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5 YEARS AGO • SEPTEMBER 12, 1974 CITY TO BUY PARKING LOT Purchase of the four lots on which the county garage is located behind Gambles Store (now True Value) has been authorized by the City Council with annual parking fees paid by local merchants providing about two-thirds of the funds. The cost of the four lots is $10,000. The payments will be spread over a five-year period with the city allocating $700 annually from federal revenue funds and another $1,300 coming from rental charges paid by merchants. The city will receive title from the co...
5 YEARS AGO • OCTOBER 17, 1974 FAULTY WIRE IGNITES CAFE FIRE An electrical short is believed to have burned a hole in a propane line and ignited the blaze which destroyed TJ’s Cafe early Friday morning on Main Street. Fire Chief Charles Applegate said Monday a deputy state fire marshal found a piece of romex wire which had been burned in two adjacent to the gas line during an inspection of the basement of the cafe building Monday. Applegate said the fire marshal surmised that the wire had been strung across the gas line and that it had bec...
6 YEARS AGO NOVEMBER 20, 1919 NEWS FROM THOMPSON RIVER COUNTRY Denver Laughlin, formerly county surveyor of this county, came to town last week to spend the winter after having been employed by the Cabinet Forest in laying out trails, building telephone lines and acting as lookout at Richard Peak at the head of Fishtrap and near Big Thompson River. Superintendent Baker had over 40 miles of telephone lines constructed besides 12 miles of new trail was built and over 30 miles of old trail cleared and widened. At the head of Big Thompson the...
4 YEARS AGO • NOVEMBER 1, 1984 PIONEERS’ FEUD SPARKED THOMPSON FALLS RIVALRY The old jail which now houses the Sanders County Museum appears to be the top candidate for inclusion on the National Register of Historic Sites and Buildings, John Lazuk, who currently is conducting a historical survey of Thompson Falls, told the Lions club Wednesday night at the Rimrock Cafe. Lazuk said he is identifying and studying approximately 120 buildings, bridges and other structures for possible inclusion on the national register. He said he expects to par...
8 YEARS AGO • NOVEMBER 1, 1944 HIT OR MISS Halloween Tuesday night. A lot of kid rough stuff went on. Boys in the teen ages are naturally primitive and destructive. Busted the street lights out, barricaded the roads. Youth is at times cruel and grossly inconsiderate. We all were young once. Only the process of years mellows and timbers our natural combative and savage natures. Youth never considers that busting street lights may result in some feeble old lady breaking her leg, or a blockaded road might result in a serious auto accident and hum...
6 YEARS AGO • SEPTEMBER 24, 1964 EARLY HISTORY OF THOMPSON FALLS LIONS CLUB The Thompson Falls Lions Club was formed in the fall of 1943 and the club received its charter from Lions International November 24 of that year. The club began with 20 charter members and was sponsored by the Hot Springs club. The following fall, 1944, the club’s first shoot was held west of town near Birdland Park, where the Thompson Falls State Park now is. Only hunting rifles were used in competition and shooters laid on the ground. Live turkeys were given as pri...
6 YEARS AGO • OCTOBER 9, 1919 CLEAN UP WEEK The local town council has designated the week commencing Monday, October 13 as clean up week and requests all residents to gather all the rubbish and garbage etc. around their places during that week, and on Monday, October 20th they will have teams to haul the rubbish away providing it is put in boxes or barrels so that it can be handled conveniently This is done at the request of the Board of Health, who will make a thorough inspection on Thursday, October 23, and those persons not having c...
6 YEARS AGO • AUGUST 7, 1919 BOOTLEGGERS CAUSE EXCITEMENT A party of Washington bootleggers caused considerable excitement in the west end of Sanders County last Friday and gave the local officers quite a chase, resulting in the arrest of five of the bootleggers and confiscating 55 gallons of whiskey and two Super Six Hudsons and an Oldsmobile. The party of bootleggers had gone to Missoula from Spokane to purchase 120 gallons of whiskey from Geo. Miles. On Thursday evening about 7 o’clock they went to the old brick yards where Miles had the...
13 YEARS AGO • SEPTEMBER 6, 1939 NEEDED BADLY New Court House Advocated as Post-War Project Petitions are now being circulated throughout Sanders County requesting the Board of County Commissioners to call for an election to bond for a new court house. The election will be held at the same time as the general election in November. The proposal calls for a $95,000 ten-year bond issue. With very low interest rates prevailing now it appears to be an opportune time to plan for this much-needed p...
