The Hitching Sheds of Kennewick
The local Woman's Club is taking on the city's infrastructure needs, starting with a hitching shed to protect farmers' horses.
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.
At the beginning of the club year, the Civics department of the Kennewick Woman’s club set out with the determination to leave behind tangible evidence of its existence and to dedicate to the public something of practical and permanent benefit. The idea of erecting a hitching shed where the farmer’s horses might be protected from the weather was conceived and, as a result of the ladies’ persistent and tireless efforts, this week will see the realization of their hopes. Tomorrow morning, a force of men will start work under I. A. Boynton, who has volunteered to superintend the job, and before the day is over the sheds will have been completed. They are to be built on the Dr. Pallister property on the site of the old jail, the owner having given the ladies free use of the lots for an indefinite time. The labor will be donated, while the ladies expect to pay for the material through the cooperation of the high school and volunteer subscriptions. In the latter part of April, the high school will perform the operetta 'The Drum Major,' and the entire net proceeds will be turned over to the civics department.
“A force of men will start work under I. A. Boynton, who has volunteered to superintend the job.”
Long before modern municipal planning departments existed, women's clubs were the primary engines of civic improvement in Washington towns. This project, building a hitching shed on the site of a demolished jail, highlights how early urban landscapes were literally reshaped by volunteer labor and community performance art.
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