This compilation of historical notes was written for use during a Volksmarch through the historic sections of the town of Okanogan. The walk was done in conjunction with the Okanogan Rendezvous celebration of June 3-4, 1989, and also was a part of the Washington state centennial celebration. It was by no means a complete history of the story of Okanogan, but was designed to add to the enjoyment of those who walk and those who enjoy history. (Editor's note, 2007: Some updates have been made where appropriate.)
No. 1
The gazebo is seen in a 1910 Matsura photo of what is now Second Avenue. It was moved three times. Once it sat near city hall. The watering trough by the gazebo used to sit by Kahlow's livery in town. (2007 - Both now are in Legion Park near the historical museum.)
Daisy May Restaurant, built by Clem Schaller, sat where the PUD is now.
No. 2
Most houses along the first few blocks were build after World War II. Brick house on corner of Third and Irene was built in 1930 by Guy Underwood.
I - North Alma
This area of Okanogan was known as North Alma before 1907. Much of the area from the former Grainger school (2007 - now the county's Grainger Administration Building) to several blocks north was owned by Virginia Grainger. She donated the property where the school was built. Many homes were built in this part of town between 1915 and 1920. At least 10n homes within five blocks of Grainger school on Fifth Avenue were built between 1906 and 1911, while only three on Fourth were built that early. At least 17 homes remain that were built between 1915 and 1920, the first five years after Okanogan became the county seat, on Fourth alone.
No. 3
809 N. Third, W.L. Tubbs got this house from Carlsons in exchange for an orchard south of town.
751 N. Third, built in 1918.
693 N. Third, former county commissioner Jack Abrams' mother had a dance studio here.
667 N. Third, built 1921
633 N. Third, early day sheriff Art Michel lived here in the '20s or '30s; Dr. Stevens and Lane and June Carlton also lived here. Built in 1917.
537 N. Third, Bev Wilson lived in this house.
335 N. Third, house built in 1910.
Almost every house on North Third was built between 1910 and 1925.
No. 4
311 N. Fourth, was the Harold and Georgia Wenner house. He was a former mayor of Okanogan. Built in 1915.
338 N. Fourth, 1917; Rasmussen Apartments on Maple Street, 1908.
408 N. Fourth, 1910; 436 N. Fourth, 1910; 437 Norman, 1920.
408 Maple (northwest corner of Maple and Fourth), built 1915. This was the Harry Kerr home; he was an early banker, city leader, and first mayor of Okanogan.
509 N. Fourth, former Gibford home, built in 1910.
529 N. Fourth, built 1917. Former home of J.R. Everett, an early day banker. This is the house with the large columns on the front porch.
536 N. Fourth, this is the oldest house known to be standing in this part of town, built in 1906. It was the home of Dr. Lorenzo Dewey and family. The original north portion contained two sitting rooms and two bedrooms; the kitchen and dining area were in the basement. The south wing was added later.
No. 5
539 N. Fourth, built in 1926. The Waterstrats have lived in this house for more than 60 years.
606 N. Fourth, McHughs lived here.
611 N. Fourth, 1914, Hermanson lived here; 629 N. Fourth, 1912.
646 N. Fourth, 1919, built by Sterling Monroe, an early city father and pharmacist.
666 N. Fourth, 1919 (2007 - 664 N. Fourth); 678 N. Fourth, 1920; 690 N. Fourth, 1918.
No. 6
675 N. Fourth, built in 1920 by Gene Collyer, known as the Woody home. O.H. Woody lived here until 1931, then it was the home of C. Rea and Elsie Moore, then Eleanor and Charlie Blackwell, among others. Blackwells owned it, but did not live in the house. Woodys lived in the house again in the early '40s.
695 N. Fourth, built 1916-17, this was originally the Pendergast house. The rocks in front of the house were brought from around the world.
