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HARTLINE.
Late in 1888, when the Central Washington and Seattle, Lake Shore & Eastern railroads were running their surveys through western Lincoln and eastern Douglas counties, there sprung into existence, in Douglas county, a town known as Parnell. It was on the survey of the Seattle, Lake Shore & Eastern railroad, and was four and one-half miles southeast of the present town of Hartline. Here, in the spring of 1889, D. F. Reeves and E. J. Brower established a store under the firm name of Brower & Reeves. This was the only business house in Parnell, and Mr. Brower soon afterward severed his connection with the enterprise. J. W. Hartline was interested in the building of a town at this point, and had not the construction of the Seattle road been abandoned quite a thriving village, doubtless, would have made its appearance at Parnell. The following from the Wilbur Register of June 14, 1889, supplies an account of one incident in the brief, ephemeral history of the town of Parnell :
J. W. Hartline, of the promising town of Parnell. situated about ten or twelve miles west of Davisine, was in town Tuesday to get some posters announcing a celebration of the Fourth to take place there. If Mr. Hartline is a representative, with the amount of push and enterprise which he possesses, of the population of that infant city, and from previous knowledge and reports from that community we believe his neighbors are alike progressive, the place is sure to come to the front as one of the substantial trading points of this section. There are about ten or fifteen miles of first-class farming land between Parnell and the coulee, and about twenty-five west of Wilbur, giving ample room for a good station. They expect to have a very pleasant time the Fourth and have an interesting program arranged.Although the town of Parnell never consisted of more than one store, preparations were made for the building of a city, and with the characteristic energy of the western townsite boomer, those interested in the building of the town sent out enthusiastic reports of its progress. The following Parnell notes are taken from the issue of the Big Bend Empire of December 27, 1888:
A meeting of the citizens was held at Parnell Saturday, December 7th, to take action on matters relative to the welfare of the town, G. K. Reed in the chair and John Hartline, secretary. All present expressed themselves ready to rush matters, and the future prospects are bright. Such was the enthusiasm raised at the meeting that the cry was not, 'my kingdom for a horse!" but 'a kingdom for a shower of lumber with a sprinkling of shingles!' so that the building could go on to completion, as the mills cannot supply the demand."It was not until September that a postoffice was established at the new town with E. J. Brower as postmaster. Shortly afterward the
Isaac Deeter, of Terre Haute, Indiana, is now home closing his affairs to engage in the merchandise business here. Messrs. Hartline & Lingle will soon complete their livery and feed stable. A. L. Ross, of Nebraska, bought three residence lots and a business lot for a home and drug store.
W. R. Urnley will erect a suitable building for hotel purposes, while D. D. Utt will erect two more substantial business houses, and Parnell will be on the road to prosperity, and with the coming of spring will he the second city in the Big Bend, and will make an effort to reach her sister city in the west.
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store, which constituted the town, was removed to the present site of Harline and Parnell ceased to exist. The reason for the abandonment of Parnell and the upbuilding of the town of Harthne was the failure in construction of the Seattle, Lake Shore & Eastern railway. A railroad was the great desideratum and the boomers gave up their project at Parnell and transported their lares and penates to where a railroad was sure to come.
In the spring of 1889 John W. Hartline took up the quarter section of land upon which Hartline is now situated, having been located on the same by James Odgers. This homestead Mr. Hartline commuted. Here he erected a small shack just east of where the Hartline public school building now stands. This cabin was the first edifice on the Hartline townsite. Mr. Reeves, who had conducted the store at Parnell, in 1890 erected a store building on Mr. Hartline's land and moved his stock of goods up from his former place of business. This action was taken by Mr. Reeves because it was considered certain that the Central Washington railway would extend west earlier than the Seattle, Lake Shore & Eastern, and the new site was on the surveyed line of the former road. A postoffice was secured at the time of the removal to the new place and named Hartline in honor of the homesteader of the land on which the postoffice was established. Mr. Reeves was named as postmaster. Hartline that same year enjoyed an era of prosperity. P. J. Young erected a dwelling house and a section house was built by the railway company. Grif Humphrey came down from Broad Ax Springs, in Lincoln county, and established a blacksmith shop. P. J. Young put in a small stock of lumber and in the fall of the year, there being several families in the new town and in the vicinity, a school was established. This pioneer educational institution of Hartline was held in the J. W. Hartline shack, and consisted of eight scholars who were instructed by Miss Alice Cope.
