Oroville Claims a Home for City Hall
After years of paying rent and storing the fire engine in a local saloon, Oroville officials secure land for a permanent municipal headquarters.
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 city council has closed a deal for two lots at the corner of Vancouver Street and First Avenue and will immediately begin the erection of a building to be used for municipal offices. The building put up now will not be a large one, containing only a council chamber and a room for the fire engine. At some later date a larger structure will be put up on the property which will contain all the city offices. The move is a wise one on the part of the city government. Since the incorporation of the town, the council has been paying rent for a meeting place and has had no headquarters for the fire department, the engine having been stored in the Crescent Saloon for the want of a better place. The building to be put up now will be a frame structure.
“Since the incorporation of the town the council has been paying rent for a meeting place and has had no headquarters for the fire department, the engine having been stored in the Crescent saloon.”
Early 20th-century civic identity often started with moving out of saloons and into dedicated public spaces. While today's Oroville is well-established, the struggle to balance necessary infrastructure with limited budgets remains a constant in small-town Washington governance.
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