8 YEARS AGO • SEPTEMBER 20, 1944 SMALL FARM FOR SALE 45 acres, 35 cultivated, balance pasture and some timber, 1 cow, 1 horse, and household furniture and some equipment. 6 miles from town. Lots of good water. Price $1500. EARLY DAYS In the early days before the county was formed and the railroad was first blasting through, and the gold stampede to the C.D.A. over the pass was on, W.E. Lindenborn of the firm of Goodchild and Lindenborn was among the earliest pioneer merchants to establish here. Lindenborn was shrewd and clever and he amassed q...
10 YEARS AGO • AUGUST 11, 1960 SANDERS COUNTY FARM STATISTICS Sanders County now has 493 farms compared to 591 five years ago according to the 1959 census of agriculture statistics released yesterday by the Bureau of the Census. The average size farm in the county is 830.1 acres and the average value of farms, including land and buildings, is $32,133. The number of acres of farmland dropped from 495,740 in 1954 to 409,219. Of the county’s farm operators, 262 own their farms, 187 own part of the land and rented additional acreage, and 40 are...
8 YEARS AGO • JULY 19, 1944 BROWN MILL BURNS The Brown lumber mill caught fire and burned just as the noon shift was coming on work Wednesday. Sparks from the burner must have ignited the mill, and once started and fanned by a strong wind, the mill went up in smoke in no time. The town fire department went out, but it was useless to do anything. Any saw mill is usually saturated with oil, and shavings and other inflammable materials are everywhere. The loss experienced is speculative on our part, but we would say offhand at least $40,000 w...
6 YEARS AGO • AUGUST 21, 1919 TO GATHER EXHIBITS FOR FAIR Dr. L.G. Helterline, the secretary of the County Fair announces that two cars (the cars referred to are railroad cars) will be sent to the west end of the county to gather up material for the County Fair. The same plan will be followed as at the last fair. The two cars will come up as far as Trout Creek and, as expenses are paid by the fair management, exhibits are taken to the fair and returned without cost to the owners. A car and a half will be used for livestock and half a car f...
3 YEARS AGO • JULY 21, 1994 SUMMERFEST TO ENTERTAIN CITY THIS WEEKEND A wealth of activities await residents and visitors who attend the first Thompson Falls Summer Festival this weekend. From sidewalk sales beginning Friday, a melodrama and variety show Saturday and the final event Sunday, the weekend promises to offer something for everyone and all should have a great time. The festival will hopefully develop into an annual event, says organizer Larry Hull. He and others have been promoting, planning and getting ready for the three days o...
13 YEARS AGO • JULY 21, 1948 NEW MOTEL The new Falls Motel, located one-half block off the highway west in the city limits, is now open to the public. It is one of the finest, with eight double unit sleeping rooms, all modern and electrically heated and the quarters are nice and roomy. Mr. and Mrs. Fred Moore, the proprietors, have their living quarters and office in the first unit. Moores are to be congratulated on completion of their fine establishment. 64 YEARS AGO • JUNE 9, 1960 PICNIC PEST Ants aren’t the only uninvited guests that appear...
5 YEARS AGO • JUNE, 1974 FIREMEN GO TO FISH FRY Thompson Falls firemen went to a fish fry Thursday as guests of Superintendent O.L. (Rip) Holo, but he hadn’t exactly planned it that way. A fish smoker in a shed at the rear of the Holo residence malfunctioned resulting in fire damage to one wall and part of the roof of the shed. GAMBLES BIG FISH CONTEST (Ad) Go fishing, catch a big one and win a prize! Remington semi-automatic .22 rifle ($54.95 value) for largest Rainbow or Native trout Fly Rod & Reel for largest Bull Trout or Pike Spi...
6 YEARS AGO • JULY 3, 1919 HERON GENERAL STORE ROBBED Robbers Secure $3,150 in Money and Goods on Friday Night The general store of Kinney Honberger at Heron, near the Idaho line, was robbed of goods and money valued at $3,150 by two men shortly before midnight on last Friday night and the proprietor and one customer were held up, tied up, and put in the cellar where they finally worked themselves loose and notified Sheriff Hartman. The goods stolen consisted of $1,500 in Liberty bonds, $700 in thrift stamps, $750 in cash and three cases o...