The town was platted June 5, 1890, by John W. Hartline. Additions to the town have been platted since as follows : Hammerly's Addition, April 7, 1902, by John Hammerly. Hill's First Addition, October 8, 1902, by James H. Hill.
The coming of the railroad did not bring with it an abnormal prosperity as was the case with so many other places along the line. George R. Roberts erected a platform along the track before the railroad was in operation and bought wheat in the new town, thus distinguishing himself as the pioneer grain dealer. He did not, however, locate here permanently at this time, and soon disposed of his business. Late in the year 1891 was established the second store, by D. C. Johnson, which continued in operation two years.
In 1891 the town of Hartline contained the following people: D. F. Reeves and wife; P. J. Young, wife and three children; Grif Humphrey, wife and two children. Within a radius of a mile or two of the town lived Carey Carr, William Bundschue, James Hill, H. H. Ames, Charles Ames, D. F. Ames and William Hart. In 1893 John and George McDonald established themselves in the grain business in Hartline and Coulee City, building a warehouse in each place. John looked after the firm's interests at Hartline; his brother attended to the Coulee City business. In 1894 Mr. Reeves died and the store building and goods were purchased by McDonald Brothers, who continued the business for eight years. The next store to be opened in Hartline was erected by Patrick Kane in 1898.
Until 1902 Hartline did not accomplish much in the way of improvement. It was a trading point for the few settlers in the vicinity; only this and nothing more. Two warehouses conducted by John McDonald and George R. Roberts took care of the wheat raised in the vicinity, while the stores of Mr. McDonald and Patrick Kane comprised the business houses of the place. In the year above
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mentioned the town received an impetus that advanced it to one of the more prosperous villages of eastern Douglas county. The most important enterprise of this year was the erection of a large brick store building by M. E. & E. T. Hay, of Wilbur, an edifice that would be a credit to a city of several thousand inhabitants. Other enterprises of this year were the establishment of the Hartline Standard by Spining & Bassett, of Wilbur; the building of a hotel by R. S. Faubion, erection of a public hall and lodge room and several other business houses, the Hays' lumber yard, Dr. Harris' drug store, etc. These improvements were the result of rapid development and settlement of the surrounding territory. The improvements of 1902 were supplemented the following year by others, notably the establishment of the Hartline State Bank.
The population in June, 1903, as given by the county assessor, was 140, but the increase since then has been considerable and Hartline is today a town of about 300 population. It is one of the principal grain shipping points in the Big Bend, supporting five warehouses. In point of population it is the third town in Douglas county and contains many wide awake and enterprising citizens, public-spirited and entlusiastic in behalf of their locality. No town on the Central Washington railway is more beautifully located, and no other is blessed with a more plentiful supply of pure water. Three miles to the north rises quite a majestic ridge, comprising exceedingly fertile soil. To the east is another slight raise, more properly a wave or roll of earth, which trends southeast, passing eight miles south of town. All the territory lying between the two is comparatively level, and the view in a southwest, or westerly direction is, practically, unobstructed for fifteen or twenty miles. Hartline enjoys a perspective more extensive, perhaps, than any other town in eastern Washington. The townsite proper is situated on nearly a dead level. That portion of territory north of Hartline known as the "ridge country," was first settled in the 8o's'with the first rush of immigration into the Big Bend. The earlier settlers who came were informed by the few pioneer stockmen that the lighter colored soil south of the ridge was worthless except for stock range. People from the Mississippi Valley states were easily persuaded to avoid the light colored land. The darker soil of the ridge was what they were more accustomed to, and so long as there was land to be had in the darker soils no one would settle farther south. Gradually the ridge land was taken and a few took homesteads on the flat. The enforced hasty and crude methods of farming during the earlier history of settlement did not yield satisfactory results in that locality. In pioneer farming the ridge had a great deal the best of it, and the knowledge that the lighter soils could be made just as profitable as the other came as a gradual revelation. The difference between the two soils is this: the heavier, darker soil of the ridge packed or settled down more rapidly and the wild nature disappeared more rapidly than it did from the lighter, dryer soils. But the slightly better average moisture is offset by the advantage of much earlier seeding in the spring for the lighter lands, which enables them to avoid an occasional risk which the ridge cannot escape. But both the ridge and flat produce immense crops of wheat and their productiveness has been the principal, indeed, the material cause of Hartline's acknowledged prosperity.
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