Remember When

 

November 2, 2017



70 YEARS AGO • NOVEMBER 3, 1947

HALLOWEEN

It was a nice Halloween after all this year. Tough kids did shoot out all the street lights, put up road blocks, and tear down fences, but other than that Halloween transpired without any serious difficulty. The little kids in masquerade “trick or treat” were cute and nice, but we will reserve our comments concerning their older brothers and sisters who should know better.

EDA GRANT TO FINANCE ADDITION TO COURTHOUSE

Sanders County’s application for an EDA (Economic Development Administration) grant of $552,000 in federal funds to finance construction on a three-story addition to the Courthouse is expected to receive final approval soon.

The commissioners are studying final architectural plans for the 24 by 114-feet addition to the Courthouse. The addition will be added to the east side of the Courthouse and provide additional vault storage area for records, office space for the superintendent of schools, public health and welfare offices and a new heating plant. Chairman Wells said consideration is being given to the installation of heat pumps to heat the entire Courthouse. The new system would replace the boiler system installed when the building was erected in the early 1950s.


The main floor addition will enlarge the space provided for the commissioners, clerk and recorder, treasurer and reclassification offices.

On the top floor, a new space for the judge’s chambers will be provided along with offices for the county attorney, secretary and a deputy, county attorney, probation officer and Highway Patrol. The Courtroom will remain in its present size and location.


The addition will include an elevator for use by handicapped persons. It will be installed in the northeast corner of the addition at a new entrance.

FIRST WATER SYSTEM SIMPLE

Excerpt from the booklet Looking Back, Reflections of Orin P. Kendall

A little bit of history concerning the Thompson Falls water might be appropriate at this time. I recognize that there are other people who know more about the system than I, but having served as a councilman and mayor for several years I am quite aware of the problems that the system has and has had ever since the beginning of the town.

The first water system, if it could be called that, consisted of water being delivered to homes by the barrel at a cost that no doubt was much higher than water rates today.


Sanders County Ledger canvas prints

One of the first, if not the first, water systems was started by a man by the name of McQuirk. The water was brought from Ashley Creek through a wooden pipeline. The principal lines throughout the town were also constructed of wood.

As time went on the system deteriorated to a point where the lines leaked badly. The water became dirty and often contained angle worms and other foreign matter.

Since McQuirk was unable or unwilling to make the necessary repairs, the Town of Thompson Falls took over the system.

Since this was in the middle of the great depression, WPA labor was used in making the repairs. Also, I am sure that a money grant was received for the purchase of materials. The take over of the system was in 1935 or 36. A bond issue was passed and a storage reservoir was constructed.

In about the middle 1940s, the first well was dug on the grounds known as the old golf course. An abundance of water was found at a depth of 23 feet and a pump calculated to pump 500 gallons a minute was unable to pump the well dry. The water problem appeared solved until the Montana Power Co. took the boards out of the dam and the 500-gallon a minute pump pumped the well dry in less than a minute.

In the early 1970s it was decided to put down a second well and make it deeper than the first well. Luckily the flow of water in the new well was not affected by the removal of the dam boards.

With the two wells and the water from Ashley Creek, the system was capable of delivering upwards of 1,000 gallons of water a minute. (Engineers’ estimate not mine.) Next we turned our attention to looking for leaks. Thompson Falls being large situated on a rock pile makes finding water leaks difficult.

We spent a lot of time trying to locate leaks and found a good many of them that should have helped with the water situation. With the shifting of the ground and traffic of heavy vehicles leaks can occur at any time, so it is necessary to be on the alert for new ones.

It must be remembered that what may have been adequate water supply 40 years ago would not be adequate today. I am sure that the number of users has tripled and the amount of water used by each customer has greatly increased also.

 

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