A weekly look back compiled by the Clark County Historical Museum from The Columbian archives available at columbian.newspapers.com or at the museum.
- 100 years ago
On Dec. 7, 1923, high school athletic director F.S. Ratchford left for Chehalis to present Vancouver High School’s membership application for the Southwest Washington Athletic League. Ratchford felt “virtually assured” of the school’s application for membership in the basketball, baseball and track-and-field division of the league. Vancouver High hoped to join the club’s first division, made up of larger educational institutions.
- 75 years ago
On Dec. 3, 1948, independent appraisers employed by the state highway department announced that “five blocks of the lower Vancouver business district will be wiped virtually clean to make way for a modern and impressive traffic entrance.” The area under consideration included notable city landmarks such as Columbia Machine Works and the Empress Hotel. However, the general attitude was one of “acquiescence in favor of a project long pushed by Vancouver to relieve heavy through traffic” in downtown.
- 50 years ago
In the evening hours of Dec. 7, 1973, truck drivers gathered “in a crowded, smoke-filled bar” at Jubitz Truck Stop to decide whether to block Interstate 5 at the bridge and at the Banfield Freeway. The previous month, the state highway commission enacted 50 mile-an-hour speed limits on all highways as a fuel-saving measure for Washington. The truckers gathered at Jubitz spoke of the difficulties they faced in an occupation where “speed is profit,” and fuel stocks were limited.