No. 7
711 N. Fourth, built 1936, former home of Otto Wagner, the owner of Wagner Lumber Mill.
728 N. Fourth, 1919; 748 N. Fourth, 1916; 768 N. Fourth, 1920.
794 N. Fourth, Walter Schrock lived here, then Denton Copple; built 1930.
779 N. Fourth, built in 1920 by a divorcee, Alisha Griffin, who built this and two nearby homes by herself. Ridpaths lived here in the 1920s.
No. 8
The two houses at 601 N. Fifth and 621 N. Fifth were built in 1935 by Herb and Nell Hermanson's father. He also built the old gym at the high school and the Cariboo Inn.
538 King St., built 1923; was the home of Claire Ward.
539 N. Fifth, built 1920, home of Caubey, an early day jeweler.
505 N. Fifth, brick house built 1932, the home of early day attorney Charles Johnson.
No. 9
435 N. Fifth, 1909; 420 N. Fifth, 1909; 409 N. Fifth, 1909.
451 Linden, built 1906; 409 N. Fifth, home of teacher Mrs. Barnhart; 408 Maple, Harry Kerr, built 1915.
331 N. Fifth, 1911; 316 N. Fifth, 1922; 527 Norman, 1920; 551 Norman, 1910.
307 N. Fifth, George Johnson, an orchordist lived here; he had three daughters, one died of a snake bite.
243 N. Fifth, 1910; former home of Tilly Blackman.
218 N. Fifth, on this site was an ice skating rink in the 1920s & 30s. The lot was flooded to make the rink. Tennis was played here in summer.
215 N. Fifth, 1918; 207 N. Fifth, 1920, former Presbyterian manse.
204 N. Fifth, 1915; this originally stood on present football field, Schaller built this house and one of the main structures downtown.
No. 10
West Oak Street
532 W. Oak, built by P.T. Harris, the first forest service supervisor in area.
548 W. Oak, was the Purtleman house, built 1910.
No. 11
Virginia Grainger School, the original was built in 1907, the present school was built in 1937. (2007 - The building now is owned by Okanogan County and serves as administrative offices.)
Presbyterian Church, the original was finished June 14, 1907.
II - Pogue
The main downtown district was originally known as Pogue. The first white settlers came to this spot in about 1886. By the turn of the century there was a rivalry between Alma to the south and Pogue in the center to become the main section of the business district. Each had early hotels and general stores. In 1904 the Pogue section of town was platted. In 1906 there were a dozen shops in the Pogue area, and within a year this part of town won the battle for the main business area. The name "Okanogan" was chosen as the name for the consolidation of the three towns - Pogue, Alma and North Alma - in November 1906. The post office name was changed to Okanogan in July 1907, and the town was incorporated in October 1907. That year also saw several other new buildings and plans to build a steel bridge across the river.
In 1908 an election was held to move the county seat from Conconully to Riverside. Okanogan led the opposition to this, which made it possible for Okanogan to win a similar election in 1914.
No. 12
The courthouse was built in 1915. Across the street from the courthouse, where city hall is, was a fire hall in 1910. (A replica of that fire hall sits in Legion Park and is part of the Okanogan County Historical Society's Okanogan museum complex.)
No. 13
The Schaller Building was built in 1909, House of Draperies was originally the Paramount Theater run by Hub Carlton. He would walk the streets and announce the next showing. (2007 - The Schaller Building was razed in 2006 to make way for a new North Cascades National Bank branch. That building is under construction as of May 2007. The House of Draperies went out of business a few years ago.)
No. 14 - (2007 - There was no No. 14 listed in information provided to The Chronicle.)
No. 15
United Methodist Church (Stone Church), built 1920.
Cariboo Inn, built 1925
Apple Valley Inn, built in 1922 as a Masonic Temple (upstairs), was the Paramount Theater from 1923 on the main floor.
No. 16
437 Queen, 1914
440 Rose, 1915
426 Rose, 1910
414 Rose, 1910
New high school built in 1981. Original built about 1931.
Baptist Church, built 1909?
