Colfax - Thriving city and automobiles

COLFAX — Since it’s 1870s start, Colfax settlers up through the 1880s discovered the productivity of the Palouse.

With the sawmill, then the creation of the wheatmill in 1872, Colfax quickly became a huge producer of wheat in 1886 with a capacity of 125 barrels per day.

Farmers were able to get their grain to consumers due to the first railroad arriving in 1883.

James Perkins died peacefully at his home June 1, 1920 at the age of 79, having seen all of this.

The city forefather had been able to see the town he started becoming a thriving producer of wheat. He was also here to see the first automobile built in Colfax by Myron and William Carley on July 4, 1900.

Colfax was quickly becoming a thriving city.

Just two years after Perkin’s passing The Colfax Commoner was putting ads for Studebaker cars in the paper. An ad in the June 9 paper from 1922 states that “This a Studebaker year.”

Cram Brothers Motor Co. was the Whitman County distributor, and the ad goes onto say, “The intrinsic value and enduring quality of the Special Six have for it the hearty endorsement of thousands of owners.”

In a Jan. 13, 1922, story, the Colfax Commoner wrote about Perfection Tires

“The Farm Bureau Executive Committee entered into an agreement whereby the Farm Bureau members can save considerable money in the purchase of tires,” it said. The tires were meant for tractors and farm equipment, a step up from the hand and horse powered threshing machines of the mid-1800s. It wasn’t until 1892 that John Froelich would invent the first tractor, with the first gasoline engine that could go both backwards and forwards.

“The perfection tire is being used very extensively by Farm Bureau members in Spokane and other Counties. Several members using this tire have consulted. These men speak in highest terms of these tires. They are giving satisfaction in ever way. These tires should not be compared with the Perfection Tires on the market three or four years ago, as the Perfection Tire and Rubber Company has no connection whatever with that tire,” says the Jan. 13, 1922, story.

Colfax was becoming a big part of the surrounding area.

In another tire ad from the June 2, 1922, issue directed at Farm Bureau Members which stated, “by arrangement with the Executive Committees of County Farm Bureaus, Perfection Tires and Tubes are Endorsed and used in the following counties: Spokane, Whitman, Walla Walla, Benton, Yakima kittitas, Pierce, Thurston, Chelan, Whatcom and Stevens.”

In the Jan. 13, 1922, issue, for tires it states, “Dealers are being secured in each community and you will be notified as soon as those dealers are secured. In the meantime if you needd a tire, get in touch with the Farm Bureau Secretary at Colfax.”

In addition to the introduction of gas-powered vehicles, Colfax was becoming thriving by the late-800s.

The three-story Fraternity building, which now houses the north part of the Sol Vallarta restaurant and the Hiram Lodge, was built in 1889, and would house many businesses.

The current building containing the Purpose Roasters coffee shop was built in 1933; it started out as a welding shop. These two buildings are not the only ones that have been here since the early days of Colfax; most went on to house many businesses over the last century-and-a-half.

— Look for Part 5 in the July 14 edition of The Gazette.