Walla Walla’s Great Paving Debate
Business owners and city officials clash over how to fix the city's mud-choked downtown streets.
After routine business at the Commercial Club, the meeting turned to property owners in the business district to consider street improvements. Frank W. Paine served as chairman. A general discussion followed among several prominent citizens and Street Commissioner H. H. Crampton. While all agreed improvements were needed, opinions were sharply divided. Some favored expensive paving, others pushed for a system of macadamizing, and many argued that drainage was the primary issue. Dr. J. E. Bingham noted that narrow-tire vehicles were cutting up the streets, while the Street Commissioner explained that without removing the old Glasford mill flume, there was nowhere for water to drain, leading to the current mud. A committee of five property owners was eventually appointed to study the matter.
“It would be useless to pave the streets unless there was some way provided whereby they could be kept clean.”
Street infrastructure and drainage remain perennial sources of civic contention in Walla Walla. The 1904 debate over 'expensive paving' versus temporary fixes echoes modern municipal arguments about how to balance property tax burdens with long-term capital investments.
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