Cousin Sam: BUSINESS DISTRICT OF COULEE CITY

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I was planing to do something like this after I completed some other projects, but the response to some questions posed in the facebook group, You're probably from Coulee City if... as well as all the information posted on it, has prompted me to add this now. This post, which is intended as both a summary and as an index to other (mostly future) posts would not have been possible without the group. It is a work in progress, and as information on some of the businesses listed has grown, this post has now been divided into other posts indexed and linked from this post.

In this and related posts, the abreviation, (C. J.: [date]) or (C. J.: album) indicates reference to an ad, picture, or article posted by Conor Jorgensen in the facebook group.

Satellite map of Coulee City

About 1930

Ad from Spokane Daily Chronicle, January 24, 1981 (Dan Bolyard's blog)

Coulee City in 1907

MAIN STREET 300 BLOCK (includes 200 block)

     In the mid 1950's Warrington Furniture was located where Sterling Savings Bank, formerly Key Bank, and before that Rainier Bank is now located.

     Behind the bank is a small white building that was a doctor's office.   Dr.'s John & Leonard McNamara who were based in Ephrata came weekly in the 50's and took appointments there. It had been a dress shop before 1950. Dr. Leonard was killed in a plane crash in the mid 50's; Dr. John continued to practice medicine and eventually moved to Yelm.

      Between the bank and what is now a fire department garage is the telephone switching station.

     On the southeast corner of  4th and Main, Columbia Basin Refrigeration, owned by Al Aavestrude and later by his stepsons, Leonard and Ron Schultz.  A fire department garage is now located there.

     Post Office & Beauty Parlor

     Grange Supply, Coulee Co-op, Cenex

     The Lee Theater, opened June 13, 1947, was formerly known as the Gregg Theatre. Basin Electric occupied space on the Main Street side sometime in the late 40's.

Corner Cafe

Jeffers Motel

MAIN STREET 400 BLOCK

     On the southwest corner of 4th and Main in what is now the Coulee City Fire Department was George Jessup's Service Station. He also had the State Liquor Agency at that time.

     Behind that, at 4th and Douglas, was Adam's Implement. Barney Folley later had repair shop there.

     Next is the Country Mall, formerly the IGA, also known as the Home Market.

     After the IGA building is a vacant lot that had tall trees on it as long as I can remember.

     Next is the Thompson Hotel building.  The first store front was Margaret's Variety, the second, the Hotel lobby, and the third, at one time was the City Clerk's Office, where Dama Neill was the city secretary for many years.

     Before they moved to Grand Coulee in 1942, John and Effie Browne had a store in the Thompson Hotel building.

     Next was Aldrich Motors, later Perry's Buick, now a parking lot.

Steamboat Cafe

Cinderella Shop, originally owned by the Kinsella's.

Jim Jess Implement

MAIN STREET 500 BLOCK

     SW corner 5th and Main: The National Bank of Commerce, now the City Hall. The Library was in the back part in the mid 70's.

     Then another space that was the City Clerk's Office and later C. M. Clark's Law Office.

     Then we come to what is now North Cascades National Bank, before that Mid State Bank. This was the location of Bill Adair's cafe.

     On the corner of 6th and Main was the E & F Recreation (Einer's).

     Neihart's Drug Store was opened by C. B. Neihart around 1909.

Pastime Tavern

Jack Dillon's 3 D's Ice Cream shop?

Art Club

Don's Barber Shop

Gem Tavern - owned by Red O'Connor in the 70's.

     On 5th, across the alley from the Gem Tavern building is the Builder's Supply.

Truman 1950 visit

SIXTH STREET

     Across the first set of tracks from the corner of 6th and Main is where the railroad depot was located before being moved to the south side of the railroad tracks and remodeled for the Senior Center.

     On the west side of 6th were three early buildings.   First there were two store fronts, one of which I remember being used as a carpenter shop by someone who had a couple of miniature Dachshunds. This may have been Leonard Vaughn's carpenter shop.

     Next to the alley was the Grand Hotel, or "Hotel Grand."

     On the rest of that block is the Blue Top Motel, owned in the 50's and 60's by Harry Miller and his wife. It was later owned by Larry & Rosemarie Ennen.

WALNUT STREET

     The house next to the Blue Top Motel on Walnut, across from the grocery store, was owned in the mid 50's by Mrs. Wagoner. The home later belonged to Casto Bolyard.

     On one side of the corner of 7th and Walnut is an elevator built in the late 50's, and on the other corner, the house built by Henry and Margaret Taschereau about 1961. Before that there had been a sort of single story apartment building, and before that, there was a lumber yard on that corner.

     Next, Coulee City Family Foods, formerly John's Foods, and before that, Taschereau's Food Center, and before that, Mike Radak's Red & White.

     On the now vacant corner of 6th and Walnut (606 W Walnut) in the 60's, was Skip's Marina, where the News-Standard office was also located when Ella Conner owned it. (She was succeeded by Pat Tigges, whose husband, Dick, operated the Coulee City Flying Service.)  Larry & Barbara Richardson opened the Sandwich Sheriff here on August 13, 1981.

     Henry and Kathleen Ewell had businesses on two corners: A trailer park with a laundromat on one, and the service station, towing, and wrecking yard on the other.

WEST END

     The Coulee Union Grain Company is rather difficult to miss.  In the 50's and 60's the office was in a rock building at the right of the gap where now stands a fairly new silo. The office and scale is now on the west side of the elevators.

     Just beyond that, next to the last siding, was Jerry & Ta Letta Allen's Feed & Seed, which they sold to Mr. & Mrs. Earl Carpenter of the Builders Supply in August of 1970. Ta Letta was the organist at the Presbyterian Church for many years.

     After the Allens sold the business to the Builders supply, this location was used by Jim Killingsworth's Farm Chemical business until he relocated out by the Highway past the Ala Cozy.

     Crossing the street, the last house on the corner of locust was the home of Deputy Sheriff Boyd Jenkins.

     Now following the north and east sides of the streets, the first business was Banks Lake Sales and Service. Among the owners were Tom Price, and later Sel Trexler and his son Terry. In the early 1950's it was Lakoduk and Schreiner Motors, the Kaiser-Frazer dealership, owned by Jack Lakoduk.

DOUGLAS STREET & SOUTH

Ad from Coulee City Dispatch
May 14, 1942

     South of the railroad tracks, just east of Pierpoint's pond, were 4th and Chelan would cross if they went through, was the Farmers Union Grain Company. Ad from Coulee City Dispatch - May 14, 1942

     Oscar Larson's Richfield Oil Company was on "the corner of 3rd and Douglas, next to the railroad tracks . . . it was used by Cenex in later years, and now has been razed." [Dan Bolyard] "The 1930 Sanborn Fire Insurance maps shows [the] location as 'Shell Oil Co.'"

     Dale Aldrich was the Union Oil dealer in the 50's to 70's. This was located just south of the Assembly of God Church on 2nd.

HIGHWAY BUSINESSES

The Hut

Dry Falls Cafe
     Owners have included Howard and Gladys Andrews,

Art's Drive-In

Reservoir Cafe

Ala Cozy Motel

Freeman's Folly

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     Unfortunately, the google street camera did not go down main street. Here are some views they did take.