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A WRITER VIEWS GRAND COULEE DURING CONSTRUCTION DAYS
During construction days of the Grand Coulee Dam, Richard Newberger, Oregon writer, wrote "Our Promised land", and in it he declared that sin and salvation were doing business on the same street in the "piano box" town. He was referring to life on B Street at that time.
Further he wrote "In contrast to the dam which, rising block on block in the river canyon, appears as permanent as granite, the town of Grand Coulee seems as ephemeral as a one-night circus stand. The buildings are of crude lumber or formed from tar-paper tacked to lathes. Here and there is one of greater durability, but it is the exception. Some of the houses resemble big packing boxes. A piano would fill most of them to overflowing. Everything bespeaks haste, hurry and carelessness."
Further on in the book, he writes, when describing conditions on B Street, "It is likely there is nothing at Grand Coulee which does not exist in Seattle, Spokane or Portland or Denver or any other city. But it prevails in a highly concentrated form. So, Grand Coulee squats on its hills and is a definite social phase of a great engineering project in the wilderness. In it live wild and dissolute individuals and in it also live decent and respectable and upright Americans, who are trying to make a living on the country's last, great frontier."
Editor's Note --
As construction tapered off, conditions in that questionable part of Grand Coulee lessened in proportion. the moral weight of those "decent and respectable and upright Americans," he mentioned as also living there, built a Grand Coulee which had nothing in common with the Grand Coulee he described. This Grand Coulee has always reached out for community betterment and created a Community Park and children's playground even when conditions elsewhere appeared to be most flagrant.
Whenever work was again taken up at the dam conditions tried to repeat themselves, but never again did they flare to the proportions they were in those early days of construction.
Editor
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GRAND COULEE NEWSPAPERS
When work first started on Grand Coulee Dam, the country was in the midst of the depression. Newspapermen were looking for new opportunities. A number were interested in the new townsites starting to mushroom at the damsite in the fall of 1933. Two outfits tried to cover the field by getting out newspapers printed in distant cities. These quickly died on the vine when the damsite had its own newspapers.
The race to get out the first newspaper at the dam was won by the Grand Coulee News. It was established by Sidney Jackson, who was publishing a weekly newspaper in Oregon, his father, A. J. Jackson, of Seattle, and Charles E. Webb, a printer, also from Oregon. Sid Jackson eventually purchased the interests of his partners and became sole owner.
Volume I, No. 1 was published November 3, 1933. Workmen were still putting the finishing touches to the plant building. The first issue was printed through cooperation of the Waterville Empire-Press, at Waterville. In the immediate months following, the paper was printed at Grand Coulee, but linotype matter was set at Wilbur. Early issues were tabloid size and run, page at a time, on a 12 x 18 platen press. As there was no electricity, power was furnished by a small gas engine. This method was used for about six months until a power line was run in from the diesel plant of Three Engineers at the damsite.
The Friday before the first issue was published, the first community meeting was held in the News Building. It was attended by 45 men. James Raferty was elected temporary chairman and J. R. Jones, secretary. Main topic of discussion was condition of the road leading to B Street from the county road. The newspaper noted that: "collection was taken up to have gravel put on the road. The amount raised, $20.00, was thought sufficient."
Two weeks after the News published its first edition, Robert W. Ross and his wife, Mary, and their two small sons, Dick and Meryl, arrived in Grand Coulee from Richland, Washington where Bob and Mary had been publishing a small weekly newspaper. They brought along a housetrailer that was both home and office. They immediately started printing a mimeographed daily called the "Booster." It was one page, mimeographed on both sides.
There was no post office and mail was brought in from Coulee City and Almira by any persons who happened to be down at one of these towns. A box was rigged up at the News office. Mail would be left there, sorted out, and put in the proper pigeon hole. Then the mailman on Star Route, Almira to Nespelem, started dropping off a mail sack at the road Junction in the Center, and it would be brought to the News office for sorting.
