Most people reading these stories already know me from my early days in Salkum or Mossyrock, as an adult during my career in education or in my retirement years in Arizona. However, I if you plan on continuing to read the posts, a little more detailed background is necessary to understand and enjoy them.
I am describing things as how they were, at least in my memory, in the 1950’s and 60’s. Salkum was a small, logging town of about 200-250 people in southwest Washington on State Highway 12. It was about 10 miles west of Mossyrock, where the schools were located. There were several other small logging towns – Morton, Onalaska, White Pass (Randle), Riffe, Kosmos, Mayfield, Silver Creek, Toledo – that make up what was called Eastern Lewis County. Twenty miles west of Salkum was Chehalis and Centralia, “metropolises” of 8,000 plus people. Seattle was about 100 miles north and Portland about 90 miles south. The Pacific Ocean was 100 miles west and the Cascade Mountain Range was about 70 miles east.
We lived in a 500 square foot, one bedroom house, down a gravel road after turning right toward Mill Creek off Mill Row. Mill Row is now called Stowell Road, which runs north off Highway 12. Since we lived down the hill from Mill Row, somehow the area was called “down under the hill.” We rarely used street names. To describe where someone lived it could be “ Past Kostic’s Mill toward the Cowlitz,” “Third house on the right on Mill Row, “Up Ivy’s Hill,” or “Down under the hill.”
We had another way of describing where we were going, which is still used today and is confusing for newcomers. We, who lived “down under the hill,” called where the Salkum businesses were located on Highway 12, “Uptown.” For anyone who lived in Salkum, we called going to Mossyrock, “going in town. Anyone in Mossyrock (and, I supposed, Riffe and other towns east) called going to Chehalis “going out town.”
Salkum was cut in two by Highway 12. The whole town, which ran along the highway, was about 100 yards long. Businesses included DeGross’s Store, Talbot’s store/butcher shop and post office, a 76 Station, Stankey’s Tavern, a small motel, and two restaurants. One was the White Spot and the other I can’t remember the name, but it had ashtrays that were inscribed with “Best By a Damsite.”
We lived near the ruins of an old mill site on Mill Creek. There were forests all around. My memories are of playing ball (of all types, but mostly baseball), fishing, swimming, camping out and playing in the woods (lots of “war” – killing those dastardly Japs or Nazis), biking, watching the new invention called television, and just generally living a Norman Rockwell young life. I had somewhat of an idea that we, if not outright poor, certainly did not have a lot of money. But, most of our friends and neighbors were in the same boat, so that did not bother me. Being a little older, it may have been a little tougher on my two brothers and sister. Many of my stories are about growing up during this time.
Above is a photo taken of Salkum circa 1920s when the mill was operating. The road across the top of the photo is Highway 12 with Mill Row (Stowell Road) running off it toward the south. Our house was the original mill superintendent’s office and is among those houses just to the right of the water tower. Our swimming hole was probably around where the big building is in the far left bottom of the photo. Most all this was torn down and sold in the 1930’s and 40’s. I remember huge, 20 foot high, piles of scrap lumber, machine parts and bricks where the lumber yard is in the photo. In the 50’s it was a cow pasture owned by Vic Talbot. It is now a tree farm you see on the left as you leave Salkum going toward Mossyrock.
In 1961, we moved to Mossyrock. My Dad took a job offered by his old high school friend, Norman Howard. Eddy Howard, my good friend, was Norman’s son and my brother, Jim, was engaged to Norman’s daughter, LaVerne.
Dad’s job was to be the cook/manager of the restaurant at the Rock n’ Roll Bowl, an 8 lane bowling alley Norman and his wife, Louella, had built. There was also a trailer park and laundromat behind the bowling alley. We were to live in a 12×60 foot mobile home in the trailer park. I think some in Mossyrock thought of us as “trailer trash,” but for me, getting out of a 500 square foot house with no indoor bathroom, was a big step up. Besides, my siblings were gone and I had my own bedroom instead of sleeping on a cot in the living room with my head about three feet from the television.
I spent the next six years – four in high school and two in junior college/Centralia – living in the trailer.
Mossyrock was a larger town than Salkum, but still had no stop light. Until the Mossyrock Dam was finished, Highway 12 went through Mossyrock and all the other towns that ran along its path. Mossyrock had a couple of general stores – Adams and Gohsns – two taverns, a couple of service stations, a movie theater, a couple of restaurants, an A&W, a few other small businesses and the famous or infamous, Bea’s Café. I may have missed some.
Of course, Mossyrock was also the home of Mossyrock Grade School, Mossyrock Junior High School and Mossyrock High School. These schools were on one long stretch of land on Williams street. On the north end of the complex was the junior high. It had been the high school until 1957, when a new high school was built. In the middle, was a long building which housed the grade school. When I started there, I had not gone to Kindergarten. I don’t know to this day if Mossyrock had no kindergarten at that time or if my Mom just kept me home for an extra year because I was the baby of the family. At the south end was the new high school, which I entered in the fall of 1961.
Mossyrock school district had about 500 kids who came from Riffe and the surrounding area east of town, to Salkum and the surrounding area west of town. There were, as mentioned above, several even smaller towns within the school district, as well as dozens of farms and individual homes.
In elementary school (we called it grade school at that time), there were two classes per grade level with 15-25 kids in each class. When the Dams were being built (Mayfield in the 50’s to early 60’s, and Mossyrock in the early to mid 60’s), several new families moved to Mossyrock. We called the new kids “Dam kids.” I think they were used to it. Most had moved out by the late 60’s, when the Mossyrock Dam was completed.
The great thing about being in a small town high school is that, even as a below average (by most standards) athlete, I could be on, and actually play, for the high school teams. I also tried my hand in drama (the juniors and seniors put on a play each year), band (I sucked and only played the clarinet my 8th grade year), school government (I held a few offices), FFA, and most other activities. I have great memories of such things as the Homecoming contests, Community Day, Senior skip day, crazy classroom happenings, and just hanging with friends.
I wrote several stories about those happenings, such as learning to drive, playing football, swinging from the Tilton Bridge rope, Beas Café, haying in the summer, and others.