This Week in Odessa History

100 years ago

The Odessa Record

March 24, 1916

Union State Bank remodeling room. The work of remodeling the Union State bank is now rapidly nearing completion, and it now, both in arrangement and finish, presents a decidedly metropolitan aspect. There are plenty of larger banking rooms in Eastern Washington than the Union State, but there are none in the rural districts and very few in the larger cities that can excel its present appearance.

The office proper now consists of a square 20 x 30 feet, with two cashier’s windows in front and another on the side. The fixtures enclosing this space are of oak with marble base. The front lobby is about 12 x 24 feet and there is a side space of about four feet in width extending to the rear door. The new tile floor put in by the Spokane Tile & Mantle Co., is the most conspicuous of the improvements for it is the first innovation of tile for flooring purposes in Odessa.

Happenings at the schools. The school people have been busy for about a week getting the tennis courts ready but the work is slow because the boys can only work for an hour at a time and some days only three or four boys turn out for work. Last Saturday afternoon two of the faculty men made a cement roller that weights about a ton and will furnish nearly as good exercise for the boys as the tennis itself.

75 years ago

The Odessa Record

March 27, 1941

The newly completed Odessa Hotel will be opened on Saturday night, starting at 7 p.m., according to announcements mailed out by F.A. Coleman, owner, and Valena Price Pierce, manager. Mrs. Pierce who has had much experience in Spokane hotel management, will be on hand to greet visitors at the building. The hotel, strictly modern in all details, includes dining facilities, transient rooms, three apartments. The transient rooms include a group with shower bath. Apartments are modern, with full electrical equipment and modern fixtures. The hotel occupies the former site of the hotel structure that burned, and a part of the former walls were used in the construction. The outside face is white painted concrete.

Odessa trapshooters, although hitting perfect scores, find it impossible to overtake the league leading Wallace-Kellogg team in the Inland Empire tournament. Odessa shooters went to Sprague Sunday to shoot with the gun club there, shooting as follows: L.O. Williams and Glen Strate, 25; L.J. Bonney and A. Wittner, 24; R. Wagner, 23; H.H. Strate and Al Wagner, 22; S.L. Williams and F.E. Wraspir, 21; John Scrupps, 20; E.C. Weber 19; R. Suchland, 18 and Mrs. L.J. Bonney, 17.

50 years ago

The Odessa Record

March 24, 1966

Fifty-nine students from Odessa attended the Bi-County Music meet at Harrington on Saturday, March 19. Solo ensembles, both instrumental and voice were adjudicated by prominent musicians who graded from a scale of Superior, Excellent, Good, Fair and Poor. Odessa students received nine Superiors, 20 Excellents and 17 Goods. Receiving Superiors were Aileen Fink, Steve Horak, Sharon Eide, Cleon Claassen, John Schafer, Robin Jasman, Jeff Stout, Mary Beth Fink and Terry Deife. Excellents were earned by Loyce Weishaar, Alan Voise, Sharon Slater, Owen Heimbigner, Russ Winfrey, Virginia Franz, Ken Gudgel, Dianne Mills, Susan Frick, Penney Wraspir, Richard Franz, Garry Pierce, Bill Walter, Julie Deife, Terry Deife, Doug Roller, Mona Litzinger.

25 years ago

The Odessa Record

March 28, 1991

Demolishing of the old swimming pool began under the direction of the town’s public works director Roger Sebesta. The pool will be replaced through a $150,000 grant and a local bond issue approved by voters.

10 years ago

The Odessa Record

March 23, 2006

The Friends of the Pool held an assembly at school to describe to students the walk-a-thon fundraiser to be held April 30.