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This "public service" soon developed into a major headache. On Christmas Day seven sacks of mail arrived. Joe Crandall, circulation and ad man on the News, spent his Christmas sorting out mail. Soon a woman was persuaded to take over the "post office" and she ran a private post office at Johnny Pozar's Club where you could rent a box for a nominal fee per month. It was several months before Uncle Sam got around to opening a postoffice in the Center.
The News also had the first telephone in Grand Coulee, a pay phone. This rapidly developed into a headache, especially when members of the crew were routed out after midnight, night after night, for people wanting to take advantage of the "after midnight" rate. After about 60 days the phone was moved across the road to Kinnune's Men's Store.
During 1934 the "townsites" continued to grow and the newspapers with them. Bob Ross was joined by an uncle, Richard Bushell, from the coast. They brought in a printing plant which was established in a building in the new Noble Addition, just north of original Grand Coulee. They started publishing a small daily by regular letterpress. The newspaper's name was changed to "Grand Coulee Times." It was tabloid size, usually four pages. As far as the writer knows it was the first daily newspaper published in Grant County. The Grand Coulee News went to a twice-a-week, with publication days on Tuesdays and Fridays.
Grand Coulee soon became a "hot spot" as far as newspaper competition. In addition to the two papers already mentioned, Ben Rogaway, an advertising salesman from Spokane, established a small hand-set plant and started publishing a weekly shopper. Several mimeographed "dailies" were also started but eventually folded.
The competition proved too keen. The Times was forced to change over to a weekly, with free distribution at the damsite. The News then dropped its Tuesday edition and also provided free distribution in the immediate damsite area.
Ross and Bushell disposed of their interests in the Times, which was moved to the rapidly-developing "Center Addition" and eventually came under the ownership of Ben Rogaway, previously mentioned, and Glenn Arnold, a newspaperman from Coulee City.
The Grand Coulee News suffered two fires. It rebuilt after the first one which badly damaged the plant. However, in the big fire in July, 1933 (?), which took nearly a block of stores on B Street, the loss was complete. In this fire the Public Market, Kozy Korner Restaurant, News, Stones (successor to the Trading Post), were completely destroyed and Ross Clothing Store partially destroyed.
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Faced with a near total loss, Jackson sold the newspaper to the Grand Coulee Times, and the News was merged with that publication. The Times operated alone in the field for a short period, when another newspaperman, Nelson Cheney, was persuaded by merchants of B Street and others to start another newspaper. He moved in a plant on C Street, original Grand Coulee, and started the Grand Coulee Advertiser. This venture however did not pay out and the plant was liquidated.
Bob Ross, who in the meantime had become the postmaster for Grand Coulee, purchased the job printing equipment of the Advertiser. He started a job shop in his garage in the Center which was run by Harold Dahl. Later he added a linotype and newspaper press and started "The Star."
The peak of construction was now over and there was not sufficient business for two newspapers. Ross then bought the field from the Times, with Rogaway and Arnold retaining their printing equipment. They moved this equipment to Moses Lake where the first newspaper was established for that community, and became the forerunner of the present daily, the Columbia Basin Herald.
This brings us to the point where the Hilsons entered the picture, and they should continue the narrative from this point on. The following resume is mainly from memory, as the old files were destroyed in the fire. I have a copy of the first issue of the News, given me by Billy Clapp of Ephrata; a copy of the first anniversary edition, November, 1934, which was saved by my mother in Seattle; and on the tab copies in February 1954. Some of the data comes from these.
Note: This material was sent by Sidney Jackson in answer to our request. The Editor.
Rob Hilson, one of the owners of the Grand Coulee Star, sent this at our request: In answer to your letter regarding the history of the Star since we Hilsons took it over ---
I purchased the paper from Bob Ross in June, 1943, at which time it was a free circulation tabloid-size publication.
My brother, Howard, went into partnership with me following his discharge from the service in 1946.
