Thanks to Floyd Day, a ‘kid’ who lived in Oysterville during the 1940s, some of us old ducks have had a chance to revisit our childhoods a bit. A month or so ago, Floyd sent a packet of “stuff” to me hoping it would go to “the Oysterville Museum” (which Nyel, I know, thinks this house is fast becoming!).
In lieu of such an institution, I set the envelope aside for the Columbia Pacific Heritage Museum without giving the contents more than a cursory glance. A few days ago, I took a better look and, among a number of old photo-postcards, found a view of Oysterville that I had not seen before. As it turned out, no one else had either. Or at least none of the folks who have seen it thus far.
The photograph was taken from “Andrews Hill,” up by the cemetery and shows from the Andrews Garage property east to Northern Cannery and the bay, north to the Bardheim Barn and south enough so that the back of Merton Andrews’ property can be seen. There is no date on the picture but there are numerous visual clues.
For starters, Sandridge Road had not been punched through town. That didn’t happen until the late 1950s but still, it narrows things down by half a century right at the get-go. There are telephone poles marching along the Oysterville Road and since we were “connected” from 1908 forward, they provided another clue. There are also electricity lines.
FDR’s Rural Electrification Program didn’t get as far as Oysterville until 1938 so those little old-fashioned electricity poles narrow the time frame some more. The presence of the Northern Cannery building fits right in with that date, too. It was built in 1939. Also, the cars lined up along the road in front of the Garage look to be ‘20s and ‘30s models and one has to consider that, in those days, people didn’t get a new car very often.
It also seems clear from the photo that the Carl Andrews house was being added to. Charlotte Jacobs, an Andrews’ cousin remembers staying in the house in 1944 or 1945 when it was in exactly that condition – “mid-addition.”
“Of course,” she told me yesterday, “it could have been that way for years. The Andrews took their time with house-building and remodeling. They spent full-time working at the garage.”
So far, our best guess is the early forties. We were all reminded of how much there was of Oysterville in those days. So many houses and out-buildings! And that’s only the south part of town. I couldn’t help thinking how easily our minds adapt to’ the now’. Sad, really… but probably just as well.
Meanwhile, it’s been a great journey down Memory Lane, thanks to Floyd. And, a strong reminder to date and identify photographs! Thank goodness for those automatic date stamps on current-day digital cameras…
Just a thought! If Floyd’s picture had come with an automatic date stamp, think of all the history you would have missed revisiting.
Maybe, But accuracy rather than guesswork would be much more useful! And I’m sure the walk down memory lane would be as pleasant!
Thank you, Sydney, for mentioning passing along old photos and photo postcards to the Columbia Pacific Heritage Museum. Any photo items that we receive are scanned and kept both as the original and a digital copy. The public has access (by appointment please) to view and have a copy made, if they would like. We have had many researchers make use of our photo collections. It’s a great way to preserve old photos and make them available to everyone.
I remembe how sooo busy the garage always was – it was era of repairs vs just replacing and sometimes it was quite a wait to get the job completed as parts were not readily available. Sometimes they were even improvised as the garage contained the black smithing equipement, which I watched being used with awe. That picture really brings back a lot of memories how life was!