Cousin Sam: FROM PIONEERS TO POWER

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GRAND COULEE -- FROM THE BOOM TOWN TO HOME TOWN

In 1931 - 32, the years when the depression was at its worst, there were rumors of a dam to be built on the Columbia River at the Grand Coulee in Washington State. A rumor which brought hope and courage to the residents of Grant, Douglas, Okanogan, and Lincoln counties, from which the men were to be employed, and which became a reality in 1933. If one had been strolling up the dusty area, which later was to become known as the notorious B Street, he would have beheld a most unusual sight. The only buildings were the Smoke Shop, a small restaurant and the start of one or two more saloons. At the upper end of B Street a tent was pitched with several men using it as their home and where newcomers were welcome to put their blankets and grip and invited to lunch with them -- this being the only form of a hotel. The only restaurant was a small shack run by an old lady and her son. The menu consisted of hot cakes, bacon and eggs for breakfast, stew for lunch and steak and greasy french fries for supper, seven days a week, but the hungry workmen were thankful for even this.

In the lower block of B Street men were quickly putting up a building -- the first pre-fabricated building and within half an hour the structure was up and housed the first newspaper for this area. This was a typical example of the mushroom growth of the town of Grand Coulee and all the other small towns in the area.

As mentioned above, the people to be employed on the preliminary digging were to be taken from the residents in the above counties, so, by the fall of 1933, workers were coming to the project. Many were ragged and hungry. Since there was no place for everyone to live at the immediate damsite, many went up on the hill to Grand Coulee, and to other small towns in the area.

The incorporated town of Grand Coulee was divided into three sections. In the fall of 1932 Paul Donaldson started by purchasing a part of the Purtee Property and had it platted, the streets running East to West were A to C Street, inclusive, and North to South from Division to Fourth and Fifth to the edge of town. The Continental Land Company, a group of men from Spokane, acquired Si Buckley's land through a mortgage and platted it. This land extended from Burdin Blvd. to Partello Park. Mr. A. Elmore and Mrs. Ida Flieshman bought land adjoining this and platted it and this was later known as Grand Coulee Heights. The streets were named after promoters and builders of the dam -- Dill, Roosevelt, Banks, etc.

There was competition between Mr. Donaldson and Major Weil, the manager of the Continental land Company to obtain the schools, post offices, Churches and business houses in their part of town, but the only level place for a business district was from Fortuyn to C Street in what is known as North or Old Grand Coulee. Had it not been for some enterprising citizens who thought a construction town should mainly consist of taverns, brothels and other houses of ill repute, this is where the business part of town may have been today.

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The first school house was in this part of town, as was the first newspaper, but as B Street grew wilder they moved to the center and one of the best level residential parts with a beautiful view, which later was known as the Negro Section.

Among other business built in 1933 and 1934 in old Grand Coulee was a unique little store which had squatted by the Columbia River and later moved up to Grand Coulee. It was on wheels and had a big sign on it, "The Biggest Little Store by a Damsite". There was a barrel shaped restaurant known as "The Barrel"; the Hub Clothiers; Pioneer Jewelers; Pioneer Cafe and Tavern, the second story of which was rented by the Peerless Dentist and employed four dentists for several years; The Silver Dollar, now moved to the Speedball Highway and is run by one of its original owners Mr. and Mrs. D. Shannon; the Grand Coulee Club, still owned by its original owner, Mrs. Pozar and in the same location; the Gig Three, which included a bowling alley, the Workman's Club, the Deluxe Hotel, which is also now on the Speedball Highway and still owned by its original proprietor, Mrs. Marie Baines; Rawe's Hardware which is in its original place on Division Street; Theus Dime Store, later moved to the Center and now owned and operated by Oscar Skaar; Pryors Dry Goods Store; Massart's Plumbing Shop; Blanche's Dress Shop, later to be Grayce's Dress Shop now in business on Main Street in the Center; Tom Dahl Service Station built on the Y on Division at the end of B Street; Rogaway and Wilson Furniture Store which is now the M & M Furniture; Ted Atwater Drug Store; Meadowmoor Dairy; the Columbia Hotel; Bedford's Grocery; Rambler's Bakery; the High Dam Tavern and others too numerous to remember. Most of the taverns had loud speakers playing records out in the street to attract customers.

Three other people adjoining Grand Coulee platted their land. Jesse Lewis bought some from Mr. Lael and called it the Lael Addition. Mr. Purtee plated what is known as the Purtee Addition and Mr. Noble plated what is known as the Noble Addition but these have never become incorporated in the town.

The highway to the dam first went through some Continental Land Company land up to and down B Street and over the hill to the dam but they fenced this land and would not allow through traffic as it would bypass Coulee Center and so the highway which is still in use and known as the Speedball Highway was formed and stores sprang up on Main Street.