The paper was enlarged to a full size (the same as it is at present) in 1947 and we placed it on a paid subscription basis a short time later.
In 1948 my brother, Jack, and I bought out the interest of Howard who went into the publishing business at Portland. Jack and I are still in business together.
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GRAND COULEE POST OFFICE
The Post office in Grand Coulee was opened as a fourth class office in October 1934, with Charles E. Kinnune, as first postmaster. He served until January 1936, when he passed away after a short illness.
The post office was first located in the rear of a clothing store operated by Mr. Kinnune. Later a building was built next door and the post office moved there. It has remained in the same location up to the present time.
Robert Rose was appointed postmaster after Mr. Kinnune's death and served until September 1943.
On July 1, 1936, the post office was raised to second class. September 3, 1936 a sub-station was opened on B Street in old Grand Coulee, serving that area until July 31, 1943 when it was closed.
Previous to the opening of the B Street Station, Art Murphy, the star route mail carrier from Ephrata, was employed by the merchants, hotel owners and cabin courts as an unofficial mail carrier. On the Heights two grocers picked up mail for their customers. The mail was addressed in care of them and called for at their stores.
The present postmaster, Mr. Kurth, was promoted from clerk to acting postmaster in September, 1943 and received his commission as postmaster December 1, 1944.
A star route to the Rex area in Douglas County was established in April 1944.
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COULEE DAM POST OFFICE
Prior to the opening of the Coulee Dam Post Office, the residents of the area received their mail from a Star Route that ran between Almira and Nespelem. There were two large boxes, one at Grand Coulee and one near the ferry. Any mail belonging to this area, was dumped into one of these boxes and each individual sorted over the mail, taking out that which belonged to him, leaving the rest.
Harry E. Robbins opened the first Coulee Dam Post Office in February, 1934 which was located about where the Green Hut is now. Following the opening of the post office, several business houses in Grand Coulee rigged up an unofficial post office, picked up the mail for their patrons from the Coulee Dam Post Office and took it back to Grand Coulee.
A new star route was established from Ephrata to Coulee Dam. The first driver on that route was Art Murphy. Mr. Evars was the first driver on the Almira to Nespelem Star Route, then, in 1934, Orin Wiley took over the route and is still driving.
Mrs. Myrtle Patrick was the first clerk hired at Coulee Dam Post Office in October 1934.
Mason City was named for Silas Mason, Chairman of the Mason, Walsh, Atkinson, Kier Co. Contractors, builders of the first stage of Grand Coulee Dam. Also builders of the town.
Mason City Post Office opened December 6, 1934 as the third post office in the area, following Coulee Dam and Grand Coulee, with W. E. Kier of Kier Brothers Co. as Postmaster and C. E. Sears, former postmaster from Chewelah, Washington as Assistant Postmaster. From 1934 to 1938 Mason City Post Office served over 100,000 different patrons; in other words, moving a city the size of Tacoma, Washington through a medium size second class post office.
In 1938 the M.W.A.K Company finished their contract and now the contract was awarded to a new company made up of M.W.A.K. Company and the Six Company, builders of Boulder Dam. This company was known as Consolidated Builders, Inc. or CBI. At this time Mr. Kier resigned as Postmaster and Mr. Sears was advanced to Postmaster and, for a short time in 1942 and 1943 while Mr. Sears was in the army, C. J. Walker served as Acting Postmaster until Mr. Sears returned in February 1943.
In 1943 the USBR took over the town of Mason City from the CBI Company. On October 1, 1943 the Mason City Post Office was discontinued and consolidated with the Coulee Dam Post Office in its present location with Mr. Sears as Postmaster and Harry Robbins as Assistant Postmaster.
Carrier service was established in February, 1944.
The largest population of Coulee Dam was from 1948 to 1950 when the post office served 5500 to 6000 patrons. At the present time the population has leveled off to about 1600, or about 450 families who are now served by Coulee Dam Post Office.
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