EARLY HISTORY OF ALBION,WASHINGTON AS
REMEMBERED BY FREDERICK P. PETERSON AND WRITTEN IN 1970
The Peter Peterson and Peter Swinson families arrived in Colfax, Washington, in a covered wagon,
on June 15, 1877. The Nez Perce Indians were on the war path. So my parents and
grandparents decided to go on farther and see what Guy, Washington looked like.
When they came to Guy all they found was a Post Office located in the dwelling
of Jasper and Ella Whetsel. The Whetsels had two sons, Rennie and Bert. They
had a small orchard planted. I understand that some of the fruit trees are
still there. I do not know when the Post Office was established as it was
already there and Mrs. Whetsel was the Postmistress. The Post Office was called
"GUY". The Whetsel dwelling was located where the Pacific Coast Elevator now stands. Mrs. Whetsel continued to be the Postmistress until
the O.W.R.&N. Railroad was built and came through Guy.
After meeting the Whetsels my folks forded the creek, called Brush Hollow
Creek, and camped on the east bank. They camped there about four months while
my father and grandfather staked out land to homestead. The area where they
camped later became the Guy Picnic Grounds. A few years after we arrived in Guy
Mr. Whetsel decided to have a town built. He had the flat surveyed into town
lots and in a short time the town of Guy was started.
The first building was built by J. W. Conway for a general merchandise
store. The next was a one room school building, which was built across the
street from the Conway Store. Orve Loving built a dwelling west of the county
road towards Pullman, about a block south of Comway’s Store. Len Downs (a rancher) and Orve
Loving built a butcher shop west of the Pullman road and south of the street that
goes by Conway's Store. Len Downs worked and kept the butcher shop, Orve Loving did the
buying and killing the cattle for the meat. Orve Loving used his hack to
deliver meat to the farmers during harvest time. They also put up their own
ice.
I overlooked Grandpa Kenoyer, or Dr. Kenoyer. He believed he was the first
one to reside in Guy. He was a minister of the United Brethren Church for a good many
years. He drove all over the country in his buggy doctoring the sick. He lived
in the eastern part of town.
Our second doctor was Dr. J. F. Hall. It was Dr. Hall that got the name of
Guy changed to Albion. He did not like to be called a "Guyite". The next doctor was
Dr. C. Brandon. He also had a drug store just east of the present Post Office.
This building later burned down. The fourth drug store was in the old Conway
Store and was run by Nat Ripley. It also burned down sometime later.
When Downs and Loving quit the butcher business a blacksmith shop was built in its
place. It was run by Ed Simonds. He stayed about a year. He was just learning
the trade. When Dan Cloud came he built a dwelling across the street south of
Dr. Kenoyer.
Dan Cloud was the first drayman, and the first to
carry the mail from the O.W.R.&N. Depot to the Post Office. After Don Cloud
then came Larry Dennis who drayed and carried the mail to the Post Office. I
believe Hanley Warner was the last drayman and mail carrier until the train no
longer brought the mail to Albion.
I do not know who built the building across the street from the Downs & Loving Butcher Shop and to the north. It was intended for a hotel but was
never occupied as such. When the railroad came the Whetsels moved into the
hotel. It was called the "Whetsel House",
It was not long after the railroad came that the Pacific Coast Elevator was
built where the Whetsel dwelling stood. Doug Henry was the first elevator agent
for a year. Sam Armstrong was the next agent for a few years; then C. E.
Tenewick, for a year; then De Crawford until it was torn down.
A short time after Sam Armstrong's brother, Jim, came they built a large
building about a half block east of the Conway Store. It was used as a hardware
and implement store. Jim was manager of the store. George Frederick built a
small house close to the hardware store, and used it as a barber shop. So
George was the first barber in Guy.
Jim Armstrong stayed a few years then sold to Nelson C. Bissel & Pitwood (I forget Pitwood's first name). They handled some merchandise as
well as hardware. When the railroad came through Guy the Post Office was moved
to this building and Nelson C. Bissel became the Postmaster. It was later moved
to Farnsworth's Merchandise Store.
After the railroad came through Guy some high officials came looking for a
location for the Agricultural College. Mr. Whetsel did not want them to locate in Guy. (What a mistake). So the
officials went to Pullman who donated them a half section of land if they would locate in their
town.
When Dan Downs came he built several dwellings and
helped build several others. He was quite a sport. Mat Hough came and put a
saloon in the old school house, with Dan Downs as bar tender. Hough stayed a
couple of years, then opened a saloon in Pullman. Downs stayed in Albion until
prohibition carne.
John Kenoyer built a dwelling east of the Conway dwelling. He
put in a small drug store. This was quite handy for us. J. W. Rice built a
blacksmith shop. Sam Ellis built a small dwelling west of the blacksmith shop.
