The Fair Moves for a Mill
Walla Walla's annual fruit fair loses its historic grounds to industrial development as a new steam chop mill prepares to grind.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
The early erection of a chop mill on the old fruit fair site at Palouse and Alder has necessitated the board of directors of the association to seek a new location for the fair this fall. The Abbott property at Poplar and Second street has been secured, the only thing needed being the consent of the council to occupy part of Second, Poplar and First street during the week that the fair will be held. Application for the occupancy of the streets was made to the board at last night's meeting and was referred to the street committee to report at tomorrow night's adjourned meeting. The inability of the directors to secure the old site again this year was a keen disappointment and was due to the purchase of a single lot on the site by Fred Last and Fred Koehler who will immediately begin the erection of a steam chop mill on the site. The new mill will be 60 by 100 feet and is expected to be in operation by September 1st. Lumber for the structure is expected any day and the machinery is already on the ground. The mill will be located immediately east of the new steam laundry in Palouse street.
“The inability of the directors to secure the old site again this year was a keen disappointment.”
The tension between preserving community spaces and accommodating industrial expansion is a perennial struggle in Walla Walla. Today, as then, the city must balance the development of commercial infrastructure with the maintenance of public events that define local culture.
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