Church at Fourth and Tyee (Faith Missionary Baptist), built 1947.
No. 17
Valley Care Center, built 1960
Crowder Refrigeration (former site). Mr. Crowder was a leader in the development of Controlled Atmosphere storage for apples, making it possible to keep apples fresh for up to a year.
III - Alma
Alma is the oldest part of Okanogan. When it was first settled Washington was still a territory and there were fewer than 1,500 people in Okanogan County. By 1910 Okanogan alone had over 500 residents. Alma was named after Alma Kahlow, daughter of a homesteader from Russia, W.R. Kahlow. The Kahlows homesteaded the part of Okanogan known as Alma. Alma Kahlow was married first to another early settler F.J. "Pard" Cummings, who built a store in the Pogue part of town. She later married Capt. C.E. Hansen, who was another important settler in Okanogan, driving riverboats to the area in 1888 and serving as mayor 30 years later.
No. 18
225 Conconully, built 1921 by Cap. Hansen; 241 also built by Hansen.
329 Conconully, built 1909, former home of Capt. and Mrs. Hansen.
337 Conconully, Dr. Ellsperman's home.
357 Conconully, former home of VanDuyn family, the Alma Hotel sat on this site. It was built 1903 by W.R. Kahlow.
381 Conconully, built 1928.
No. 19
Central Alma, this was the main part of what was called "Old Town."
721 S. Fifth, was the O'Keefe home built 1899-1902. Her name was Eliza O'Keefe. Across the street was Pard Cummings' General Store.
728 S. Fifth - was the Bassett house. He was a banker and she was a teacher.
547 Conconully, 1920. This was home of the Blackwells. Ernest Allender built it.
553 Conconully, built 1921.
No. 20
741 S. Seventh, 1913.
740 Spokane St., attorney Robert Murray lived here.
739 S. Seventh, this was the Allender apartments. High school students from out of town stayed here.
925 S. Fifth, built 1905.
904 S. Fifth, 1923. Former home of Lyle Brinkerhoff, an early oil and gas distributor. She taught school.
845 S. Fifth, 1914. Buchanan family lived her.
920 S. Fifth, 1926. Bruchler family home.
819 S. Fifth, 1914.
449 Spokane St., the Elliots had a hotel and "Bill's Place."
422 Spokane, Goforth home.
405 Spokane, Elliot family home.
834 S. Fourth, 1917.
824 S. Fourth, 1928, Druby family.
806 S. Third, 1927. Was formerly a maternity house where the women went to deliver babies. Elsie McDonald ran this house.
842 S. Third, built 1915.
No. 21
547 Seattle St., 1922. Former home of the Gard family. Bob and Helen Rawson had also lived here.
730 Seattle, built 1921.
No. 22
Jaycee Park was made on land donated by Earnest Allender.
914 Rogers, built in 1914 by William Baines, who had come here from England and became a successful businessman.
938 Rogers, built 1917 by P.D. and Myrtle Smith. He was a lawyer.
952 Rogers, built in 1917 for Harold and Hazel Oaks by Chris Pein.
The next house was the Egbert House, built in 1918.
Checkpoint for the 1989 historic walk is in Jaycee Park.
No. 23
1033 S. Seventh, This was a schoolhouse then a gospel hall and now a home. It was built in 1901.
934 S. Seventh, was the Joe Tugaw home. It has a walk-in cooler. The house was built in 1925.
739 S. Seventh, built in 1913.
No. 24
O'Keefe School was built in 1956. (2007 - The school now serves as the kindergarten wing of Virginia Grainger Elementary School, built in the early 1990s.)
Across the street are the Caribou Trail Apartments, built in the early 1970s.
Nickell Street, the houses on this street were all built in the early 1970s.
The Forest Service building and Okanogan County Public Services Building (formerly Department of Social and Health Services) were both built in the 1970s.
