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Old newspapers, pinned to the places they wrote about — the streets you can still walk today.
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Two physicians and a nurse are arrested for a 'surgical operation' that led to the death of an elderly business owner.
“We find that Alfred Wright came to his death by a surgical operation... which, in our opinion, is unjustifiable, unwarranted, and hence criminal.”
A blaze behind a Tower Avenue saloon jumped to the Binkley opera house and the Daily News office, gutting a commercial block despite heavy rain and a fierce firefight.
“So quickly did the fire progress that the inmates of the upper floor had to make their escape by ladders from the front of the building, the stairway being enveloped in flames.”
L.E. Wilson, a fiery People’s Party speaker in Lewis County, was unmasked as a fugitive and serial bigamist.
“It was in the army he practiced his oratory on a defenseless people.”
A Centralia druggist claims his arrest on fraud charges is a retaliation for his testimony regarding a coerced deathbed will that disinherited a dying man to benefit his doctor.
“I heard the doctor and Mrs. McCormick, the nurse, planning to make old man Wright... make a will giving them his property, amounting to about $150,000.”
A husband in a nearby town loses his life in a tragic altercation sparked by his wife’s paramour.
“A husband was stabbed to the heart in a duel.”
A small-town surgical operation turns into a sensational murder case, raising questions of greed, conspiracy, and medical malpractice.
“It is the belief down there that Minkler would cut a man's heart out for $20.”
Citizens and politicians clash over the Northern Pacific Railroad's monopoly and the holding of immense swaths of land that remain untaxed and undeveloped.
“It is a common saying that corporations have no souls, and this is, I think, well illustrated by the course the Northern Pacific Railroad Company is taking in this great and growing country.”
A railroad conductor enforces a strict, rigid, and brutal fare policy against a weary worker in Centralia.
“The train was slowed down and Mr. Tabor was ordered off. Two miles from home, afoot, and weary under the day's toil, way after dusk, he was forced to walk to Centralia.”
A tragic account of a local diphtheria outbreak that has claimed multiple children and left families in mourning.
“The people are much frightened.”
George Washington, the founder of Centralia, loses $1,500 in a predatory legal scheme targeting his land title.
“I agreed to employ Swasey and signed an agreement to that effect, which he had brought with him to be prepared.”
A 14-year-old girl told authorities that H. J. Ogden, the man she had been told to call uncle, had abused her for years; he left town before a warrant could be served.
“The girl seemed frightened, but on being assured by Mr. Shields that she had nothing to fear, refused to make the statement desired by Ogden, but declared that he was the cause of all her trouble.”
A young boy is accidentally killed by his cousin while playing with a Winchester rifle in their home.
“The family was still suffering from the shock occasioned by the conviction of the doctor when this additional calamity occurred.”
An elderly resident has his thumb bitten off during a violent neighborhood altercation in Centralia.
“Carman, who is a powerful man of middle age, abused him and also bit his thumb and bit off the end of one of his ears.”
Rev. C. C. Marston talked his way out of a scandal in Centralia, was dismissed in Olympia, and has resurfaced in Illinois doing revival work — with another man's wife at his side and his own wife and five children left in want.
“"I feel that we can serve the dear Lord better together than apart."”
George Washington, the 86-year-old Black founder of Centralia, reflects on a half-century of city building.
“When he settled here there were no white folks here and a band of Indians occupied the present site of Centralia.”
A famous Boston preacher changing trains in Centralia asks a stranger his name — and finds the brother his family had not heard from in more than fifty years.
“"Yes, and you are my brother Charles." "That's what I am," said the latter, and the two embraced.”
A pioneer’s recollection of early survival in Western Washington reveals a harsh reality of isolation, lack of basic goods, and the brutal collision of cultures on the frontier.
“Grist mills were unknown in the country, and for several years the only flour had by these and other families was made by the slow and tedious process of grinding wheat in a coffee mill.”
After seeking work at a local mill, a man attempts to board a moving freight train in Centralia, leading to a life-altering accident.
“In attempting to put his foot on the brake beam he slipped and fell, and his only surprise is that his body escaped the wheels.”
A young immigrant woman working in a Centralia laundry was robbed of three years' worth of wages by two men who threatened her at gunpoint.
“The ruffians secured $277.70, the hard earnings of the girl, saved during the past three years.”
The residence of J. Whinnery, editor of the Centralia Chronicle, was mysteriously destroyed by fire while his family was away.
“The cause of the fire is a mystery.”
The Lewis County Sheriff orders the release of a key witness against Dr. Minkler, raising local alarms about justice.
“The action of the Lewis county officials in allowing a principal witness... to escape their clutches... is considered very peculiar.”
A couple's plea for train fare ends with the town out the money and both travelers gone.
“The delicate condition of the woman is believed to be due more to a feather pillow than the state of the weather.”
A pre-dawn blaze in Centralia destroys a feed barn and stables, claiming the lives of the teamsters' horses and revealing the high stakes of early Seattle-area transport labor.
“For a time it looked as if the entire business section of the town would be swept away.”
A key witness in a Centralia manslaughter case was jailed after evidence emerged that he accepted a bribe to skip trial.
“Chief Jackson now has documentary evidence... showing that, according to his own admission, he agreed to keep away from the trial for $175.”
A young woman encounters a would-be robber on the road, outwitting him with nothing but her voice and her speed.
“Instead of obeying him, Mrs. Elder screamed and ran.”
Local newspaper proprietors accuse the News-Examiner of padding invoices for county work.
“The commissioners made an investigation and, it is stated, found that Dunckley had overcharged.”
Despite losing his building in a recent fire, Richard T. Dabney is already planning a larger, more modern brick block.
“Richard T. Dabney never allows the grass to grow under his feet.”
A 21-year-old Northern Pacific employee loses his life in a tragic coupling accident near Centralia.
“When informed that there was no hope of his living McCarthy asked the doctors to try and keep him alive till his wife could reach him.”
A local organizer makes progress recruiting for the Industrial Army despite local mockery.
“The major is a very jolty fellow and seems to have full control over his men while drilling.”
M. D. Minkler of Centralia faces charges of obtaining money under false pretenses after county commissioners say his claimed treatment for a pauper patient was a fabrication.
“The county commissioners swear that these statements are wrong; that Minkler had not paid Drs. Francis and Dumont $100 and that the patient was not suffering with a fracture of the intra-capsular of the neck of the femur as claimed by Minkler.”
A fiery editorial argues that Centralia—not Olympia—should be the rightful capital of the new state of Washington, based on the convenience of the commercial class.
“It is too much of a good joke to expect that these men will vote for journeys across the mountains in severe weather to pacify the sentiment of those who, if they were left to themselves, would not care where the legislature and the state executive built its camping ground.”
A joint Union Pacific-Milwaukee line moved closer to reality when contractors sent a raft of fresh ties down the Skookumchuck and Chehalis rivers—and Tacoma waited for the Milwaukee's president to talk connections.
“That the joint road of the Union Pacific-Milwaukee railways from Gate City and Hoquiam is to be built was shown Saturday when 15,000 new railway ties were dumped in the Skookumchuck River.”
A veteran of the Indian wars and a founding figure in Centralia passes away, leaving behind a legacy tied to the early settlement of the region.
“He arrived in Washington territory in September, 1853, and settled in Lewis county... After the close of Indian war, he settled on 320 acres of land, a part of which is now the City of Centralia.”
While the Governor delivered speeches, an obscure register of local citizens reminds us who actually built the early life of Centralia.
“The board will go over the names next week, striking out all who are known to have moved from town.”
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