Aberdeen and Hoquiam Finally Connected by Road
Mayors of the two Harbor cities exchange telegrams celebrating the completion of a plank road between their towns.
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 beautiful driveway between Aberdeen and Hoquiam was completed last Saturday evening, and affords easy and pleasant communication between the two cities. On Sunday, many of our citizens took advantage of the fine weather to make their first trip over the plank. The following telegrams were exchanged by the mayors of the two cities, Saturday night: 'Hoquiam, Wash., Jan. 31, 1891.—To Hon. Samuel Benn, mayor of Aberdeen: The city of Hoquiam congratulates the city of Aberdeen upon the completion of the beautiful boulevard between the two cities and hopes that we may soon be connected with steel rails and a lasting friendship. (Signed) F. D. Arnold, mayor of Hoquiam. Aberdeen, Wash., Jan. 31, 1891.—To Hon. F. D. Arnold, mayor of Hoquiam: The city of Aberdeen unites with the city of Hoquiam in the wish for lasting friendship, and hopes that in the years to come the growth of the two cities may result in a single municipality. (Signed) Samuel Benn, mayor of Aberdeen.'
“The city of Aberdeen hopes that in the years to come the growth of the two cities may result in a single municipality.”
The physical connection between Aberdeen and Hoquiam was the defining infrastructure project of the 1890s in Grays Harbor. While the dream of merging the two into a 'single municipality' never materialized, the rivalry and the reliance of the two cities on one another remain central to the region’s identity.
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