A 1924 ad for dynamite, the tiny community of Watts (where Stringtown Road and Gales Creek Road meet) considers merging their two community halls, and a Banks man says the water system is coming along fine in this week’s Dispatches from History.

In 1924, Gales Creek started off strong with yet another moonshine still being raided near Soda Springs Road. This and more in the news clips from one century ago. (No subscription required for this one-Happy New Year!)

In 1923, oats led the way in rural Washington County, while filberts were a growing market. This and more in the news of a century ago.

Mole trappers will pool their mole skins countywide to sell as a lot, the Gales Creek Cemetery puts out a bid for water infrastructure, and more from a century ago in western Washington County.

A century ago in western Washington County: Roy resident Albert Vandehey is killed by a train, the KK is pelted with eggs in Forest Grove, and a farmer would really like someone to pick up the stray horses that wandered onto their Dilley farm.

In November of 1923, the ladies clubs of Gales Creek and Hillside went head-to-head in a spelling contest at a hall in Gales Creek, with Hillside emerging the victor.

In this column, we take a look back one hundred years ago in western Washington County. This week, the clips come from the Washington County News-Times published November 1 and 8, 1923. Want more local history? Visit the Banks Historical Society online at www.bankshistory.org for Banks-area history, and Friends of Historic Forest[Read More…]

A young man breaks a collarbone after leaving Balm Grove and the prune harvest is over in these snapshots of life in Gales Creek in 1923.

How much did it cost to rent a whole 20 acre farm with a five room house, a barn, and an acre of strawberries on Stringtown Road in 1923? $175 a month.

Did you know Gales Creek (the community, not the creek) was home to a fish hatchery in 1923? A hatchery on Clear Creek supplied fish to area streams.