Kennewick's Patriotic Flag-Raising Parade
A crowd of 800 gathers at Second and Tacoma streets to celebrate a new, 93-foot flag pole during the early days of WWI.
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.
Old Glory now officially waves over the third commissioner district of Benton county. The colors were raised to the top of the new 93-foot flag pole at Second and Tacoma streets last Sunday afternoon with ceremonies as full of patriotic color as the most ardent enthusiast could wish. A crowd of about 800 people filled the square around the pole and converted the afternoon’s exercises into a patriotic demonstration that will be long remembered in Kennewick. A martial air was given the occasion by the presence of a platoon of the Idaho National Guard, who are stationed in Pasco for bridge patrol duty. The ceremonies started with a parade, featuring the S. G. Cosgrove Post of the G.A.R., the newly formed Kennewick Military Band, and the Home Guards.
“Lift up the Royal Banner now / And let it wave on high— / The emblem of our country’s hope, / Push upward toward the sky.”
In 1917, flag-raising ceremonies were charged with local anxiety as the nation entered WWI. Today, the intersection of Second and Tacoma remains a key transit point near the historic core, though the patriotic fervor has shifted into a different, quieter civic expression.
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