ihcville.html

An Illustrated History of Klickitat, Yakima, & Kittitas Counties
Interstate Publishing Co., Chicago, IL., published 1904

Part IV
History Of Klickitat County

Centerville

Situated in the richest section of the rich Klickitat valley and encompassed by picturesque scenes of grandeur is the little town of Centerville. It is located on a slight elevation alongside of what is known as the Swale, a tract of rich bottom land about five by ten miles in area, and for miles in every direction it is surrounded by the rolling farm lands of the Klickitat valley. Centerville is on the line of the Columbia River & Northern railroad, about thirty-two miles from the terminus at Lyle and seven miles from Goldendale. A stranger in this town is first attracted by the beauty of its surroundings. The low-lying valley with its fields of golden grain, the rugged Columbia hills to the southward, the timber-covered Simcoe range to the north, away to the west the Cascades with their giant snow-capped peaks, all unite to form a picture of marvelous beauty.
The site of the present town was taken as a pre-emption by Albert J. Brown in 1877. Two years later Charles Pomeroy built a blacksmith shop there, and in 1882 Mr. Brown secured the location of a postoffice at that point and named the place Centerville. During the fall of the next year J.B. Golden and W.T. Wallace each built a general merchandise store there, and Levi Clanton started a blacksmith shop. In 1884 Albert J. Brown sold out the town site to J.B. Golden. As early as 1878 a Methodist church was erected on the town site, and in 1884 the Catholics built a small chapel. A livery stable and a small shoe store were also added that year, then for more than half a decade there was little change in the town.
In 1890, however, Curtis, Buford & Company added another general merchandise store, and on August 3d of the same year, Frank Lee started an independent weekly newspaper, the Klickitat Leader.
About this time the town began to take on a thrifty appearance, as a short extract from the newly-founded Leader shows: "Centerville, in the central part of the county, is a prosperous, thriving little city, whose citizens are noted for their enterprise and push. They now have three churches, a large; schoolhouse, several stores, blacksmith shops and other places necessary to draw a large share of trade to the city. The sales of several merchants have run as high as seven hundred dollars a day."
A few years ago a disastrous fire broke out in J.R. Harvey's blacksmith shop and destroyed most of the business houses on the south side of the main street. Besides the shop, two hotels and two stores were consumed in the flames, and only the brave fight of the townsmen prevented the destruction of the entire town, as there was no water supply in the place. But the town soon recovered from the fire, and it has enjoyed a steady growth ever since.
The necessity of a water supply has been continually upon the minds of the people. To provide a water system in an unincorporated town is a rather difficult thing, as there is no provision by which taxes can be levied to secure the funds necessary to defray the expense. Few towns have been so fortunate in this respect as was the little city of Centerville. By a combination of circumstances, a forty-acre tract of government land was left unclaimed, although it lay on the very borders of the town. The tract naturally became valuable. Finally, the government sold it at auction to the highest bidder and turned the money over to the town, in all one thousand seven hundred and forty dollars. It was decided at a meeting of citizens that this money could not be expended for a better purpose than for providing a water supply, and work upon a system was in due time commenced. The plant is not completed at this writing, but a well has been dug, a tank built and the necessary pumping outfit provided. All that now remains to be done is the laying of water mains and the necessary plumbing.
Before the establishment of the town there was a school in the community, and as early as 1884 the census enumeration for the district showed eighty-two children, with a school attendance of sixty-four. There is now a large, two-room, graded school in the district, and two teachers are employed. The directors are T.N. Crofton, Kelly Loe and U.F. Abshier. The schoolhouse was erected about thirteen years ago.
A Methodist church was built in the community as early as 1878, and a Catholic church in 1884. Since that time the Christian denomination has been organized and has erected a church building. The only organization that has a resident pastor is the Methodist, of which Rev. Ira E. Webster is in charge. The pulpits of the other churches are filled by outside ministers.
Not quite two years ago a weekly newspaper was established in the town. As previously stated, a paper had been published in Centerville as early as 1890, but it suspended publication after a few years. When it became evident that the railroad through the valley was a certainty, Kelly Loe was induced to undertake the publication of a newspaper, the Journal. There is also a race-track association organized, and grounds have been laid out adjoining the town on the south side with a half-mile track and a baseball ground. There is a large public hall in the town, owned by an incorporated company, known as the A.O.U.W. Company. Previous to the suspension of the militia company in 1895, this was used as a drill room; now it is utilized as a meeting-place for the fraternal organizations and as a public hall.
There are five fraternities represented in Centerville, of which Klickitat Lodge No. 34, A.0.U.W., established in January, 1891, is the oldest. The following are the names of its charter members:
F.L. Hulery, D.B. Gaunt, Ed. Judy, E.S. Smith, John Shoemaker, A.G. Ward, G.B. St. Lawrence, C.M. Curtis, Sherman Cooley, Peter Shoemaker, G.F. Martin, G.M. Smith, E.E. Brooks, R.M. Merryman, James Wheelhouse, N.M. Brownlie, George B. Stougliton, Henry Layman, James Douphney and J.H. Wilder.
The Knights of Pythias have a local organization known as Mt. Adams Lodge No. 95, established May, 1893, with the following charter members: Will H. Hodson, A.R. Graham, Fred V. Vunk, W.T. Rhodes, Otis Campbell, A.L. Bunnell, Charles F. Jackal, Ed. Clanton, Fred Lucas, Fred T. Axtell, Charles S. Baker, A.C. Short, W. Smith, Thomas Crofton, J.H. Smith, C. McKillip, William B. Campbell, Milo Moser, J.H. Wagner, G.W. Billington, Robert McKillip, George Crofton, Cyrus Guy.
The Modern Woodmen of America, Bonanza Camp No. 9,374, was established March 14, 1901, with the following charter members: Peter Ahola, Fred W. Bold, J.T. Carpenter, John W. Hagan, Frank W. Johnson, John C. Kidra, Henry Lauhouse, August L. Matsen, John M. Mulligan, Singleton D. Smith, John F. Thompson, Edward M. Tobin, John B. Watson, William Wallman, Charles Wiedaner, I.A. Gilmore, Elias Hamlin, H.H. Hartley.
The Woodmen of the World order is represented by Centerville Camp No. 143. Jacob Crocker, C.C.; W.B. Hayden, clerk. This lodge has an auxiliary, Woodmen of Woodcraft, Ambera Circle No. 156. Coca Smith, G.N.; W.B. Hayden, clerk.
The following is a list of the business houses and business men of the town:
General merchandise. T.N. Crofton, W.B. Hayden; hardware, U.F. Abshier; hotels, Klondyke, T.N. Crofton, proprietor, Royal, T.A. Finch, proprietor; feed store, C.B. Runyan; clothing store, Joseph Cohen butcher shop, D.C. Smith; livery stables, T.N. Crofton, Elias Hamlin; blacksmith shops, Levi Clanton, J.R. Harvey; planing mill, Peter Ahola; telegraph and express office.
Surrounded as it is by a rich and prosperous farming district, and now enjoying a line of rapid transportation to the coast, Centerville seems to possess certain sure elements of growth. It already has a population of about two hundred and fifty inhabitants, and as the surrounding valley is built up, the town cannot help but increase in population. Much of the wheat that once went to The Dalles is now hauled to the railroad at Centerville, whose warehouses contained at one time as much as eighty thousand bushels awaiting shipment. It will always be an important shipping point of the Klickitat valley.