Whitman County Gazette - Serving Whitman County since 1877

-Gazette-Commoner photo

75 Years Ago From the Colfax Gazette-Commoner, Friday, August 22, 1947 Oakesdale was platted by James H. (Uncle) McCoy in 1887 and was named after a Northern Pacific railroad official named Oakes. The first business enterprise was a mercantile store opened in 1887 by Hinkle & McCoy (James H.) who had come with their families from the Willamette valley in Oregon. In the same year the National Bank of Oakesdale was founded by Samuel Brown and the Northern Pacific built what was to be its Spokane-Lewiston line through Oakesdale and on to Belmont which was the end of the line until a year later. Wheat was hauled to Oakesdale from miles around and it was nothing to see 50 wagons waiting in line to get to the elevator to unload, according to State Representative Fred Miller, an Oakesdale pioneer himself. John Martin, Colfax, helped build the first brick block in 1889 after a fire had destroyed most of the town.