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WILSONCREEK.
Wilsoncreek is the second town in size in Douglas county. Aside from Waterville it is the only one incorporated. It is on the Great Northern railroad, a minor freight division point of that line. Here are located an eleven-stall round-house, a large coal chute and other buildings common to railroad division. Some of these buildings were erected in the early 90's, shortly after the advent of the road. It was many years later before the town of Wilsoncreek came into existence. While there was much homestead land in other portions of Douglas county, that lying along Crab and Wilson Creeks was not considered worthy of being termed farm land. But the rush of immigration in 1902 induced people to examine these lands, then experiment, and the result was that the land was discovered to be "agricultural" in every sense of the word. Towns became numerous throughout the south country and Wilsoncreek easily distanced all competitors.
A postoffice was established in December, 1894. Previous to this the stock men of Douglas county were compelled to go to Lind, in Adams county, for their mail. Concerning the earlier history of Wilsoncreek, the Big Bend Chief, of December 27, 1901, said:
Some three years ago, (1898) one Moltke, (whether he was a relation of the late count is not certain) was induced to open a small store
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near where Gentry & Goldsmith's lumber yard now stands. It is said that there were various articles of merchandise and stomach bitters for sale there. W. T. is an authority for the statement that one bottle of those bitters was sufficient to make a man steal from one pocket and put it in another. However, the count sold the shop to one Sanders who, in turn, disposed of it to R. L. Playfair. Playfair thought it a white elephant and coaxed Nichols Brothers to take it off from his hands. The Nichols Brothers closed out to G. D. Miller. In the meantime George Swanson had opened up a merchandising store just west of the bank.
Practically, this was the inception of Wilsoncreek. Almost the entire trade of the pioneer store was from the neighboring stockmen and cowboys. Old timers tell us of the high jinks of the "buckaroo," at the place where the town now stands. The gaming table was the principal recreation and money and bitters flowed as free as water. On January 1, 1900, seven people would complete the census of Wilsoncreek. One small store sufficed to more than supply the demands of the adjacent country, and the Wilsoncreek hotel had recently been completed by William Blanchard. The guests were like angels' visits, few and far between. But they soon became more numerous. According to the United States census taken at that time the population was 26. With the opening of the year 1901 Wilsoncreek consisted of a school house, one small store, the Wilsoncreek hotel and the Great Northern buildings.
The town was platted January 31, 1901, by Robert L. Playfair. The following additions have since been made.
Playfair's First Addition, April 3, 1902, by R. L. Playfair.Taggart Addition, April 1, 1902, by W. H. O'Larey, F. E. Taggart and A. A. Mclntyre.First Addition, September 10, 1902, by Jesse Gentry and A. A. Goldsmith.Schroeder's College Addition, October 25, 1902, by J. P. Schroeder.School lot addition, April 25, 1903, by Zack Finney, W. H. O'Leary, Julius L. Stuart, directors, and A. J. Miles, clerk.Urquhart's First Addition, August 12, 1903, by Donald Urquhart.
October 20, 1901, the Big Bend Chief said:
A train load of immigrants from Jackson county, Minnesota, came to Wilsoncreek. Some of these engaged in business in the town and the majority settled on land in the vicinity. This was the signal for a big growth of the town. At this time there were in the village only a part of the Douglas hotel building, the old Wilsoncreek hotel, Stapp's restaurant, three stores, Goldsmith & Bagley's, G. D. Miller's and the People's Trading Company (Swanson Brothers), a blacksmith shop, butcher shop, the Big Bend Land Office, R. J. Armstrong's livery stable and two saloons, Gentry & Goldsmith's and Finney & Patees' lumber yards.
But the last two months of the year 1901 witnessed a marvelous growth in Wilsoncreek. The Chief stated that during the month of November and December sixty actual residents were added to the town and many others took up residence in the surrounding country.
Friday night, January 20, 1902, fire destroyed the coal chutes of the Great Northern railway, causing considerable loss to the company. The fire originated near the west end of the chutes and within ten minutes the entire structure was a mass of seething flames. Six car-loads were standing on the track near by, together with two cars of lumber. All were burned. This was a serious disaster, yet the destruction of these chutes marked the beginning of considerable improvement in the railroad buildings at Wilsoncreek. Another conflagration is thus described by the Big Bend Chief of date August 29, 1902.
Wilsoncreek's most disastrous fire occurred last Friday morning, (August 22d). At 3 :45 o'clock, just as No. 16 was pulling into the yards the engineer noticed what looked like a bright light in the general store of J. H. Benson.
