The Week in Odessa History

There is hope that Odessa’s Old Town Hall might again be refurbished and restored, possibly bringing the upper floor up to code so the space could be again utilized. The art-deco style building, first known as the Community Hall and later the Odessa City Hall, was threatened with condemnation in the early 1970s. But civic effort saved it. More than $430,000 was raised through donations and the building was remodeled as the Old Town Hall.

The amount for remodeling it then was more than the original cost to build it, which was $20,000, raised by subscription in 1919 and 1920. That figure seemed to be an unattainable goal at the time. But Odessa area citizens did it.

The Odessa Record, with a banner headline proclaiming “Community jail goes over the top,” reported the happy event in its issue of March 25, 1920:

It took the Community Hall committee just five afternoons’ work to sell the remainder of the $20,000 worth of stock that had been planned to spend on Odessa’s Community Hall.

This amount was subscribed before the committee had canvassed the territory and it will continue receiving subscriptions a little longer to swell the fund by $3,000 to $5,000 more, which will be used to furnish the building.

This means that the Community Hall Company will now probably be incorporated for $25,000 instead of $20,000.

There have been more than 150 subscribers for stock in the project, with more than half of this taken up by farmers. This means that the Odessa Community Hall is truly a community hall, and it has one-third as many subscribers as any of the war-measure drives in which Odessa never failed to go over the top.

It was first planned to raise two-thirds of the money in Odessa and one-third in the country, but the country people responded so liberally that they simply beat the town people to it, and now hold a slight edge on the stock. Farmers’ subscriptions run from $150 to $500.

The Odessa Union Warehouse’s subscription of $1,000 was the largest and was responsible for stimulating the final thrust in the last few weeks of fund-raising.

100 Years Ago

From The Odessa Record

March 7, 1913

Woodrow Wilson of New Jersey was inaugurated today as president of the United States and Thomas R. Marshall of Indiana, its vice president.

With members of his chosen cabinet surrounding him, the justices of the supreme court before him, his wife and daughters actually dancing for joy on the platform below, and William Howard Taft, ex-president of the nation, at his side, the new president shouted a summons to all “honest, patriotic, forward looking men,” to aid him, extending the promise that he would not fail them in the guidance of their government.

The death penalty will no longer be imposed upon persons convicted of first degree murder, in this state, if the bill which has been passed by the house also passes the senate, and is signed by the governor, which abolishes capital punishment in Washington. Among those voting for the passage of the bill were Representatives Brislawn and Farnsworth of Lincoln county.

75 Years Ago

From The Odessa Record

March 10,1938

Two performances of the operetta “Aunt Drusilla’s Garden,” presented by the junior high school under the direction of Loretta Kennedy, will be given Friday, March 11.

Between acts there will be a tap dance number by Marilu Giese, Lorraine Busch, Janice Hewitt, Verna Lenhart, Eileen Uhrich, Bettylou Winters, Rita Horst, under the direction of Miss Wilson.

In a close, spirited school district election on Saturday, W.C. Raugust defeated J.C. Michaelsen, incumbent, 171 to 159, for the position as director for a three year period.

Other school board members include George Schiewe and J.P. Weber.

M.F. Vanhook, county game protector, was in Odessa Tuesday with a load of 200 Chinese pheasants, about 90 percent hens, which were distributed through the territory north of town. Forty birds were released in the Hauck coulee, 40 at the Smith ranch, 40 in the coulee at the Art Mayer ranch, 40 near the Tony Neves place and 40 more at the Wilson ranch near Lamona.

50 Years Ago

From The Odessa Record

March 7,1963

An old fashioned cooking school, always popular with today’s homemaker, will be staged by three appliance dealers and one grocery on Friday, April 5, in the grade school cafeteria.

Sponsors include Empire Electric, Strate’s Furniture, Odessa Trading Company and Lawson’s Odessa Food Center. Two home economists from the Washington Water Power company will present the school.

25 Years Ago

From The Odessa Record

March 10, 1988

“It’s no secret that rural hospitals are having a difficult time making ends meet,” 7th District Representative Tom Bristow said when he announced legislation approved in Olympia to change that fact.

“The University of Washington School of Medicine’s WAMI Program will receive almost $389,000 from the Northwest Area Foundation to begin developing methods to improve healthcare delivery in rural areas of the Pacific Northwest.”

10 Years Ago

From The Odessa Record

March 13, 2003

Owners of business in Odessa will have a chance to let their voices be heard as to what needs to be done to bring more businesses to town and to keep the ones that are here.

On March 17, a meeting, the second in a series, will address the issues of small towns and their need to maintain businesses.

Lonny Suko, who was raised in Odessa and graduated from Odessa High School, was nominated last Friday by President Bush to be the next U.S. District Court judge in eastern Washington.

Suko will succeed Judge Frem Nielsen, of Spokane, who will assume semiretired senior status in May.