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Concrete has rich history to
celebrate
By Rep. Dan
Kristiansen
Special to the Concrete Herald
One hundred years ago,
William Howard Taft was the president of the United States, Wilbur and
Orville Wright were flying demonstrations of their Model A flyer, the
Ford Model T car had been introduced only a few months earlier at a
price of $825, and the World’s Fair Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition was
under way in Seattle. It was also 100 years ago, on May 9, 1909, that the
town of Concrete was officially incorporated.
Concrete was actually
formed from two communities. Originally known as Minnehaha, the first
community was created at the junction of the Baker and Skagit rivers,
later to become the town of Baker. When the Washington Portland Cement
Company located across the river, another community sprang up, which was
called Cement City. The Superior Portland Cement Company built its plant
in Baker.
Local clay deposits, plus
a nearby limestone quarry, made these communities the perfect place to
manufacture concrete. That became the basis for the local economy. So
when the two communities decided to merge in 1909, residents decided to
name their town "Concrete."
Most of the buildings in
the early days of Concrete were built of wood. However, after a series
of fires on Main Street, the town rebuilt its downtown structures using
its most plentiful resource -- concrete.
Concrete was also used to
construct the town's famous Henry Thompson Bridge. At one time, this was
the longest single-span cement bridge in the western United States.
Concrete's resources and
its local workers were also instrumental in the construction of the
lower Baker River Dam, which was the tallest dam in the world when it
was built in 1925.
While many smaller
villages of its day have come and gone, Concrete is still standing
proudly as a community. It has endured many challenges
throughout its rich history, including several fires, an infamous bank
robbery, and the closure some 40 years ago of the local cement
operations. Even though much has changed over the past 100 years, the
residents of Concrete -- hard-working, dedicated, salt-of-the-earth
people and their families -- have remained as strong and durable as
their town's namesake.
Throughout many of those
years, the town's history was documented by the Concrete Herald. The
recent rebirth of the town's newspaper on its 100th anniversary provides
optimism that there's much in Concrete's future to once again be
documented for the annals of history.
I am proud of your
community and offer my congratulations during your centennial
celebration. May you celebrate many more birthdays to come!
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EDITOR'S NOTE:
State Rep. Dan Kristiansen, R-Snohomish,
represents the 39th Legislative District, and also serves as chairman of
the Washington House Republican Caucus. He can be contacted at (360)
786-7967 or from his Web site at:
www.houserepublicans.wa.gov/Kristiansen.
For more information, contact:
John
Sattgast, Senior Information Officer: (360) 786-7257
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