elchlepp |
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Childhood Memories I was born in 1948 and grew up in a house on the corner of Bessie an Liberty. My father, Elmer Johnson built the home in 1947 and he and my mother lived there until 1967, in which time they moved to Bridgeport Avenue in Millwood. My father was a teacher, coach, and principal at WVHS and lived in Millwood until has death in 2004. My mother is still a resident. I graduated from WVHS in 1967 and after college taught math for 34 years at both Argonne Junior High and WVHS. A few of my memories of childhood days are as follows: Coming back from camping at Sacheen Lake and seeing the glow of the mill fire of '57 as far away as Chatteroy. As we descended down the old Argonne hill we saw quite a sight that we had in no way anticipated. Every one raking their leaves into row along Liberty in the fall and burning them. Dad always thought the more gas you put on the pile the better. When he tossed the match the neighbors windows rattled. The whole distance from Liberty to Argonne was blue with smoke . We'd always gather horse chesnuts to throw into the fires. Sulfer blocks being unloaded from railcars and stored at a vacant lot at the corner of Bessie and Euclid. We'd walk the tracks to pick up pieces of sulfer to do whatever with them--mostly to make our pants pockets reek to high heavens. Sneaking out at night and with neighborhood buddies going to the Rosebush house (I believe it was owned by a famiy named Coffin) and scaling the walls only to get yelled and told to beat it. We called it"patio fort"---why I don't know, but I do remember Dave Richards named it. The Old Mill Tavern with its corrugated airplane hanger roof. We always stayed clear of that place.
Memories of stores along Euclid and Liberty---post office, Dr. Pierce, the Sugar Bowl bakery, Bill Bitz's barber shop, the corner five
and dime, M and L Dri Goods, meat market, Heisteman's hardware, bank (which did get robbed), Peters Millwood Pharmacy, and Wilson's
gas station.
Robert E. Johnson |
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Childhood Memories I grew up in Orchard Avenue but we always had ties to Millwood. My Dad worked in the finishing room at the paper mill. And I had two uncles who lived in Millwood. One of my uncles was Joe Stout and he was the Purchasing Agent at the mill later in his career. His son, Gary Stout, was an electrician at the mill. My Dad died at 37 with cancer so we moved from our place in Orchard Avenue. My story of Orchard Avenue was in the "Nostalgia" magazine (Nov-Dec 2011) Issue. One thing stood out in my memory of the mill was when Fred Beguelin was killed at the mill. It happened at the east end of the mill and I think he was run over by a truck or vehicle. They blew the whistle to announce the happening and when my best friend's mom and her friend found out what had happened they went to offer condolences to Ida, Fred's wife. Well, they arrived before she found out about her husband's death but was glad to see the visitors. She thought it was just a friendly visit. As they talked the visitors realized she didnt know what had happened. While they were there someone from the paper mill came to the door and told Ida what had happened. So the friends were there, just a little early. We lived on the street the city hall is on, just east of there and my best friend and I used to run down the hill (now the park and wading pool) to greet our Dads coming home from their shift. Our moms decided this wasn't safe as we had to cross the railroad tracks. Also I remember a lot of "bums" used to come up to our place or the neighbors asking for food for work. It was the Depression - about 1939 or so. I remember when the Corner Door Cafe was a drugstore run by Mr, Tiffin. He and his wife lived upstairs and he kept that store very neat. There was a soda fountain and he filled prescriptions too, I think. The bank in Millwood was robbed one day and in trying to catch the robber Andy Byrum was shot. His father was the Post Master at the Post Office on the other end of the block from the bank. And, last but not least I remember the Mercantile in the middle of the block in Millwood. My friend, Barbara Reid's, (her Dad was an electrician at the mill), mother worked there. She just passed away last December at the age of 99-1/2. Barbara lives in Newtown, Connecticut and after marrying a fellow from Fairchild AB moved back to his hometown of Boston, then Newtown. Joan (Stout) Matlack January 24, 2013 |
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Paper Mill Fire, September 7, 1957 It was my first formal birthday party that I remember while I was growing up. On Saturday, September 7, 1957, I had happily invited a few friends and my sisters to celebrate. My dad had built a large fiberglass wading pool for my sisters, Julie, Becky, Elizabeth and me and placed it in our backyard on Liberty. He had the great idea of stocking the pool with real trout so we could go fishing as one of the party activities. We were having a great time. Anne Pierce Aslin, wearing her new felt skirt, fell in the pool. She still says I pushed her but I don’t think so. Shortly after noon while we were enjoying ourselves, we suddenly heard the paper mill whistle. The paper mill was a central part of Millwood. Many people in the neighborhood worked there. My grandfather, Chester A. Buckland had recently retired as president of IEP and my father was the current plant engineer. This was the major way the community knew what time it was since the whistle would blow at 7:00 AM, noon, 12:45 Pm and 4:00 PM. But this whistle wasn’t blowing at the scheduled time. Soon it became evident that the whistle was to alert the community that a major fire was going on at the paper mill. Dad left immediately to help fight the blaze. We didn’t see him for the rest of the day. So my memories of my birthday party were mostly of worry about what was happening, were people OK, and when would the fire be out. I was mostly worried about if Dad was OK. Linda Larson Baer |