Among the first to be built were Kinnune's Clothing Store; Wallis-Has-It; Victory Cleaners, now in operation on Grand Coulee Avenue; Loepps Electric, now Loepp's Hardware; Roosevelt Theater, built in 1934, still in operation in the same building; Gemmel's Grocery; Continental Hotel; Bungalow Hotel; Ludolph's Grocery; Dover's Hamburger Stand and numerous others. The first hospital was on Federal Avenue run by a Dr. Carmichael.

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On the heights were Mac's Tavern; McCue's Store; Smith's Cabins and Hansen Grocery, now Acel Ponder's Grocery and Lunch and others. On the Speedball Highway businesses operating were Dube Brothers Grocery; Howell's Hardware; Heidt's Western Auto, now the Charlanne Motel; the Richfield Service; Spratlin -- Attorney-at-Law, still in business at the same place and others.

Mail was quite a problem in the first year. Various business people picked up the mail and passed it out until the first Post Office with Charles Kinnune as Postmaster opened in October of 1934 on Main Street in the Center. Station A, a sub Post Office on B Street opened in 1936 and closed in 1943.

Grand Coulee was incorporated on October 27, 1935 with Charles Howell as the first Mayor and Jake Myers the first Police Chief, both of whom are still residents of Grand Coulee.

Two room cabin courts sprang up everywhere. Among the first were Refertys, Roberts, Johnsons, and Shaeffers. Families lived in these two rooms and at times additional relatives also. These cabins rented for a prohibitive price but were always filled. The work went on 24 hours a day and the taverns and some stores never closed. there were two shifts at school and many people had children going to both morning and afternoon sessions and men working on all shifts so meals at all hours were the order of the day.

To add to the discomfort were the frequent dust storms. One could see them coming down the Coulee for miles. All doors and windows would be closed, though the temperatures were often 114 in the shade. The houses were suffocating! There were no air conditioners in those days to relieve the heat. The dust storms would last for hours and one could not see across the street. The houses were hastily put up and many not finished completely so the dust poured in, and after the storms subsided housewives would literally shovel the dirt out and usually accomplished the task just in time to meet another dust storm.

The streets were inches thick with dust in summer and mud in the winter. Once one lost his footing crossing B Street there was nothing to do but go down with the mud and with the help of passersby get up and make a new start. Even so, B Street was thriving -- fights were the order of the day especially on pay nights. Most of the rooms over the stores and taverns were occupied by redlight houses. Taxi dancers (women and girls who were paid for dances and also received a percentage on the drinks the men bought) were in demand. Even wives and mothers plied this trade. It wasn't long before B Street became notorious everywhere and most all tourists who came to view the dam went "slumming" (as they called it) on B Street. By this time the work on the dam had been opened to everyone and thousands were employed from all over the United States.

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In the very early days there was no electricity or water supplies. Coal oil lamps were used and water was carried or hauled to old Grand Coulee, Coulee Center and the three additions, from a spring and small lake known as the Buckley Spring which was situated where the dam for the equalizing reservoir now is located. People living on the heights obtained their water from a spring at Eden's Harbor and a spring above the town. Later a pipe from this spring was carried to Roosevelt Drive, near McCue's Store and water was hauled from there until the spring of 1934 when water mains and a water tank were installed.

In January 1934 Mr. N. C. Jannsen of the Jannsen Drilling Company in Seattle, came to Grand Coulee and took out a franchise to start the N. C. Jannsen Water Company to furnish water to all of Grand Coulee except the heights. A well was drilled and a pump house, living quarters, and office for the manager were built in the 100 bloc on A Street. In September another well was drilled near the small lake and Buckley Spring which proved a much better well than the first and with a larger flow of water.

Two large aluminum tanks were installed on the hill on C Street and two in the Center on the hill. These tanks are still standing as a landmark though not in use for years. Water mains were installed and water furnished to all residents and business places in North and Central Grand Coulee. N. C. Jannsen also sold water to the Lael, Noble and Purtee additions who put in their own mains and furnished water to the people on their property for several years until the Jannsen Water Company bought them out.

The wells furnished ample water for years until for some reason the water table receded. Another well was drilled but very little water was found and the Government was appealed to for help, which they finally gave by allowing the Jannsen Water Company to put in a pipeline on top of the ground from their tanks above Grand Coulee to the City main and buy water from them. An extra wooden water tank had been built further up the hill to have more power for the water mains furnishing Purtee Addition and also a few residents in Pleasant Valley. In 1946 the City purchased the Jannsen Water Company and the Elmore-Fleischman Water Company and put in a pump and chlorinating plant in the river, and a large reservoir above Grand Coulee Center which eliminated all water shortages for the future.

In January 1934 three men formed a company calling themselves the Three Engineers and put up an electric plant and office at the corner of Fortuyn (?) and Fourth Street where the Grand Coulee Park is now situated, and in March furnished electricity to all Grand Coulee and Delano and other small towns in the coulee. The City bought them out in 1941 and moved the buildings to the site of the present utilities building on the Speedball Highway.

