from my perspective . . .

This started out to be about the Stephens Store as I spent the afternoon with Mary Stephens Waller and her photo album and memories . . .

However, as you are aware . . .
'LIFE is what happens after you make your plans'!!!!!!!

I had asked Eb why the beautiful Kappler House had been torn down (remember it from the last post??)

and he didn't know if he ever knew the whole story. Others I asked said they didn't really know the story either.

As Synchronicity would have it, I got an email from David Campbell, whose family had lived in the old Geney (now Denny) house on Main Street. And he wrote this:

"I was interested in the photo of the Kappler House that you provided.
My Aunt Rose Sovy ran a boarding house there during W.W.II.
I was also dismayed they tore it down.
As children Jerry Reynolds, Bob Roberts, myself and others
used to play in the part that was left of the brewery that was behind that house.
The building had burned down and left a skeleton of heavy timbers
and concrete work that was treacherous at best.

At age 3 we lived in the front left main floor bedroom as you face the building.
I can remember the bombing of Pearl Harbor
because there was so much alarm amongst the tenants of the house.
I also remember the airplane spotting program that was run by Civil Defense during the war.
I believe some of the people from the house took part in the spotting."

Well, those few paragraphs gave me some leads and I began making calls.

First I spoke with Jerry Reynolds who said Dr. Clough, who used to do the exams for the school sports program, had his office on the ground floor. He suggested I call Dorothy Corrigan since the house had been right next door to Corrigan's. I told him I would call and report back with any news.

This is what I learned from Dorothy: They had bought the building which had apartments in it. Their idea was to hire a chef and open a restaurant that connected with the bar. Then she got to thinking, 'what if we do that and the chef decides he doesn't like the place . . . who is left doing the cooking??????'

That's a no-brainer . . . It would be Dorothy!

They also discovered that the old oil stoves that were used in the apartments had leaked and the walls were full of oil. The county refused to let them do anything with the building as it was a fire trap with all the saturated oil.

Mrs. Friden evidently fought to keep the building from being demolished, but it was not to be.

Dave's mention of the spotting program brought to mind the little building on the corner of Main Street and Hwy 3. I remembered that something had been written about it not long ago. I called Garold Carver, whose family owns that property and he told me 'our resident Valley photographer, Mel Fechter', had done a story and taken photos of it for the Siskiyou Daily not long ago.

So for those of you who missed that piece, here it is again:

"This dilapidated, unassuming building, of some historical significance,
stands alone on a lot at the corner of Hwy 3 and Main Street in Etna, CA.

Garold Carver, who owns the lot and the building,
told me the building was built by the US government,
probably at the start of W.W.II,
as a civilian manned enemy airplane 'observation post'.
Observation posts, such as this one,
were overseen by the Aircraft Warning Service (AWS),
a civilian service of the United States Army Ground Observer Corps.

Observation posts were built up and down
the east and west coasts of the U.S.
and were manned by civilians trained in watching for,
and reporting various aircraft to the US Army Filter Center.

In the 1950’s, Garold and his family moved into the residence
that sat on the property adjacent to the observation post.
Although no longer manned at the time,
the crank telephone in the observation post
was still operational and it had electricity and a flush toilet.

Occasionally Garold and/or his brother would pick up the telephone receiver
and crank the telephone until someone answered,
then hang up and run like hell,
not knowing who the person was that answered the telephone
or what the ramifications were of tampering with it.
He and/or his brother would later be scolded by their father
who was notified by someone [unknown who] of the telephone tampering.

Eventually, the father disconnected the telephone,
electricity and toilet and moved it behind the house.
The house was subsequently demolished
and the observation post now stands alone."

That's enough for tonight . . . to be continued!

In joy!

Che'usa
July 24, 2011

Thanks for
continuing
to shop locally!

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