125 years ago
May 13, 1892
Articles incorporating the Seattle, Sidney &Grays Harbor Railroad Company were filed in the office of the county auditor yesterday.
It is said to be the purpose of the company to construct a railroad from Sidney toward Grays Harbor, either by way of Shelton or Union City. Such a road could be easily built on light grads and would open a fine belt of timber and rich agricultural lands. A reconnaissance of the route has already been made.
100 years ago
May 11, 1917
A lesson in patriotism may be learned by anyone who will take the trouble to journey to the Gleeson school, presided over by Miss Helen Gleeson, and witness a short drill by “Benny’s Army.” These six lads are “chuck full” of the spirit of America and while some of them are of German descent, there is no hyphen in their patriotism and love of our country. Drilled by Captain Benton Miller, son of Chris Miller of the Satsop, the boys go through the manual of arms like veteran soldiers and present a stirring spectacle with their display of martial lore.
The lads just recently obtained their uniforms and their drill now moves with much more ginger and enthusiasm. The spirit of these boys is the spirit of America today and of the vast majority of our people, be they of German birth or descent, or of pure Yankee stock. The United States is loyal and united and the boys at military play typify America’s answer to the Kaiser.
75 years ago
May 14, 1942
Montesanans must believe in deeds, not words.
For preliminary returns on the war bond defense drive, just concluded, compared with actual purchases here in the first four months of the year, indicate that residents of this community have been buying bonds and stamps at a much greater rate than they are pledging themselves to buy them.
Only two of seven city zones have reported complete returns to Bert Cole, campaign chairman.
They are:
Zone 1: $626.47 per month pledged.
Zone 2: $699.10 per month pledged.
If the other five zones run about the same, the monthly pledges in Montesano will total about $4,500 per month.
But actual sales here have been at the rate of $26,071 per month for the first four months of the year.
The comparison, of course, is far from accurate, because the three selling agencies here — the post office, the First National bank and the National Bank of Commerce — serve a much wider area that just Montesano itself. But the indications are, nevertheless, that actual sales will far exceed the pledges.
50 years ago
May 11, 1967
Two of Montesano’s most obvious problems—excessive dust and “hot rod” drivers who stir up this dust—were brought to the attention of City Council Tuesday night by John Kopp, who described his particular street as an example of both.
“Dust is getting to be quite a problem on this hill,” observed Kopp, a resident of 1206 Park Street East. “The street is just river rock and dust, and the cars racing around up there kick up the dust even more.”
Council admitted that some portions of some Monte streets are “pretty dusty” but Herb Cokeley, street superintendent, noted, “If we blacktop that street now, we’re just going to have to tear it up again to put in the sewer line for the new east side elementary school.”
To help solve Kopp’s immediate objection, Council agreed to see that the area atop Ball Park Hill is patrolled more often to minimize the speeding situation there. Also, municipal crews will place a dust-reducing coat of oil on that street and others.
25 years ago
May 7, 1992
About 140 people will legally become Montesanans May 15 when the city’s annexation of 80 parcels, most of them east of town, goes into effect. The final ordinance was adopted by the city last week.
Included in the annexation was the boat launch south of town, Lake Sylvia State Park, Beacon Elementary School and the Lake Hill area.
Building inspector Doug Taylor said 4,950 feet of roads were taken into the city, an increase of about 5 percent to the city’s 21 miles of roads. Streets included are bender Lane, Poplar, a short section of the Monte-Brady Loop south of the Old Highway, and a segment of the Old Highway west of its intersection with Beacon. The portion of Blakely Road in the Martin Addition was included. All other roads in the annexed area are private. The only section of Beacon Avenue which was included is the portion between Camp Creek Road and the old city limits. This area was included since both north and south of it were part of the annexation.
A new map of the town will be issued as part of the new zoning ordinance which is expected to be adopted in about a month. Taylor said the city is aware of several plans to apply for building permits in the new areas, all of them for single homes.
10 years ago
May 10, 2007
The Wynooche River channel migrated nearly 150 feet closer to the City of Montesano’s wastewater treatment plant during the winter storm and flood season and now the 2.5 million gallon sludge lagoon is in danger of collapsing into the river. The city’s consulting engineers say there’s “an imminent threat of catastrophic failure.”
On Tuesday, the Montesano City Council unanimously declared the situation to be an emergency. The resolution hopefully sets in motion an expedited review process with state environmental agencies and authorizes the mayor to pursue possible grant and emergency loan opportunities.
“We’ll be exploring every avenue,” Mayor Dick Stone said.
The treatment plant is located south of the Highway 12 overpass at the confluence of the Wynooche and Chehalis Rivers.
The mayor said he and Public Works Director Mike Wincewicz met with state Department of Ecology officials last week and they were told the agency “will be issuing an order saying we have to do something about it this year,” the mayor said.
A meeting with state Fish &Wildlife officials is scheduled for next week.
“The reality is we don’t know how much it’s going to cost,” Wincewicz said. The guesstimates at this point peg a temporary fix of at least $1 million this year.
