Kelso Making Good and Future Bright
Little City on Cowlitz River Prosperous One
Natural Recourses Vast
Metropolis of County Has tributary to It Elements The Make for Material Wealth

The Morning Oregonian
Monday May 16, 1921
By Addison Bennett

Kelso is located on the dual-owned and operated railway line between Portland and Puget sound, the lines being the O. W. R.& N., the Northern Pacific and the Great Northern. As
these are all, either actually or through a parent line, transcontinental lines, and as the roadway through Kelso is equal to the best in the west, it can be seen that the little city is well provided with railway transportation. Ten passenger trains a day, five each way, give Kelso as good rail facilities as any town in the northwest. 

Kelso is 50 miles from Portland by rail, and 133 miles from Seattle. The city is situated on the Cowlitz river, three miles above the point where it flows into the Columbia river. So the place is admirably located for water transportation, and boats ply regularly between here and Portland, while other boats run between here and Rainier, connecting with the railway on the Oregon shore between Portland and Astoria. Kelso, geographically speaking, is six miles west and 41 miles north of  Portland. 

The railways between Portland and the sound cities follow down the north bank of the Columbia river, after crossing it at Vancouver, until the Cowlitz river is reached, then that stream is followed almost due north across the county. Kelso is the largest place on the railway between Vancouver and Chehalis, and is also the most populous city in Cowlitz county. The main part of town is on the east side of the Cowlitz, but most of the manufacturing plants are on the west side, a bridge connecting the two.

Swamp Land Reclaimed

In material prosperity, Kelso has made great strides during the last half dozen years, coming largely from the dyking of about 12,000 acres of land adjoining the town on the west and south. This land was a swamp a large part of the year, as the overflows from the Cowlitz and the Columbia annually submerge it. Several dyking districts were formed and the entire 12,000 acres turned into valuable land as there is in the west. 

This vast tract, that previously was worth little, is now well worth $250 an acre, but it has not as yet been decided just what use it is to be generally put to. It is going to be difficult to discover its best financial use. However, the owners are not worrying as they have discovered that in growing oats it will give a splendid revenue, the crops of that cereal running as high as 150 bushels to an acre: 100 bushels an acre is considered almost a failure.

While this article is not to deal with Cowlitz county as though Kelso were the county seat. I will touch briefly on some of the facts affecting the little city, which is the real metropolis of the county, numerically, financially and in a business sense. Of the 38 counties in Washington 26 are larger than Cowlitz and 11 smaller, the county having an area of 1,153 square miles. Its population is 10.9 per square mile, which is large when it is considered that great portions of the county are covered with a heavy growth of timber and the northeastern portion of the county runs well up the west slope of Mount St. Helens. Seven townships, almost 25% of the county there, has no population.

Kelso Beautiful City

Kelso is a beautiful little city. Its streets are well paved, the main street, running north and south, being a part of the great Pacific Highway between Seattle, Vancouver and Portland, I might say San Francisco and Los Angeles, maybe Mexico City. The population by the last census was about 2,200, but when it is considered that there are 700 school children in the district it will be seen that the suburbs have nearly as many people are there are in the city limits. The place has every appearance of a city of 4,000.

As a business point Kelso is dominant in this region; as a manufacturing center it stands well up with many much larger places, while from an agricultural standpoint it has immediately surrounding it a large area of as good land as there is in the country. Of course the present rosy outlook of the city arises from the advent of the Long-Bell Lumber company. The largest manufacturer of lumber in the United States. But that feature is dealt with at length in another article.

There are now in operation, I mean in Kelso and its suburbs, the following lumber and shingle plants; McLane Lumber & Shingle company, shingle mill and sawmill; Kelso Shingle company, shingle mill; Crescent Shingle company, shingle mill; Thompson-Ford Lumber company, sawmill; C. A. Taylor Lumber company, sawmill; Kelso Box and Lumber company, box factory, and the Veiger Veneer company, manufacturers of veneers.

Other Plants Tributary

Aside from these plants there are others of a similar nature near and tributary to Kelso. That is they do their banking and most of their merchandise purchasing in this city and the bulk of the money paid their help is expended here. Kelso has long had a way of selecting its foremost citizens as city "dads." That is one reason why the city stands steadfast to the old system of a mayor and city council. The present mayor is E. J. McLane, who heads the lumber firm first mentioned, and the following seven citizens are the present members of the council; C. R. Abbott, E. A. Knight, Curtis McFarland, Fred McKenny, E. E. Brown, S. L. Roberts and Oliver Knowles.

The city owns it water system, the water supply being pumped from the Cowlitz river into a large reservoir well above town. This gives a good water service in case of fires and there is a good volunteer fire department, well equipped, with C. R. Abbott as chief. Owing to these conditions the insurance rates are very low, and the city never had a conflagration of large proportions.