5 YEARS AGO • MAY 9, 1974 SWIMMING POOL PROPOSAL STUDIED The possibility of constructing a junior olympic size swimming pool with half of the cost being funded by Bureau of Outdoor Recreation funds was explored Monday evening at a meeting of the city, school trustees and representatives of various local civic organizations. Fred Statson, swimming coach at the University of Montana and Tom Greenwood of the Montana Dept. of Fish & Game, which handles BOR fund allocations in Montana, explained the program whereby a new pool 45 by 75 feet could b...
4 YEARS AGO • JULY 5, 1984 RESIDENTS REVEAL FAVORITE LOCAL ATTRACTIONS A lot of folks enjoy a vacation or business trip to the west to get into the mountains and the trees. For the folks in Thompson Falls who like to show off the area it’s trees, mountains and lots more. The Ledger queried local residents this past week to find out some of the attractions nearby that draw visitors here for a visit, campout or hunting trip. Norma Draszt, past president of theThompson Falls Jaycee Women, likes to take visitors to the Sanders County Fair, the...
6 YEARS AGO • JUNE 18, 1964 CHERRY CREEK BRIDGE ORDERED Repairs to county roads and bridges damaged or washed out by last week’s flood are being made as quickly as possible, County Commissioner Jesse W. Lee reported this week. Lee said he ordered material Monday for a new bridge across Cherry Creek and that it will be built as quickly as possible. The Curran and Saint families now can reach their homes only by a temporary footbridge erected last week by county employees. A culvert washed out at Bear Creek on the Blue Slide was being rep...
6 YEARS AGO • JUNE 18, 1964 FLOOD DAMAGED ROAD REPAIR WORK STARTED Local bulldozers and operators employed by the Forest Service will begin an onslaught today to repair flood damage to the Graves and Deep Creek roads, District Ranger Irwin Puphal announced. Puphal said Jim Carrico and Dick Nichols will begin work this morning on the Graves Creek road which has 20 known washouts and the second bridge gone. In addition, much of the road’s surfacing has been washed away by side streams. Carl Hillquist is to begin work today with his dozer on the...
6 YEARS AGO • JUNE 11, 1964 RAGING STREAMS CAUSE MAJOR DAMAGE TO ROADS, BRIDGES With smaller streams slowly receding, efforts in Sanders County Wednesday were being turned towards repairing damages to roads, bridges and culverts while attention was being maintained on the main Clark Fork River. The flow of the river over the Montana Power Co. dam Wednesday morning had reached 117,500 cubic feet per second and was still rising. Only the 1950 and 1948 high water flows surpassed Wednesday’s flow here and the report is, “more is coming.” 1948 wa...
11 YEARS AGO • JUNE 9, 1960 TF SWIMMING POOL TO OPEN WEDNESDAY Thompson Falls’ heated community swimming pool will open for the summer Wednesday. Miss Nancy Friday has been employed as lifeguard and John Duffield will be an assistant. The pool will be open for three two-hour shifts daily Tuesday through Sunday of each week. It will be closed Mondays for cleaning. Children up to 10 years old who are able to take care of themselves will swim daily from 1 to 3 p.m. Boys and girls 10 years and older will swim from 3 to 5 p.m. and adults and familie...
6 YEARS AGO • MAY 14, 1964 MAIN STREET FILLED WITH BUSINESS SHIFTS Spring is time for a change and nowhere is change more evident this spring than in the business community of Thompson Falls. This week announcements were made of two major shifts - sale of the Big Pine Tourist Court (most recently known as Little Bear) and the scheduled move of the Stobie Shopping Center (from the building now housing True Value) to the former’s Vet Club Hall this weekend. These changes are but two among more than in the past 12-month period involving 20 whi...
6 YEARS AGO • FEBRUARY 1964 CITY TO DONATE SCHOOL SITE The city council Monday agreed to make available to School District 2 from 20 to 25 acres in the old golf course area as a future school building site. Before a formal transfer of ground is made to the school district, the city council will have to have a survey made to determine the number of available acres remaining on the old golf course. Other details of the transfer would have to be worked out between the city attorney and the school district’s legal council. The council ind...