IV - First and Second Avenues
No. 25
South First Avenue
1214 S. First, log house belonged to Ben Brown, former town mayor and commissioner.
1193 S. First, built by Roy Fox. Land bought from Captain Hansen.
1161 S. First, Myerhoff family lived here.
982 S. First, Moss home. The Mosses were Edna Hartney's parents, and lived here in the teens and twenties.
925 S. First, B.E. Gregory, an early day city leader lived here. Built in 1914.
911 S. First, built 1910. Ralph Parks lived here.
908 S. First, 1924.
No. 26
Here sits a cistern that was part of the orchard irrigation system originally started by city leaders in 1906.
895 S. First, built 1925. Former Bissionette House.
873 S. First, 1910.
848 S. First, built 1918. Lynn family home.
817 S. First, 1907. Former Booth home.
793 S. First, 1915. Gordon Home.
779 S. First, 1905.
759 S. First, 1932.
717 S. First, 1914
661 S. First, McDonald home, 1925.
658 S. First, 1924.
648 S. First, 1924.
638 S. First, 1922.
No. 27 Alma Park
Just north of the park is the site where the old steel bridge was built in 1909. Also a large auditorium stood near the creek.
Gov. Marion E. Hay spoke here in 1911. The steel bridge was high enough to allow riverboats to pass under it.
The covered observation port, built 1989, sits on the west abutment of the steel bridge.
429 River Ave., built 1904. Hamiltons owned this house for many decades.
321 River Ave., 1919.
233 First Ave., site of the Kahlow Livery, built around the turn of the 20th century. 211 First, Kahlow Plumbing. Okanogan Lumber's annex was originally the Okanogan Armory. (2007 - Okanogan Lumber went out of business earlier this year.)
No. 28
Bev Wilson's annex was the site of the Okanogan Hotel, existing in 1906. Also on the corner of First Avenue and Pine Street where Okanogan Dry Cleaners sits, was Davidson-Richards general store, and across the street toward the river sat Frank Matsura's photography shop. (2007 - Bev Wilson's site now is occupied by The Rusty Shovel.)
No. 29
On the site where the Very Good Products (formerly the Key Restaurant) sits was the Bureau Hotel. This three-story building was considered the showcase of the region when completed in 1915. It was begun in 1906, the first structure started in the new town of Okanogan. The tower was 60 feet tall, giving steamboat Capt. Charles Bureau's hotel and restaurant the appearance of a steamboat.
No. 30
Across the Oak Street bridge, This part of the Colville Indian Reservation was opened to white settlement in 1916, which led to much speculation but little actual benefit to the local economy. With the coming of the railroad in 1913 was a large train depot. Also in this area the Okanogan Growers Union built an apple warehouse in 1916, the Centennial flour mill also was built to the south.
No. 31
Back in Okanogan, 58 Oak St. (1927); 70 Oak St., built in 1925, this was the Yarwood home. He was a mortician. Here was originally the home of Virginia Grainger.
110 Oak St., site of a hospital, then Yarwood Funeral Home, then Barnes Funeral Home.
The post office was built in 1940, having moved from the vicinity of Rawson's stores.
No. 32
North Second Avenue: 223 N. Second, 1918; the house north of Nelson's Flowers, 1917; 229 N. Second, 1910.
307 N. Second, 1925, B.E. Gregory and family lived here. He had one of the first Ford dealerships in the county, where the fire hall sits now. 315 N. Second, 1915, formerly Rosenoff Studio.
329 N. Second, 1924; 334 N. Second, this house was built by the father of Dora Meeker, A.L. Meeker.
404 N. Second, 1922; 407 N. Second, 1920; 416 N. Second, 1923; 439 N. Second, 1926.
611 N. Second, 1910; 616 N. Second, 1932; 656 N. Second, 1920.
774 N. Second, 1932; 847 N. Second, 1921, this house was built by R.L. Cole. He also built the U and I Motel.
The houses on the hill to the west of Legion Park were built, primarily, in the late 1950s.
