CENTRALIA HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMISSION MINUTES - APPROVED Thursday, January 5, 2017 ~ 5:30 P.M
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CENTRALIA HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMISSION MINUTES - APPROVED Thursday, January 5, 2017 ~ 5:30 p.m. 118 West Maple Street, City Hall, Centralia, WA 1 2 1. CALL PUBLIC MEETING TO ORDER 3 A. Roll Call of members present. 4 5 Commission Chairman - Daniel LaPlaunt: Present 6 Vice Chairman - Roy Matson: Absent (arrived at 5:33 pm) 7 Commission Member - Jordan Peabody: Absent 8 Commission Member - Jackie Franks: Present 9 Commission Member - Teva Youngblood: Present 10 Commission Member - Sara Light-Waller: Present 11 12 B. Approval of Historic Preservation Commission Agenda. 13 14 Commission Member - Teva Youngblood: Motion 15 Commission Member - Sara Light-Waller: 2nd 16 Commission Chairman - Daniel LaPlaunt: Approve 17 Vice Chairman - Roy Matson: Absent 18 Commission Member - Jordan Peabody: Absent 19 Commission Member - Jackie Franks: Approve 20 Commission Member - Teva Youngblood: Approve 21 Commission Member - Sara Light-Waller: Approve 22 23 24 C. Waive reading of and approve Historic Preservation Commission minutes of December 1, 25 2016. 26 27 Commission Member - Teva Youngblood: Motion 28 Commission Member - Sara Light-Waller: 2nd The public is invited to participate in all Historic Preservation Commission Meetings. Any persons with a disability needing assistance may contact the City Clerk’s Office at (360) 330-7670 72-hours in advance of the meeting. \\fileserver03\avca\council\2017-01-05\Historic Preseravation Commission_2017-01-05_05-30-21 PM\Minutes 1_5_2017.doc 29 Commission Chairman - Daniel LaPlaunt: Approve 30 Vice Chairman - Roy Matson: Absent 31 Commission Member - Jordan Peabody: Absent 32 Commission Member - Jackie Franks: Approve 33 Commission Member - Teva Youngblood: Approve 34 Commission Member - Sara Light-Waller: Approve 35 36 D. Public Comments not associated with agenda items. 37 38 There were no public comments. 39 40 E. New business: 41 i. Don Trosper presentation on Thurston Co. HPC 42 43 Don Trosper’s hobby is local history. His great grandfather arrived in the Tumwater area in 44 1892, and Trosper Road is named for his family. His family still lives on a portion of the original 45 60 acres. He is on the Tumwater Historic Preservation Commission. He is a former president and 46 still on the board of the Tumwater Historical Association. He is also a Public History Manager of 47 the Olympia Tumwater Foundation. Tumwater was the very first permanent American 48 community north of the Columbia River in the Washington Territory, home of the famous 49 Olympia Brewing Co. 50 51 His family left Missouri in 1844 in the early days of the Oregon Trail. The trip from St. Joseph 52 would take about three days now on the interstate. When his family crossed on the Oregon Trail 53 it took about seven months. The lure of free land and a fresh start was the impetus for many to 54 head west. Their leaders were Michael T Simmons and George Bush. George Bush was mulatto 55 and was motivated to head west with his wife when he discerned that racial issues in pre-Civil 56 War Missouri were coming to a head. 57 58 It was a very difficult journey. Ten miles a day was a good day’s travel. They reached the 59 Columbi River near the Dalles half-starved and in rags. One of the first things they did was send 60 one of the single men ahead to scout out the Willamette Valley regarding supplies and what they 61 might expect in the American controlled territory south of the Hudson Bay Trading Settlement of 62 Ft. Vancouver. The report they heard back was alarming. They found that they hadn’t escaped 63 racism at all. The Provisional American Government had already passed an ordinance 64 prohibiting anyone of color for settling there. That put them in a serious quandary. After much 65 discussion, they approached the British on the north side of the Columbia about working for 66 them that first winter. It was agreed that they would work for the British and the following 67 spring, in 1845, they blazed a trail from Cowlitz Landing to the southern tip of Puget Sound The public is invited to participate in all Historic Preservation Commission Meetings. Any persons with a disability needing assistance may contact the City Clerk’s Office at (360) 330-7670 72-hours in advance of the meeting. \\fileserver03\avca\council\2017-01-05\Historic Preseravation Commission_2017-01-05_05-30-21 PM\Minutes 1_5_2017.doc 68 where the Deschutes River passed over some wonderful waterfalls and into the saltwater tide 69 flats now known as Capitol Lake. They arrived in October in cold and wet weather and declared 70 it the worst portion of the trip. 71 72 Tumwater grew quickly as did the new settle of Olympia which began five years later. The Bush 73 farm was on the property that is now the Olympia Airport. As settlements sprung up, all were in 74 competition to become the terminus of the Northern Pacific Railway. They lost this competition 75 to Tacoma. To remain viable, the community of Tumwater determined to construct their own, 76 narrow-gauge railway from Olympia through Tumwater, connecting to the mainline of the 77 Northern Pacific in Tenino. The route roughly followed would become ‘Old 99’. It was called 78 the Port Townsend Southern eventually but it was the Tenino Railway originally. It gave them 79 rail service and kept the community viable. 