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Paper Mill Fire, September 7, 1957 As for personal memories... as a kid, IT was exciting! All the commotion, crowds of neighbors watching and fighting the fire, and our "favorite playground" on fire. The heat was intense and the firefighters kept wanting everyone to stay back. I know all the adults were worried and upset. Many of our neighbors and my uncle worked at the mill. So it was very personal for them. The bank was very brushy and treed at that time so there was concern that the fire would spread to nearby homes as well as West to the mill itself. My Dad got off work at 1:00 and was involved with fighting the fire at the warehouse on Empire. Barb Bennett |
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Paper Mill Fire, September 7, 1957 I remember the frantic sound of the mill whistle as it soared up and down its tonal range. Off duty employees living in our neighborhood north of Liberty were soon running toward the mill. Later that afternoon Mom (Jean [Buckland] Green) took Sally and me to help out at the masonic hall where sandwiches and beverages were prepared for the fire fighters. We worked way past my ten year old bedtime. I remember standing bleary-eyed as the night seemed to never end. Barbara (Green) St.Clair November 13, 2012, |
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Paper Mill Fire, September 7, 1957 I remember being at the Dishman theater with Nikki, Susan and Jeff Batson that Saturday. After we were picked up I worked at the masonic hall serving sandwiches to the firefighters on their breaks. My mom, Jean Green, had to pull me away from a table when one of the guys, probably one of those young airmen, got a bit fresh. Sally Green (Age 14 in Sept, 1957) November 14, 2012 > |
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Paper Mill Fire, September 7, 1957 Saturday at approximately 12:15pm, someone noticed a fire down near the railroad tracks near the log piles. The paper mill received the fire call about 4 minutes later. This was a hot – windy summer day and I lived at E. 9014 Frederick, a couple of blocks from the paper mill. [My sister, Virginia Anderson’s birthday was on Sunday, Sept. 8 and she invited several friends to a small party on Saturday.] We were [in the back yard] celebrating my sister’s 20th Birthday when the paper mill whistle started blowing to alert the mill employee’s and firemen of a fire. The code, 3 long blasts and 3 – short blasts repeated several times. I had been attending some recent fire drills so I ran inside to check the fire whistle code. The whistle did not blow on Saturdays unless there was a fire call. Living a couple of blocks from the paper mill, I hurried towards the mill to see what I could see. I saw lots of smoke and fire in the log piles and people running to help. I helped extend and man hose lines for several hours till dinner time. As the fire was spreading, more fire departments were called to help. Valley Fire Department, Spokane Fire Department, Fairchild Air Force, Civil Defense, U.S. Naval Supply Air Station, Naval Supply at Industrial Park. An estimated 15 fire trucks responded and an estimate of 1000 people helped extend hose lines, turned on fire hydrants and brought food and water to those that needed. I think most of Millwood’s Residents were there helping. A couple of hours later and approx 2:00pm, the mill whistle started blowing again for another fire at the old apple warehouse on Empire, a couple blocks east of Argonne. Several trucks were sent there to fight that fire. As more reports came in of fire embers blowing across the river to Pasadena Park, crews were sent to extinguish them. Also, paper mill employees were busy setting up sprinklers on top of and close by log piles to try to keep fire off of them. The fire destroyed approximately 8 million board feet of logs, ¾ mile Railroad track and ties. Logs were Western Hemlock, White Pine, White Spruce. Estimated loss of $400,000. The cause of the fire was probably a steam locomotive and extremely hot dry grass near the tracks and log pile. Extremely hot dry weather and high winds spread the fire quickly. [After the fire, IEP stored the logs differently. They separated them into small piles and they put sprinklers up on top.] Jim Anderson January 30, 2013 [Includes information from oral discussion of February 6, 2013] |
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Recollections of the fire at Millwood Washington, Inland Empire Paper Company, September 7th, 1957, (The Mill)
I was around 8 years old at the time and did not realize what transpired that afternoon and later evening regarding the fire that occurred at the Millwood paper mill and
surrounding stacks of logs. A fire originated by a spark from a steam engine or other railroad yard equipment and lasted well into the evening hours, destroying several
months supply of logs awaiting processing. A vast amount of logs were stacked along the south side of the river bank and extended eastward for a considerable distance;
reports estimated a 2 to 3 month supply of logs were stored along paper mill property.
