Postcard - Centralia, Washington

"Centralia, Washington, and Mt. Rainier. Centralia, founded in 1852 by a freed Negro slave by the name of George Washington, is in the middle of Lewis County, serving as the hub of the Evergreen Country."

Looks like this dates back to the 1960s. On my Mom's side of the family I have ancestors who were living here dating back to the territorial era. In fact, the house where they lived, and where my Mom was born, is visible in the lower center portion of the card. Today the building is the local headquarters for Windermere Real Estate.

Phone photo 2177

Centralia, Washington

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Centralia, Washington

Morty Comix # 2491

Morty Comix # 2491 was placed between the edge of a bench and the wall in a popular Centralia, Washington restaurant

Mysterious Activity

Phone photo 1911

The Windermere Real Estate headquarters in Centralia, Washington

In the early 20th century this was the home of my great-grandparents, Theodore and Jennie Hoss. My Mother was born in this place. Supposedly, the ghost of my great-great grandfather, Walter Francis "Frank" Reeves, a crusty Wolverine Civil War vet, and later a civilian Custer scout (according to family lore) who came to Washington before statehood, died at the breakfast table in this house in 1916 and is still hanging around as a ghost there. Frank saw some horrible stuff in the Civil War, being at Cold Harbor and The Wilderness. He was also at Appomattox. I'm told he considered U.S. Grant, quote, "A drunken butcher."

I am so grateful to Windermere for preserving this structure. They did a beautiful and impressive job. This home was, I'm told, designed by the same architect who created Hoquiam's Castle.

Buttons - Unions - 1970s

We're in Here For You, You're Out There For Us

Back in the early 1970s I interviewed several people who were participants or eyewitnesses to the Nov. 11, 1919 Centralia Massacre as well the subsequent 1920 trial in Montesano (a great uncle of mine testified). The fact I was related to people on both sides of this tragic incident, plus those willing to talk to me were looking at the end of their lives and were feeling confessional, gave me a unique and not very admirable view of this blot on Washington State history.

In the course of these interviews, someone gave me this IWW re-issue button.

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Centralia, Washington

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Centralia, Washington

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The Olympic Club woodstove and poolroom, Centralia, Washington

From what I have been told, my grandfather basically lived at a pool table here in the 1930s-1950s. He "owned" the table closest to the stove (although I'm sure that original table has long since passed on).  This place was pretty much a seedy dive when I first visited it in the 1970s, but it has since been McMenaminized just like the Spar in Olympia and many other Washington/Oregon local icons. This place includes a family dining area in a room where I formerly observed old guys in fedoras smoking cigars and playing cards. The Wm. Hoss building is next door to the McMenamins complex.

Phone photo 1520

Wm. Hoss

1908

Building on Tower Avenue, Centralia, Washington, bearing the name of my great-grandfather's brother. I understand several nefarious activities took place in this structure. The youngest of five children, William "Willy" Hoss lived from 1865 to 1933. The family arrived in Lewis County in the mid-1870s.

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Pioneer Cemetery
Centralia, Washington

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Sidney S. Ford, 1801-1866
Traveled the Oregon Trail, 1845

Pioneer Cemetery
Centralia, Washington

Phone photo 549

Pioneer Cemetery
Centralia, Washington

I have several ancestors buried in this place

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Pioneer Cemetery
Centralia, Washington

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Centralia, Washington

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Centralia, Washington

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Centralia, Washington

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Centralia, Washington