Today is My Friday

The City of Vancouver is redesigning the stretch of Main Street from 5th Street to 15th Street, and they are seeking feedback from the community. More information on the project can be found here on the Be Heard Vancouver site. The link to the survey can be found here . Here are my answers to the survey questions: What is your hope for the future of Main Street? My hope for the future of Main Street is that it be a community gathering place that is accessible and convenient for people of all levels of mobility and modes of transportation. I do not own a car, so my primary modes of transportation are walking and cycling. While the current Main Street corridor is pedestrian-friendly, there are several improvements that can be made to be more welcoming to walkers, as well as cyclists. In order to make Main Street more welcoming to all, I offer the following suggestions: Replace angled parking spaces with parallel parking. Studies have shown that angled parki

This is a first draft of a self-guided walking tour brochure that I have put together to highlight the Art Deco & Art Moderne buildings I have discovered in downtown Vancouver, Washington. I am not an architectural expert, so I have relied heavily on information from the Clark County Historic Preservation Commission. They have an excellent searchable map of noted historic and architectural treasures in the county on their website . My hope is that this map will generate interest in local history and architecture and strengthen further preservation efforts in the future. On that note, it has been brough to my attention that there are plans by the county to demolish the Pepsi-Cola Bottling Co. building (#5 on the walking tour) to expand the jail. I am a newcomer to Vancouver, so I am not aware of any preservation efforts that may have occurred with this building. When I see photos of long-gone buildings in the older parts of town, I am saddened by their loss and by the lack o

There are names of local historical significance that many native Vancouverites instantly recognize, such as Hidden, McLoughlin or Kiggins. However, some important names from the past have been all but forgotten. One such surname is Chumasero. Chumasero-Smith House Alfred Chumasero, a native of Ohio, moved to Vancouver is 1890 and is thought to be the first Filipino-American to settle in the state of Washington. He is perhaps most well known for operating a drug store at the northwest corner of Main Street and 6th Street in the Schofield Building (space most recently occupied by Top Shelf Martinis on Main). He also operated a hardware store, an electric station and was a partner in one of the City's first electric companies. Former location of A.C. Chumasero ~ Druggist at the northwest corner of 6th and Main in downtown Vancouver Screen capture from an expired eBay listing for a bottle from Alfred Chumasero's drug store The Chumasero-Smith h

I wrote a series of blog posts about local hauntings in Vancouver, Washington during the month of October 2022. I have gathered them in one place for easy navigation. Enjoy! Vancouver Ghost Stories: First Presbyterian Church Vancouver Ghost Stories: Hidden House Vancouver Ghost Stories: Red Lion Hotel Vancouver Ghost Stories: Simply Sweets Vancouver Ghost Stories: Clark County Historical Museum

During this time of year, I always get the hankering to watch a “scary movie.” I seldom have the patience to sit through a two-plus-hour movie, so I tend to be fairly picky about the ones I watch. The hunt for the perfect film for a spooky October night usually ends in frustration as I scroll through endless previews of slasher, jump scare and zombie flicks. However, I have found that the perfect ingredient for a movie that will send a chill down my spine is the child ghost. Maybe it is the tragedy of a life cut short or my curmudgeonly avoidance of small and noisy creatures, but nothing scares the bejeebers out of me like an undead kid. Today’s story deals with such a ghost. The Clark County Historical Museum is housed in a stately red brick building at the southeast corner of Main Street and E 16th Street. It was constructed in 1909 (with Hidden bricks, of course) as the City’s first public library and operated in that capacity until the early 1960s when the museum took ov

I have a confession to make. When I was planning my fourth installment of Vancouver Ghost Stories, I had a completely different haunting in mind than the one I am writing about this week. I am not proud of it, but I changed my mind because I was craving a cookie. I will explain. The majority of my research for this series has been Pat Jollota’s fun book Haunted Vancouver, Washington which details reports of ghosts within our fair burg and provides possible identities of said spirits based on historical research. Many of the stories involve either buildings that are no longer in existence, like this or this , buildings that are not open to the public or private residences. The one that caught my eye this week involves a bakery. The building at the northwest corner of Columbia and 31st, built in the 1930s, originally served as a grocery store operated by Lucius and Celia Bagley, who also lived on the premises. After her husband’s death in 1944, Celia remained in the house u