The people here are proud of their public school system and the present superintendent, Lee F. Jones, is a first class official. it is true the buildings housing the schools are not of the $100,000 class, but they are ample and sanitary, which after all is the main consideration. There is a large steam laundry, many garages and machine shops, smelt shipping concerns, a fine and up-to-date market and cold storage plant, and in fact, all of the branches of business conducted that one usually finds in a city of four to five thousand people.

National Bank growing

I will not go into the troubles of the Kelso State bank which struck the rocks some six or seven weeks ago. It was one of these dangerous one-man banks and when Stewart quit, the bank quit. But it was not a large concern. It had run down until its deposits were a mere shadow of what they had been at one time, for the First National bank had been growing in strength and confidence for several years, and now it is one of the strongest banks along the line between Portland and Chehalis. In fact, I have figured out from its latest report, made April 28, that is is in the best shape of any bank in southern Washington.

Just read these figures taken from the statement; Capital, $25,000; surplus, $10,000; undivided profits, $5,534; deposits, $842,168; cash reserve, more than 28%, and debts due $45,281. Only $12,000 is tied up in real estate, fixtures, etc. It has no cats or dogs to look after. It is in everyway a model bank. E. S. Collins is president, L. C. Wallace vice-president, C. C. Bashor cashier. The banking quarters are small, but they have a new bank building in course of construction. 

The present bank is on Cross street. The new building is on Main street and in the heart of the business section. It will be ready for occupancy this fall. In speaking of the city government I should have gone on and mentioned the city hall and municipal auditorium. A few months ago the city purchased a large theatre, too fine in every way to pay. It was bought very cheap and then equipped as a city hall, with a fireman's hall above and the water office and city library on the ground floor opposite the entrance. It is finely equipped as a theatre, will seat 750, has a stage ample for any company likely to visit the city, in fact it is a great, wonderful asset to the city.

Buildings Going Up

Considerable building is under way here, several nice dwellings and two good business structures going forward; a store building and a bank structure. Indeed the city of Kelso is in every way prosperous looking and businessmen say trade is good and the future very rosy looking, for the Long-Bell industries ought to double the population in less than five years. There are seven churches here, Presbyterian, Methodist, Baptist, Christian, Roman Catholic, Adventist and Christian Science. 

The pastors of the first four are R. A. Walmsley, E. R. Reisner, J. O. Bovee and H. C. Clark. The others have no resident pastors. The church edifices are rather pretentious and Rev. Walmsley, the Presbyterian pastor, has equipped a very nice building in the heart of town as a social center hall, which is accomplishing much for the congregation and the city. There is but one newspaper here, a twice a week publication, a good and handsome sheet. It is called the Kelsonian, is now in the 16th year of success, and going strong. 

I found it Johnny-on-the-spot, for information. George H. Umbaugh is the proprietor and Waldo Harris editor. And it is well edited, getting all of the local news worth while. I have left the mention of the Kelso club until the last because it is the best item I have to offer about Kelso. I hope the residents of other little cities in Oregon and Washington will write to the Kelso club and find how easy it is, if you have the get-there Kelso spirit, to finance a great civic improvement for your city.

Club House Model One

With this story will run a picture of the Kelso club building. At least I hope so. It is close to the business center of town, less than a block. It was built by selling about 125 shares at $100 a share on easy payments. It is a fine building, has a ground space of 100 by 100 feet. In the upper story are the billiard rooms, on the lower floor the ten-pin alleys and a very large assembly room, with a great fireplace, fine chairs, divans and lounges, bookracks and shelves, paper files, lavatories and women's rest room, and all so finely appointed that the very chairs seem to have a come-and-try-me air, while the great logs in the open fireplace lend an indescribable air of comfort and ease, at least it was so last evening when the air was chill.

Now the club house as a rule is looked upon as a gathering place for men, young men and man size boys to loaf and lounge and perhaps a little more than perhaps to play a little game with the pasteboards probably called poker, maybe solo, maybe bridge. Not on your life! The members come with their wives and sons and daughters, or maybe to see their future wives of husbands. 

It is just a great big family home, clean and pure and wholesome, where there's no air of uncleanliness or evil of any sort. E. M. Adams, a hardware merchant, is the president. E. A. Knight is secretary. If you come to Kelso be sure and get a card from almost any businessman you know and go and visit the club. The building is just east of the old bank building of the now defunct Kelso State bank.

City Has Two Hotels

Kelso hotels are two in number, the old established Hotel Rockwood, L. H. La Vasseur, proprietor, and the Washington, Robert Robins, proprietor. There are also several restaurants here, one of them, The Dill being exceptionally good and the prices very reasonable. C. B. Dill is the suave and gentlemanly proprietor. 

According to the road program laid out by the state, there is to be a road, the Ocean Beach Highway running from the Pacific Highway at Kelso to the beach, through the counties of Cowlitz, Wahkiakum and Pacific. I understand work is now going forward on the west end of this road, the money being provided by the last session of the Washington Legislature. The same bill provided funds for constructing a new bridge across the Cowlitz river, the site to be just below the present wooden bridge, which is pretty badly worn. This new bridge, I am told, will cost about $220,000.