Out of the Past: 08/20/2025

100 Years Ago—

On the west side of South Main Street are the crumbling remains of a stone foundation. Grass and weeds partially obscure the rock from view in the summertime. The disintegrating effect of time has left its mark on the work of early stone masons. There is no marker to show what may have been the purpose of this old foundation, and few people are left who saw these stones put in place. Yet this foundation was the very foundation of the town of Colville. Its presence marked the location for the town and brought the town into being. Had this foundation not been built, there probably would never have been a town on the present site of Colville. 

The Colville brewery was established on this site by John U. Hofstetter in 1874, following the burning of his former brewery east of the present city of Colville. Hofstetter, in 1871, had bought the Jack DeMars homestead covering the southern portion of the present city of Colville. When his brewery burned, he decided to rebuild near his newly acquired home. He established the first water system here by bringing water from the springs on the hillside in southeast Colville, putting in a two-inch iron pipe to carry water to the new brewery, with laterals to furnish water for the other Hofstetter buildings. Although the new brewery was three miles from Fort Colville and its adjoining village of Pinkney City, it instantly became a central point of importance in the Colville valley.

75 Years Ago—    

Paul Burgess has been appointed manager of the Colville Elks Golf Course. Pat Sullivan, chairman of the Elks golf committee, announced the appointment Wednesday. At the same time, Burgess announced the sale of his shoe repair shop to Victor Lawson, formerly of Colville.

Don’t shinny up that sign pole, lad, you’re breaking the law. That was the warning issued to a junior and his parents this week as city officials found several of the city’s new street signs damaged by climbing youths. 

A timber wolf, which measured nearly six feet long, was trapped in the Sherman Pass district last week.

50 Years Ago—  

Stevens County is a highly motorized community and is getting more so all the time, a recent survey shows.

The Panorama Speedway was filled to capacity last Sunday to watch a 40-lap main event, which was stopped on lap 35 because of darkness and rain. The action was fast and furious as “Wildman” John Mennyman crashed into the spectator fence and Dave Weaver attempted to knock down the flagman’s stand. Glenn Ratell took first place in the 35-lap event.

The Farmers Market in Colville has finally blossomed into a resourceful community asset that has been hoped for by many.

25 Years Ago—

A familiar face around the halls of Fort Colville School is the school’s new principal. Clayton Allen, heading into his 10^th year in the Colville School District, was named earlier this month to replace former principal Rick Stout.

A group of Dominican Sisters and friends gathered at My Parents Estate (formerly Our Lady of the Valley Convent) in Kettle Falls on Aug. 8, to commemorate the 75^th anniversary of the arrival of the first 12 Sisters to the northwest United States from Speyer, Germany.

10 Years Ago—

Thousands of firefighters continue to battle at least 16 large fires that cover more than 900 square miles across the parched landscape of the northwest.

There was an air of perseverance at the Fruitland Service Station last Thursday that matched the smoke in the air from the Carpenter Road Fire, which has burned 36,735 acres and destroyed 17 homes in the Fruitland-Hunters area.