The Burning of Oakville
A deliberate act of arson leveled the Grays Harbor town of Oakville, sparking rumors of a wider conspiracy against the mill district.
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.
Oakville, Sept. 6—Last night, arsonists set fire to the town of Oakville, on the Humptulips River. The fire spread rapidly, favored by a stiff breeze, until the entire town, including the mills and the wharves, was destroyed. The principal buildings burned were the Oakville mills and lumber yards, owned by S. K. Moore & Co., and the general merchandise stores, as well as the boarding house and machine shop of E. H. Hall. It is estimated the loss will be $50,000. It is settled beyond doubt that the fire was the work of incendiaries.
“It is settled beyond doubt that the fire was the work of incendiaries.”
This 1889 account of a company-town fire serves as a stark reminder of the volatility of early Pacific Northwest industry. Today, Oakville remains a small, quiet community, but the echoes of these 'company town' struggles—where the mill owner's property was the town's total economy—still resonate in discussions about rural economic fragility in Washington State.
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