A weekly look back compiled by the Clark County Historical Museum from The Columbian archives available at columbian.newspapers.com or at the museum.
100 years ago
On Aug. 30, 1923, H.H. Hixson’s new 15-passenger bus began running between Harney School and the railroad station. Residents of east Vancouver had lived without bus service for a week while the new line was under construction. Hixson had been in the “stage and passenger transportation for the past five years,” with lines running between Vancouver, Battle Ground, Hockinson and points in between.
75 years ago
On Aug. 27, 1948, Postmaster E.N. Blythe announced Vancouver residents would be able to use “the newly established air parcel post service beginning next Wednesday.” The newfangled system applied to “mailable matter of any class weighing over eight ounces, but not more than 70 lbs.” Rates ranged from 55 cents to 80 cents.
50 years ago
On Aug. 27, 1973, the Washington Gorge Commission convened to study the future of the Columbia River Gorge. Initially convened in 1959, the three-member group focused on “developing a compatible marriage between environmental preservation and use of natural resources.” The 1970s panel received grant funding for an action plan to, in the words of commission Chairman Clarence Irwin, “build the Gorge on an economical-environmental basis.” The Gorge Commission was working with county planners and the public to grow its plan.
