The Town Votes on a New Schoolhouse
Citizens of Aberdeen decide on the location for a $25,000 schoolhouse, with dueling donations from prominent boosters.
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.
Terrace avenue was chosen as the site for the $25,000 school house at the meeting Monday. The sites offered and number of votes received by each were: Seven lots in Block 25, France addition, 229 votes—price, $4,200; block 7, Weatherwax Benn's addition, 227 votes—price, $6,500; Block 24, France's addition, 5 votes—price, $5,000. Capt. Weatherwax announced that if his property, block 7, was selected he would donate $500 to a public library for the city; Jas. B. Stewart agreed to give an equal amount in property if the site in block 25 was selected. A number of women availed themselves of their right to vote in school elections.
“A number of women availed themselves of their right to vote in school elections.”
The civic debate over school placement and the influence of private property developers in public infrastructure decisions remains a central tension in growing communities like Aberdeen today. Note the mention of women voting in school elections, a right they held in Washington Territory/State at this time before broader suffrage was fully realized.
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