January 25, 2025, 6:05am Clark County Life
Most rivers in the Oregon Country had ferry crossings by the mid-1850s. That includes the Columbia River near Vancouver. Read story
January 18, 2025, 6:05am Clark County Life
When railroad millionaire James J. Hill last visited Vancouver in October 1911, he’d already completed the Spokane, Portland & Seattle Railway, a joint venture of his Great Northern and Northern Pacific railroads. Three years earlier, the last spike was driven for that railway along the north bank of the Columbia… Read story
January 11, 2025, 6:05am Clark County Life
When the Army Corps of Engineers sought to reduce Beacon Rock to rubble, Henry Biddle purchased it for $1 in 1915. Before World War I, he spent another $10,000 building a steep trail to the 848 foot summit, which allowed easy access for the first time. The trail’s popularity soon… Read story
January 4, 2025, 6:07am Clark County Life
In the fur trade, New Year’s Day, not Christmas, was the season’s more beloved holiday. Before Christmas and after New Year’s Day, Hudson’s Bay Company Fort Vancouver employees and families enjoyed an extended year-end celebration. The company released employees from work, allowing them a raucous holiday period crowded with events.… Read story
December 28, 2024, 6:05am Clark County Life
The early European settlers and later soldiers living in this area re-created memories of home as they celebrated the winter holiday that stretched between Christmas and New Year’s. The food, frolic and fun during this time boosted community enthusiasm, morale and spirituality during the darkest time of the year. Read story
December 21, 2024, 6:10am Clark County Life
The Washington State Public Port Act failed twice before passing in 1911. Its approval gave voters the creation of port districts with the power to improve harbors and to acquire, construct and operate waterways, docks and wharves. Until then, waterfronts were a muddle of piers and wharves owned by private… Read story
December 14, 2024, 6:05am Clark County Life
When the Navy laid the keel of a ship named after the city of Vancouver, no one from the local community was present. When the USS Vancouver launched in 1962, City Councilman Ken Teter and his wife watched as the ship slid into Wallabout Bay in Brooklyn. Admiral Howard Yeager,… Read story
December 7, 2024, 6:05am Clark County Life
Walter R. Dry spent his entire life educating blind students in two states. Rising from an able instructor at the Washington State School for the Blind to the superintendent of the Oregon State School for the Blind, he championed the Oregon Plan to move the students into public schools. The… Read story
November 30, 2024, 6:10am Clark County Life
Mayor John Kiggins previewed a controversial play in January 1911 along with law officers. He excluded a Columbian reporter from the preview, claiming he wanted no publicity. Read story
November 23, 2024, 6:10am Clark County Life
History forgets how often our neighbors were involved in shaping it, even in small ways. During the 18 months that Brig. Gen. George Marshall commanded the U.S. Army’s Vancouver Barracks, Clark County residents were in daily contact with him and his wife, Katherine. Through their sharing of oral histories, we… Read story
