CENTRALIA HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMISSION MINUTES - APPROVED Thursday, January 5, 2017 ~ 5:30 P.M

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.

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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

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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.

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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. 126 127 F. Other business: 128 129 CDA has received $50,000 from the B&O tax incentive. There are 34 Main Street Associations. 130 There is 1.5 million dollars available and it becomes available at midnight on New Years’ Eve. 131 This year, it was gone in six hours. They are getting ready to apply for the Lodging Tax – the 132 application is due tomorrow. 133 134 On Monday, 1/9/2017, at 5:30 p.m. at the Timberland Regional Library will be the initial 135 meeting for the planning for the celebration of the founder, George Washington’s, 200th birthday. 136 Brian Mittge is the organizer and spearheading the plans for the festivities. 137 138 i. Update on Blockhouse contractor search. 139 • Mitchell Smith, Centralia High School, discussion on project details. 140 141 D LaPlaunt – was he expected this evening? (He was not able to attend.) 142 143 S Murphy-Olson – he has the manpower with his student group. If we could find someone to 144 oversee the project and assist them – they are always looking for projects. The program has 145 really produced some top notch kids.

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146 D LaPlaunt – the apprehension about adhering to discovering with experience in historic log 147 structure restoration was in the hopes of pleasing the Dept. of Archaeology and Historic 148 Preservation. Especially in light of someday seeking their stamp of approval and getting some 149 funds from them. If we worry a little less about needing funds from DAP, it may be much easier 150 to find someone. He thinks that with the careful direction provided by Harrison Goodall, we 151 could move forward in a step-by-step kind of way and begin some of this restoration. That is 152 going to be up to the commission, to some extent, to say that they believe that what is being 153 planned is prudent and that they are comfortable with whatever progress the commission defines. 154 Perhaps Mitchell Smith could attend the next meeting. He is encouraged because he knows we 155 have the full support of the City and the City Council to make the difference in that building. 156 157 S Murphy-Olson – you’ve got the logs; you’re going to get some free labor… 158 159 T Youngblood – would it be a good idea to do a press release to see how interested people are in 160 the project? 161 162 S Light-Waller – she has been working to see where there were other blockhouses that were in 163 anyway similar to ours. She has found one in Pittsburgh that is stone. There is one in Nisqually 164 and one in Ft. Vancouver. She intends to determine who may have helped with the restoration 165 and preservation of those blockhouses. 166 167 LaPlaunt – Anyone else discover any prospects for contractors for the project? 168 169 J Franks – he has two contractors he is talking to about building the kiosk for the signage. There 170 is a log home builder this side of Vancouver and they are active. He will be speaking with him. 171 172 G. Open Commissioner Update/Comment. 173 174 T Youngblood – just wanted to bring up the meeting at the library which has been discussed. 175 176 H Hoke – brought up that at the next meeting we will be voting for officers and there are two 177 members who need to reapply: J Franks and Roy Matson. She requested that they be turned in 178 before the end of the month. We can have up to seven members – so we do still have an open 179 position available. 180 181 The next, regularly scheduled meeting of the Historic Preservation Commission will be 182 Thursday, February 2, 2017. 183 184 2. ADJOURN PUBLIC MEETING

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185 The Chairman requested a motion to close the meeting: 186 187 Commission Member - Jackie Franks: Motion 188 Commission Member - Teva Youngblood: 2nd 189 Commission Chairman - Daniel LaPlaunt: Approve 190 Vice Chairman - Roy Matson: (arrived late) Approve 191 Commission Member - Jordan Peabody: Approve 192 Commission Member - Jackie Franks: Approve 193 Commission Member - Teva Youngblood: Approve 194 Commission Member - Sara Light-Waller: Approve 195 196 The meeting was adjourned at 6:35 p.m. 197 198 199 Respectfully submitted, 200 201 202 203 Sarah Scherer, Recording Secretary 204

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