80 81 The Washington Territory became a state in 1899. The water-powered industry was gradually 82 converting to hydro-electric power in the late 1890’s. Unexpectedly, an economic recession in 83 the 1890’s hit the entire west coast. Businesses began to fail. In 1895, visitors from Montana, 84 Leopold Schmidt and his brother Lewis owned a very successful brewery in Butte, Montana. He 85 fell in love with the saltwater of Puget Sound. They soon learned of the pure, artesian water 86 spring of Tumwater. They sent a sample to a lab back east and the report came back that it would 87 be tremendous water for brewing. They sold their Montana holdings and moved their families to 88 Tumwater to begin the Capitol Brewing Company at the lower falls of the Deschutes. 89 90 Lewis and his family moved into a little house not far from the new building site called the 91 Hillside Inn. Lewis tore down the old tannery and cleared the land for the plant. 92 93 Leopold, who had a larger family, originally lived in Portland and once the company was once 94 up and running, he moved his family to Tumwater. Leopold had been trained in the scientific 95 brewing process in Germany and it was his goal to use the finest ingredients, the purest water, 96 Bohemian hops, the latest methods for plant safety and put a high priority on sanitary conditions 97 in every step of the brewing process. He paid the best people the highest pay scale at that time. 98 The quality of the product was the finest in the west. 99 100 Lewis retired from the brewery and purchased an island in Puget Sound to farm. Leopold’s sons 101 continued in the brewery business. The oldest son, Peter, became the youngest brew master in 102 the nation – he was 19 years old. It was under his leadership that the company grew and the 103 name was changed to the Olympia Brewing Company in 1902. That was the same year they 104 adopted the slogan ‘It’s the Water’. It was the major employer in Tumwater and Olympia for as 105 long as they were in business. The entire operation was stopped by prohibition. When prohibition 106 hit they tried to transform it all into producing apple juice but that business did not succeed. The public is invited to participate in all Historic Preservation Commission Meetings. Any persons with a disability needing assistance may contact the City Clerk’s Office at (360) 330-7670 72-hours in advance of the meeting. \\fileserver03\avca\council\2017-01-05\Historic Preseravation Commission_2017-01-05_05-30-21 PM\Minutes 1_5_2017.doc 107 108 They sold the plant and moved into the hotel and transportation industries. Their hotels were the 109 predecessor of the Westin Hotel Chain. Their truck and bus transportation efforts spawned 110 businesses such as Greyhound and they got into the new technology of airplanes spawning the 111 predecessors to United Airlines. They were very good business people. They never lost their 112 vision for brewing. When prohibition was rescinded in the 1930’s they pulled their remaining 113 yeast culture out of the labs and built a new brewery upstream from the original brewery site and 114 put Olympia Beer back into the market. They sold the brewery in 1983. The brewery changed 115 hands a couple of times and was closed for good in 2003. It was the end of an era. Tumwater is 116 still thriving and has a significant story to tell. 117 118 The Tumwater Historic Preservation Commission has a contract with the City of Olympia to 119 oversee the entire historic district. He provided a packet of information to the commission 120 outlining their activities and responsibilities. The Schmidt family left several million dollars to 121 fund the foundation that supports the Historic Preservation Commission which provides them 122 with the funds for a couple of paid positions that coordinate walking tours, virtual tours of the 123 old brewery and many other activities. They applied for and received a Thurston Co. grant for 124 2017 to research and restore some of the original advertising art for the brewery from the 1930’s 125 and hope to have a good art show that will attract tourism by fall, 2017.