Page 9 The Ferndale (California) Enterprise

FFoorrmmeerrFFeerrnnddaalleeMMaayyoorrDDaavviidd EE.. RReeeess,, who served in that posi-tion in the early 1930s,praised Ferndale in a let-ter printed in The Enter-prise July 6, 1962.

He eloquently illus-trates his impressions ofthe farm village he firstencountered on his arrivalin 1901. Rees’s letter waswritten in response tonews of Ferndale’s paintedmake-over in 1962.

“Even with all the mudand lack of sidewalk facil-ities during his time,”wrote then-editor, GeorgeWaldner, “Mr. Rees musthave found considerablecharm in the city for helived here until recentyears and never misses anopportunity to make areturn trip whenever hecan.”

MMrr.. RReeeess wwrriitteess ((JJuunnee2288,, 11996622))::

The picture of Fern-dale in her new dress takesme back 62 years ago, toJanuary 8, when I landedin Ferndale by way of

Brice’s Stage Coach,loaded inside and out, andhanging on the boot. Thatnight there were 20 pas-sengers hanging onto andpacked inside that oldstage coach. The depotwas just to the left as youstarted up Table Bluff hilland the [Singley] ferry wasstraight out from there.

When we reached theferry, Mr. Barnes, thecoachman, said, “Men willhave to get off. I can’t pullyou through this gravel.”So we all piled off andwaded through shoe-topmud from the ferry to theSage place, a half mile, andfrom there we wereallowed to ride or hang onthe best we could till wecame to the lane east of theHalley School house.There we had a quartermile of sloppy mud towade through, till wereached the hill at theschool house.

From there we wereallowed to climb on andfrom the Grant Schoolhouse we were allowed toride in state clear to theFerndale Hotel (now theIvanhoe). Its name waschanged to Ivanhoe about

Former Ferndale mayor remembers a turn-of-the-centuryFerndale with plenty of mud, shooting and swearing!

Courtesy Ferndale MuseumMain Street, Ferndale, at the turn-of-the-20th-century looking south, with the Pythian Castle on the right.Ferndale Pizza Company is now located on the castle’s spot.

Courtesy Ferndale MuseumCutler Hatch’s Hardware store.

Courtesy Ferndale MuseumAlford’s Pharmacy was eventually replaced by the Hart Building, which is nowhome to the Ferndale Repertory Theatre.

tion it, but two red lighthouses that, judging fromthe swearing and shooting,did a lively business. Theywere put out of business, Ibelieve, about 1906.

I am giving you whatFerndale was like in 1901,and just think, now 61years later...People are

drinking less beer andmore buttermilk, and arebecoming more civilizedand less selfish. And Iwould like to mention oneman as a leader of thisgreat reform, and that isRev. Roscoe Douglass.

DDaavviidd RReeeessOOaakkllaanndd

three years later. Therewere two first class hotels

and sevensaloons,beside twohotel bars.Most ofthe side-walks werethree red-woodplanks laidside byside andalongsideof thoseplanksgrass hadgrown upthree feethigh, andit was gen-erally wet

Courtesy of Ferndale MuseumThe stage from Eureka arrives in downtown Ferndale.

with dew or fog in themornings. As my first jobin Ferndale was in theSimpson Shop makingbutter boxes, I was usuallypretty well dabbled withthe mud or dampnesswhen I got to work. As Iremember, there were onlythree pieces of concretesidewalk on Main Street,in front of the Kausen-Williams Hardware, Taub-man’s Store, andRuss-Williams Store.Crosswalks were threeredwood planks laid sideby side. There were twodepartment stores: Russ,Aggeler and Williams, andAggeler Brothers; threehardware stores: Hatch’s,Russ-Williams, and Fran-cis Brothers; two drugstores: Ring’s and Alford’s.

There were fourchurches: the MethodistEpiscopal, Congregational,Adventist, and Catholic.

There were four strongorganized lodges: NativeSons, IOOF [Odd Fel-lows], Masonic and [fourdifferent] Danish.

I am ashamed to men-

The Ferndale MuseumThe Ferndale Museum

Open Wed-Sat 11 am to 4 pmSun. 1 pm to 4 pm

plus Tues. 11 am to 4 pm, June 1-Sept. 30We welcome your visit February through December(We close the month of January for maintenance and restoration.)

Corner of Shaw and Third Streets707/786-4466

www.ferndale-museum.org