we currently live in Walville, or what on the old Walville map would have been known as “Cow town.” this was the part of town where they kept and raised the cattle that would pull the skidders up the ridge in the early days of logging out here. there was a fire lookout up on the ridge that burnt down, only a few boards from the base frame remain, they built another lookout further up the ridge which there is no trace of left. you can barely make out the railroad track, now covered in grass running from the meadow into the woods. town proper was located not far from the gate to what once was cow town, near Mill Pond. on one side of the creek was the japanese town, and there still remains a fenced graveyard of 9 marked graves, there are more graves throughout the hillside there but only the 9 are marked and fenced. there is little evidence remaining of the structures, mostly a few bricks here and there, and tons of fragmented remains of white and blue painted porcelain. the mill across the pond burnt down, which eventually lead to the towns collapse in 1934. the rest of town was located on the mill side of the creek stretching along the “rails to trails” which once was an active railroad line from chehalis to raymond. the town has a rich history, including the birth of the IWW union (the black-cat logo adopted by the IWW was the logo of the walville logging industry) as well as being a sort of haven for japanese workers who were under much persecution during those days. in a survey of walville taken in 1924 it is clear that racial tension was low, and living conditions were rather equal.
My grandparents moved from Missouri to Walville in 1924, my Mother was 5 her sister 14. I grew up hearing all about Walville. They moved to PeEll in 1931.
Bryan, thank you for sharing. My father grew up in Walville. I think my paternal grandfather was a supervisor at the sawmill. The only time I was in Walville was in 1969. There were only a couple of houses still standing, and less than a handful of people still living there.
we currently live in Walville, or what on the old Walville map would have been known as “Cow town.” this was the part of town where they kept and raised the cattle that would pull the skidders up the ridge in the early days of logging out here. there was a fire lookout up on the ridge that burnt down, only a few boards from the base frame remain, they built another lookout further up the ridge which there is no trace of left. you can barely make out the railroad track, now covered in grass running from the meadow into the woods. town proper was located not far from the gate to what once was cow town, near Mill Pond. on one side of the creek was the japanese town, and there still remains a fenced graveyard of 9 marked graves, there are more graves throughout the hillside there but only the 9 are marked and fenced. there is little evidence remaining of the structures, mostly a few bricks here and there, and tons of fragmented remains of white and blue painted porcelain. the mill across the pond burnt down, which eventually lead to the towns collapse in 1934. the rest of town was located on the mill side of the creek stretching along the “rails to trails” which once was an active railroad line from chehalis to raymond. the town has a rich history, including the birth of the IWW union (the black-cat logo adopted by the IWW was the logo of the walville logging industry) as well as being a sort of haven for japanese workers who were under much persecution during those days. in a survey of walville taken in 1924 it is clear that racial tension was low, and living conditions were rather equal.
http://digitalcollections.lib.washington.edu/cdm/search/collection/clarkkinsey/field/title/searchterm/Walville
Thank you for sharing. I have been looking for Wallville since i moved here 2 years ago.
My grandparents moved from Missouri to Walville in 1924, my Mother was 5 her sister 14. I grew up hearing all about Walville. They moved to PeEll in 1931.
Bryan, thank you for sharing. My father grew up in Walville. I think my paternal grandfather was a supervisor at the sawmill. The only time I was in Walville was in 1969. There were only a couple of houses still standing, and less than a handful of people still living there.