A little more than a week ago, I joined several dozen other citizens and public officials on the Historic Downtown Chehalis Walking Tour.
I walked, but also pushed my friend Edna Fund in a wheelchair after she broke a bone in her foot. (Bill Schulte, Lewis County commissioner, graciously offered to help me after I slowed down considerably heading up a hill.)
Before we left the museum and separated into two groups, everyone received a copy of the new Historic Downtown Chehalis Walking Tour, a booklet put together by Debbie Knapp of the Lewis County Historical Museum, Shelly Clemens of KELA-KMNT, Caryn Foley of the city of Chehalis, and others involved with the Chehalis Community Renaissance Team.
Clemens and Foley, who led our group, shared information about the historic significance of many downtown buildings. Forty-one are listed in the 24-page booklet, which features old photos and a brief description of each building’s history.
I found the 1904 Judge Seymour White House (Courtyard Salon and Spa) a fascinating place, especially the more colorful stories about attractive Ella Simmons that aren’t printed in the booklet!
In addition to historic sites such as the train depot, former Olympia Tavern (now The Shire Bar & Bistro), Star Tavern, St. Helens Hotel, and Hotel Washington, the booklet features newer landmarks like the Vernetta Smith Chehalis Timberland Library, which replaced the old city hall and Carnegie Public Library from 1910, and the Ezra Meeker Marker touting the old Oregon Trail, now Market Street.
The booklet’s first pages show a map of the downtown area with numbers corresponding to the buildings described inside and a page describing Eliza Tynan Saunders Barrett, the forgotten founder of Chehalis.
The Irish immigrant worked as a waitress in Portland when she met and married Schuyler Saunders in 1851. They moved to the Chehalis Valley and filed a donation land claim. Schuyler died in 1860, leaving Eliza a widow with five children. She married three more times and gave birth to three more children, but each marriage ended in divorce.
Eliza Barrett, who reportedly could neither read nor write, developed her property cautiously, and focused on more noncommercial ventures, such as building the Tynan Opera House and the city’s first Catholic church in 1889, and a Catholic boarding school for girls in 1895.
The booklet’s next two pages describe the evolution of the downtown district, describing the first city center along Main Street west of the railroad tracks, the second city center near Main and Chehalis Avenue, and the third central business district near Market Boulevard and Boistfort.
Centralia also has a folded brochure featuring old photos, a brief history, and a map of the downtown district. The visitors guide touts the city’s core as “Historic Downtown Centralia, Where the Past Meets the Present.”
While planning for the future, the Chehalis Renaissance project has tapped into the Rose City’s rich past as a draw luring tourists downtown.
A pilot project converted parallel parking on two blocks downtown to angle parking. City officials also hope to revamp the city’s tagline and logo, erect better signs directing people to destinations in town, and work with the state to improve signage on Interstate 5.
It’s fabulous to see volunteers working together to improve the image of Chehalis and capitalize on its rich history. The city is moving forward in small steps with the 25-year plans, and the walking tour is just one of those baby steps.
But for people who love history, it’s a step in the right direction.
Julie McDonald, a personal historian from Toledo, owns Chapters of Life. She can be reached at memorybooks@chaptersoflife.com.