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Everything wasn't hard work and miserable living. Most early residents, no matter where they have moved, have tender reminiscences of these times and, for a long time, wherever they found others living in that town formed Grand Coulee Clubs. People had come here from all parts and all walks of life. There was more talent in this small area to draw from than in most large cities for all the entertainments that were put on. Card parties, assorted sales, etc. were given and enjoyed by all. It was one big, happy family for awhile, as they all had money and work for the first time in years.

A library was started, P.T.A., Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts, churches, schools and organizations such as the Moose, I.O.O.F., American Legion, Veterans of Foreign Wars and later the eagles and others. Auxiliaries of these organizations were formed for the women as was the Business and Professional Women's organization.

The Lady Lions started a small park with children's play equipment on D Street but water was too high in price to keep it green. A roller skating rink was built on the corner of A and third Street and a tennis court was started under the auspices of the P.T.A. at the site of the present tennis court and in the winter was flooded for an ice skating rink. There was a swimming pool, called the Crystal Palace, on the Spokane Way and later was converted into a motel and is now the Save-A-Dollar Motel. McCaslin's Castle was another building well known for its uniqueness. It was started as a mess hall and living rooms for the men employed by Lynch Brothers. It consisted of a large building, mess hall and kitchen and around the outside of the grounds were rows of one room cabins. The grounds between the mess hall and the cabins was laid entirely with boards and all was painted in a bright green. After dinner in the evenings the tables and benches were put back and dances were held for people who did not care to go to tavern dance halls. This structure is owned by the American Legion as a meeting place.

Politics were taken very seriously in the early days. Candidates would have rallies with bands, etc. usually in a parade before election day. Arguments were frequent. Once it led to the arrest of an aspiring individual who was lobbying too close to a polling booth on the Heights. Another time all votes were challenged and a recount taken in Ephrata.

The first school house in Grand Coulee was started in 1933 with Mr. Westphal as teacher. This school was located above the Purtee Addition and was later purchased and moved to the 100 block on A Street and donated to the Catholic Church. It was built as part of a basement, and is still there, but has not been used for several years. Many an old timer, Protestant or Catholic alike, can remember enjoyable card parties and pot luck dinners held in this building.

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The next school building was a two room building near the site of the present grade school with Alda Board and Norma Hilton as first teachers. A larger school was built later. This two-room schoolhouse was sold to a Mrs. Brown who had it moved down to Federal Avenue. It was known as Brown's Boarding House and later bought by Ernest Fahr and moved to Main Street for a residence. The children form all parts of Grand Coulee went to the new school house in the Center for a few years when a small school was put up on the corner of a and Second Streets to be used by the first and second grades in North Grand Coulee with Mrs. Florence Miller as teacher. Mrs Miller is still on the teaching staff in Grand Coulee. This small school was continued for a few years until school bus service was started and it was sold to Frank Sanford, Sr. The building was moved to his farm and made into a residence.

The first public bus service into Grand Coulee started in the spring of 1934 with the Washington Motor Company. Also a private firm started one from Omak to Grand Coulee. A railroad spur from Coulee City was put into service in 1934 to haul materials to the dam. It was discontinued after early construction.

In 1934 a group of business men in North Grand Coulee started a fire department. They bought an old Dodge car and some hose and converted it into a fire truck. A fire station was built on Division Street and later built a new one on B Street. In 1934 another group of men formed an additional fire department and a fire barn was built on Spokane Way. The two fire departments continued to serve the City until 1956 when they were consolidated.

There were, as always is the case in hastily put up towns, three very large fires. In 1935 a whole block on Main Street burned stopping at the Roosevelt Theater. The firemen and helpers had quite a time saving the theater because of lack of water. In the summer of 1937 a tragic fire took an entire block on B Street including the plumbing store of Mr. Massart. Mrs. Massart who was sleeping in an upstairs room at the time of the fire burned to death. In 1938 another block on B Street burned and several years later the block on B Street including the Columbia Hotel burned. Insurance was difficult to obtain and had an extremely high rate as all buildings were of Wood construction and situated close together and insurance companies are reluctant to insure in towns that are not permanent.

The Ridge Riders Club was formed and were the starters of the Western Festival which has become an annual affair. The Ridge Riders are known for their fine riding ability and exhibitions.

B Street is now a ghost town of empty buildings but there are some lovely homes above the canal, in North Grand Coulee, the Center and the Heights and other nice buildings such as the high school and large

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gymnasium, grade school, and utility building which serves as the city hall and jail. Also a lovely Safeway Store and several beautiful motels. The streets are surfaced and sidewalks are on Main Street. A good pumping plant and reservoirs are now established as well as a library. Several years ago a Civic Club was formed by a group of women who worked hard to get the beautiful City Park we now have on Grand Coulee Avenue on the Heights and the playground park in North Grand Coulee.

Grand Coulee has also had two or three recessions when Consolidated Builders Incorporated finished their contract, and during the war, but has always come back and moved forward.

Doris Angell

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