Reunions mean memory lane trip
Many class reunions underway in Columbia Falls will certainly bring a lot of memories to the forefront.
Longtime residents of Columbia Falls, and there are many of us, remember gravel streets, board sidewalk from Great Northern Depot along Nucleus Avenue, the town square with a band stand and horse trough adjacent to it, few houses and businesses, baseball field, Stoltze Lumber Co. mill at Half Moon and Superior Buildings Co. in Columbia Falls. Two Great Northern mainline trains met by the Galloping Goose from Kalispell daily carried mail, the DeFlyer fire truck and 28 volunteer firemen without radios and fireproof clothing carrying a reputation of saving homes, not foundations. Curfew blew at 10 p.m. as a double check to ascertain the fire siren was working. We saw troop trains going through town during World War II.
Ranger stations were at Big Creek, Coram and other North Fork and South Fork locations. There were lookouts and planes flown to spot fires.
Mel Ruder started the Hungry Horse News and Columbian Aug. 1, 1946, with first edition published Aug. 8. I was first and only employee at the time.
Paving the North Fork Road to Canada was a topic of the Columbia Falls Chamber of Commerce. Meanwhile, Flathead County and loggers did a great job maintaining the road. Proceeds from timber sales helped finance schools. There were no million dollar homes in the North Fork.
Changes in the entire region came when construction of Hungry Horse Dam started in 1945. There were jobs and a bus ran from Kalispell, Whitefish and Columbia Falls to take workers to the dam. President Harry S. Truman threw the switch in 1952 to start hydroelectric power production.
New town of Martin City was started, USBR homesite plus the GSM homes in two locations near the new town of Hungry Horse, beerless Boom Town of South Fork, more residents in the old town of Coram. Photos showed women washing clothes outside with oldtime washboards in tubs.
New schools and new churches were started.
Next came construction of Anaconda Aluminum Co.
Many changes came when H.G. Satterthwaite, Anaconda Aluminum Co. superintendent, participated in groundbreaking at AAC plant June 2, 1953. Dedication ceremonies were Aug. 14 and 15, 1955.
Devastating flood of June, 1964, remains as a vivid memory of that year. Homes, highways, railroads were destroyed when flood affected areas from Nyack Flats to Kalispell. Areas in Columbia Falls covered with flood waters included Mosquito Flats and south along both sides of Nucleus Avenue and on past the Red Bridge area.
Gladys Shay is a longtime resident and columnist for the Hungry Horse News