Out of the Past September 30 2026

100 Years Ago—

Members of group one of the Washington Press Association, comprising men from nine Inland Empire towns, met in Chewelah last Saturday and went on record in favor of the recent movement of the association looking to an awakening of the state of Washington. The visiting members had lunch at the Yale Hotel, which was followed by a visit to the plant of Northwest Magnesite Company as well as the quarry of the company west of Chewelah. Following the visit the business meeting was held at the Yale Hotel.

Harry Wingham, owner of Wingham’s Meat Market, spent a couple of days on the Colville Indian Reservation buying cattle for his market.

Blair and Jordan have installed a gasoline pump on the curb in front of their service station on South Main Street, Colville.  

75 Years Ago—

Construction of the 1,000-ton American Smelting and Refining Company mill in northern Stevens County was given a boost when Washington Water Power Company extended a 14-and-a-half mile service line to the site and turned the power on Thursday of last week. The company is located 24 miles north of Colville.

A great forward step will take place here tomorrow when the cornerstone of the new Mount Carmel Hospital is laid at the construction site. The new hospital is being built on the hill in the southeast section of Colville overlooking the valley.

50 Years Ago—

William Paddleford, city building official, presented three design schemes for the proposed remodeling of city hall to council during Tuesday evening’s meeting. The proposed plan calls for new offices for the planner, building official, treasurer, mayor, administrative secretary, and clerk.

It appears that the Stevens County Sheriff’s Department is unionizing. That’s the word that came from the Stevens County Commissioners’ office this week.

An assessment of economic possibilities for Stevens, Ferry, and Pend Oreille counties shows under favorable conditions that employment could increase by almost 3,700 jobs in 1990.  

25 Years Ago—

The Stevens County Planning Department made little progress last Thursday in a meeting with the Eastern Washington Growth Management Hearings Board. The county had requested a face-to-face hearing to clarify why the Board declared invalid or non-compliant a number of regulations the county developed to comply with the Growth Management Act.

A ground and surface water study to inventory the water resources within the Colville River Watershed is in progress.

“Date with the Doctor” is back, and this time the forum is on breast cancer. The free event will be held at the Colville Community College Theater on Oct. 16. October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

10 Years Ago—

The city of Colville is investigating the health of the trees in Yep Kanum Park. The 18.21-acre park is filled with a variety of trees such as douglas fir, ponderosa pine, larch (tamarack), and oak. The park’s trees have been examined several times over the years and each time diseases were identified in some of the trees.

The situation with gasoline prices this fall is mostly positive according to analysts. Average retail gasoline prices in Washington have fallen 1.3 cents per gallon in the past week and average $2.70 gallon.