I remember going with my father in the car heading east on Upriver Drive later that evening and surveying what had happened. The emergency whistle at the Mill alerted
the Community to an impending disaster so naturally nearly everyone wanted to learn of the circumstances. My father and I drove to a point on the north bank of the
Spokane River about where the Centennial Trailhead and bicycle bridge now converge (east of Plante’s Ferry and down river from the rock outcroppings) and walked
in a short distance to see first-hand the burning mass of logs . This was obviously no small pile of logs and the fire was fully engulfed from this point all the way along the
south bank toward the Mill. Fortunately the Mill, private homes and businesses were spared thanks to emergency response personnel. The monetary loss of a valuable commercial resource was
estimated to be hundreds of thousands of dollars for the time period. Thankfully, not anywhere as devastating as the 1889 Spokane fire but just as every bit a ”day to remember”
in the experience of many Millwood residents. Marc Richert
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Childhood Memories Millwood was comprised of the Inland Empire Paper Co., Millwood Park with swimming pool and band stand; Millwood
Pharmacy (J. E. Tiffin, prop.); above the pharmacy was dentist, Dr. Bayne; across the street was Erma Seehorn's beauty
shop (she gave marcels, henna rinses, and machine-type permanents); around that corner was the Spokane Valley State
Bank; then Millwood Mercantile Co. (Roeders & Schleef, prop. ); Millwood Meat Market (H. G. Peterson, prop. ); the Millwood
Hardware, owned by Frank Heitstuman--a jot-em-down store; a dry goods store next; and on the other corner was the A. B. Byram
multi-complex store. Above the bank, the Masonic Temple.
The Mercantile delivered groceries; they ran a charge business. Also, deliveries were made by a breadman, Klarr. From Klarr 's
bakery truck emanated the most delicious smells; sometimes we were sent out to buy ourselves a couple of cream puffs. And there
was a milkman. The iceman, whom we facetiously knew was Dolly Rice's boy friend, was often conned into giving us ice chips to
cool us. Opal's cute poem from her apt memory applies:
The Millwood Meat Market gave freely of bones and meat scraps for anyone 's dog. We used the bones often to feed Ted [our dog], or just as often for soup for us. Dr. Bayne, the dentist [located over the Millwood Pharmacy], at one time drilled into a nerve while working on Opal's tooth. We were very apprehensive when we returned for another checkup and we had to wait quite awhile before it was our turn. Dr. Bayne finally appeared in the waiting room door and said, "Okay, who's going to be next?" With that, Opal jumped up and ran out of the room and down the stairs. She was horrified when she heard someone running after her. Of course, she thought it was the dentist! Being the only one left for "next," I decided no way and went sailing downstairs behind her! The Inland Empire Paper Company owned the land along the river, and in the old days, their discarded paper was disposed of in an area by their railroad tracks where they constantly burned these various grades of paper. We often played there, and took home papers that were still intact. Sometimes, the smoldering papers looked safe enough to walk on, as the burning, hot coals were far below. I happened to step onto such a place and my foot sunk in, anklet (sock) deep, and my anklet filled with hot material, causing me excruciating pain. I received a bad burn. Stripping off my shoe and sock, I ran for the river's edge, I cooled my burn in the icy-cold river long enough so I could tolerate it until I got home. This was when you don't put water on burns, but later years, it was exactly the right thing to do. Embarrassed, I crawled through my bedroom window so my mother wouldn't know what a foolish (or dangerous) thing I had done. I left the explanations to Opal, and I didn't get into trouble. A couple of other attractive nuisances on IEP property; one we called a "tramway," and the other, I was never sure what it was. The tramway was made with stout cable which had a short piece of pipe (about 15 inches long) around it. The beginning of the tramway was at the top of a tall evergreen tree. Climbing a ladder, you took a deep breath and zipped down a distance of about thirty feet. The landing was always a thrill. The other caused me grief years later when my oldest son, Barry, was seriously injured. A tree growing on a steep bank had a rope attached to it with a knot in the end. One would make a fast run holding onto the rope, and swing way out over the bank and gain footing on the opposite side of the tree. I was never brave enough or foolhardy enough to try it. Leta Louise Keener Nance Norcross Excerpts from an online autobiography. Permission for use given January 29, 2013 |
