Vernonia High School - Memolog Yearbook (Vernonia, OR)

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About this same time, a store was put in at Vernonia by Mr. William Mellinger. Preceding this, goods had been brought to the homes in the valley by a Jewish peddler whose name was Fletcher. Since there wras no church at this time, all the services were held in the school house with the Reverends Plowman and Kerr officiating. Shortly following this, the settlers donated labor and built a church known as the Evangelical Church.This was in 1906 and the old church still stands on what is now 2nd Street and with several changed, has been converted into the Cherry Tree Apartments. Mr. I, F, Spencer was the first justice of the peace. Sixteen miles below Vernonia, a little town grew up called Mist. Through enthusiastic cooperation, it soon became a community center. Vernonia also was changing. There were now two stores known as the Zilgette and the Dov. Keasey, and the former, now deserted, still stands next to the Vernonia telephone office. The room just over the Zilgette store was for a time the center for community gatherings in Vernonia until the Grange Hall, built in 1904, took its place as the center for social and business meetings. The first grade school in the town of Vernonia had only one room and was built on the present site £ Vernonia High School, With the increase in population of Vernonia, it was moved across the street and converted into a laundrjt It still stands, a memorial to the pioneer days. The first hotel was The Webster which still stands on 4th Street,The first drug store was operated by L. B, Stuart who acted as physician for the community. On September 9, 1921, the railroad came into Vemcnia, bringing with it a new tide of immigration. Two years later, the mill was built in Vernonia which had, by now, started to show a great improvement. In the year 1932,the Oregon American mill ceased operating, causing many people to move from the town. In 1936, however, it again resumed operations and Vernonia became once more the busy little to m it had once been. Fame of Vernonia lumbering industry is now widespread and will always remain the deciding factor in the settlement of the town.