Ione Wants to Incorporate — Unless the Sawmill Has to Join
Residents pushed for town incorporation, but the Panhandle Lumber Co. and neighboring landowners balked at being included; the saloon question hovered over the whole fight.
Residents of Ione are talking incorporation. However, there is an objection on the part of the Panhandle Lumber Co. to have its holdings included in the proposed incorporation, and Messrs. Ferguson and Stoecker, owners of property adjoining the town, also refuse to come in unless the lumber company does.
The talk of incorporation is doubtless influenced by the saloon question, as the town would have an opportunity to vote as a separate unit in case incorporation carries.
“The talk of incorporation is doubtless influenced by the saloon question, as the town would have an opportunity to vote as a separate unit in case incorporation carries.”
Incorporation fights are often really about boundaries and who gets to vote on alcohol, taxes and land use. Ione’s 1909 debate — a mill refusing to be annexed into a new town and neighbors following its lead — echoes modern annexation and utility-district battles across Washington.
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