Ike Shears put in a harness shop. It burned down after a couple of years. His
wife was burning a lot papers when it caught fire and burned
the shop down. Peter
Hendrickson sold his farm and moved into a dwelling across the road east of the
Loving place. He did some harness repairing.
I do not know who built a hotel across the road and east of the blacksmith
shop. The hotel was run by Lew Morrison's father and mother for several years,
then they moved to Clarkston, Washington. Neither do I
know who built the row of apartments across the street east of the blacksmith
shop, next to the hotel. I think it was in the late l890s. The first apartment
was occupied by Tom Farnsworth's Merchandise Store; the second was occupied by
the Farnsworth family. The third apartment was the Hipe Manning family home. L.
E. Baldwin and his wife, and their Drug Store were in the fourth and fifth
apartments. The sixth apartment was a butcher shop. John Stover was the first butcher
since the Downs & Loving Butcher
Shop quit business. There were several other butchers later after John Stover
left. Herman Matson ran the butcher shop for one or two seasons. The last
building in this row of apartments was the hotel which was run by George
Howell,Jr. for awhile after the Morrisons left and moved to Clarkston. The
hotel changed proprietors several times during the following years. Tom
Dendurant was the last proprietor. It was the last part of February 1910 that
the hotel caught fire and burned down, and also all the apartments were burned
out.
The Edwards College was built, I
think, in 1898 or 1899. It was built by the United Brethren Church. It had every
indication of a fine future. But some of the officials
on the Board and in the Church could not agree on how it should operate.
The College had four very successful and dedicated instructors for four years.
After the College closed Professor Baldwin went to the State College of Oregon
at Eugene, Oregon; N. E.
Watkins went to Tillamook, Oregon and taught in
High School; Kate Metcalf married John Hoskin who was a barber in Albion; I do not
know where Mr. Merry went. They were all Number One Instructors. It was a
starter of a fine school until the United Brethren could not agree among
themselves.
After several years the Albion School Directors
rented the Edwards College Building and used it
for High School Class Rooms and an Auditorium that was used for Basketball and
other entertainments. The Albion High School was located
in this building until the new High School Building was built, which I think
was in 1927. Mrs. Eva Irwin Kenoyer deeded a strip of lots in front of the high
school to the City of Albion for a park,
which is kept up real nice.
I think the red brick school was built in the l890s.
It was built from bricks made from clay which was just across the road and on
the other side of the creek.
In 1906 a party from Palouse, Washington built a store
building north and across the creek from the blacksmith shop. C. E. Hoge put in
a general merchandise store which he operated for about eight years. It did not
prove to be a profitable business so the adjusters sent a man by the name of
Fish to close him out and dispose of the stock of merchandise. C. E. Hoge went
to Spokane and was
employed by the Continental Creamery until he was physically unable to work. M.
S. Cannon was the next to put in a General Merchandise Store in this same
building. He was there several years before he disposed of the stock and bought
a farm west of Shawnee. In a short
time Clem Roberts put in a
hardware store in
this same building. He
was there several year5, until he passed away,
then his wife, Josie and son Jim disposed of the stock. The Grange met in
the hall of
the hotel that was run by Tom Dendurant, which burned down. Later the
Grange moved into the Masonic Building and stayed
there until it was deemed unsafe. Since the building where Clem Roberts had a
store was empty, the Grange moved into it. A few years later they purchased
the building and it is now known as the Grange Hall.
I forgot about the Bank which was across the street from the blacksmith
shop.
Aubry McClaskey was the Cashier, and Fred Rodgers Assistant Cashier. After
Rodgers quit Wat Jones took his place. After McClaskey left and moved away from
Albion Wat Jones was Bank Manager. After Wat Jones, John Miller was Bank
Manager. In a year or so a man by the name of Hendly bought a controlling
interest in the Bank and became Cashier. His daughter, Jean Hendly, became
Assistant Cashier. In a year or so Hendly consolidated with a bank in Pullman and left Albion. This was
before the big fire next to the Bank.
After the fire the Post Office moved into the empty Bank Building. Madge Lakin was the
Postmistress until she got a better position as Postmistress at the Pullman
Post Office. Mrs. Tony Emerson was then appointed Postmistress to replace
Madge.
Hipe Manning lived in a house east and across the road from the brick
schoolhouse. When Hipe's mother-in-law, Mrs. Loving and daughter, came he built
a house on a lot west of his. Mrs. Loving lived there until she passed away.
Then the William Parvin family, Henry, Minnie, and Rosie, lived in this house.
All of this family have passed away. The next to move into this house was Frank
Dodson and his wife. Mrs. Dodson taught school here in Albion and at the Banner School for several years. I
think Dallas Hughes and his family moved into this house after the Dodsons
left. Later, after Dallas Hughes and his family moved to a farm west of Albion, the house burned down. Sometime later Ed Jones took over the property,
and several years later, built a nice house on the property. He lived in this
house until he passed away in 1959.