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It flamed up, and he blew the whistle to awaken the people. Many heard it but supposed it was for cattle rather than a fire. Nightwatchman, William Astell saw it about the same time and when the watchman and Engineer Dygon reached the store the lower floor seemed a mass of flames. J. H. Benson and wife were in Seattle, and E. E. Benson, Mrs. Miller, Miss Grant and J. H. Benson's little son were sleeping over the store. They barely escaped in their night clothes. E. E. Benson had taken the precaution to convey the books to his room and saved them, but forgot to take a wallet which he had placed under his pillow. William Lair and Watchman Astell made the rounds and awakened the citizens. As quickly as possible every one in the village was at work. The flames soon spread on the east to the drug store of Lee Brothers, and but little of the stock was saved. P. J. Wegele's pump establishment was the next to go, but nearly all the stock and tools were taken off before the fire reached it. Strenuous efforts were then made to save the livery stable and shed across the street and with wet blankets and water this was accomplished. The Wilsoncreek hotel, occupied by Dr. J. M. Corpening and owned by A. V. Swift, was also burned with the shack just back of it, which was the property of Thomas Kemp. To the west of Benson's store the war against the flames was just as fiercely waged. G. D. Miller succeeded in saving about $1,000 worth of his stock, and Maltbie, Friel & Maltbie managed to remove close to $800 worth of their hardware stock before the fire ran them out. J. W. Emmert's dwelling was the next to go, but the household goods had all been taken out before the fire had reached the house. Then came the tug of war with the bank. Albert Nelson stood in the hottest of it throwing water when older men had failed. With prompt and constant work the fire was held here, but Mr. Swanson, the cashier, had succeeded in removing all of his household goods and everything of value in the bank had been put into the vault or moved across the street to places of safety. It was a wild time, and by 5 :30 o'clock a. m., there was not a stick left standing in the burned district.Every possible effort was made to save the buildings and the citizens did good work in rescuing stock from the flames. Jesse Gentry and J. F. Moore stood at their posts in R. J. Armstrong's shed with wet blankets on their heads to permit them to work at all. A. A. Goldsmith and A. V. Swift were on top of the livery barn, while scores of men, boys, women and girls were carrying water so soon as the bulk of the stocks had been got to safety. At the bank Albert Nelson, Floyd Miller, Sam Fader and many others were fighting the flames with all their strength and cunning. They all unite in giving Mr. Nelson credit for saving the bank building, as he seemed not to feel the scorching heat which was driving others back. The losses of this fire are as follows:J. W. Emmert, house and carpets, about $500, with insurance of $300 on house and $400 on furniture.Joseph Mitchell, building, $750, no insurance.Maltbie, Freil & Maltbie, stock $2,500, with insurance of $1,000.Nichols Brothers, building, $600, no insurance.G. D. Miller, stock, $3,000, with insurance of $1,000.J. H. Benson, building, household furniture and stock, $6,850, with insurance of $2,300.Lee Brothers, building, stock and fixtures, $3,300, with insurance of $2,375.P. J. Wegele, building, $300, with insurance of $200.A. V. Swift, the old Wilsoncreek hotel building, $350, no insurance.
The rapidity with which the town recovered from this serious disaster is thus voiced by a correspondent:
Wilsoncreek merchants are rustlers. This
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is well illustrated by the rapidity with which the business men who were burned out by the big fire of August 22d, have rebuilt their places of business. Every merchant who shared in the $20,000 loss only a month ago, is now doing business at the old stand, but in a more commodious structure.
The first steps toward incorporation were taken at a mass meeting held February 23, 1903. It was almost unanimously decided to arrange for a special election to vote on the proposition. A committee consisting of A. A. Goldsmith, J. H. Benson, W. H. O'Larey, R. H. Lee, and L. M. Dow was named to circulate a petition. It received 67 signers. The county commissioners granted the request of the petition and named April 24th as the day for holding said election. There were 49 votes cast with the following result:
For incorporation, 40; against, 3.For Mayor — G. F. Goldsmith, 40; B. E. Butler, 1.For Councilman — J. W. Emmert, 45; D. O. Freil, 47; W. H. O'Larey, 45; A. A. Goldsmith, 41; R. H. Lee, 22 ; William Newlove, 27; Jesse Gentry, 2; P. J. Wegele, 2; William Schumacher, 1.For Treasurer — A. J. Swanson, 42.
The first meeting of the newly elected city council was held April 28th. The incorporation of Wilsoncreek at this time illustrates the swiftness which marks the growth of western towns. Two years prior Wilsoncreek consisted of a postoffice, a depot and one residence.
The population in June, 1903, according to the returns of the assessor, was 246. The educational facilities include a handsome, four-room brick school house erected at a cost of $7,000 during the summer of 1903. There is one Presbyterian church edifice. The fraternal societies are represented by the Royal Neighbors of America, Modern Woodmen of America and the Foresters.
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