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COMMITTEE APPOINTED AT NOON late. 'GOs by George B. McClellan, LUNCHEON OF THE COMMER- later famous as commander-ln-chlef CIAL CLUB TODAY TO AH-'of the Unlon^rmy at the outbreak ntNGE DETAILS OF FRESEKY1NG OLD LANDMARK ON CITY FKOFEKTY—TO RAISE TOFU* LAB SUBSCRIPTION.AT the noon luncheon of the Cora-.mercial Club at the Hotel Wilson today William Christensen, \V. B. Keir and Fred Thomas were.appointed as , a. committee to arrange the details of the* moving of the. historic blockhouse west of this city, known as old Ft. Borst. This committee will report at next, week’s luncheon.According to present plans the old fort will be moved to the new mujjjcipal park on the banks oh theof the Civil War.The general opinion expressed at the luncheon today was that the fortCT.DEstat In :chashould be moved to the city’s latest pr(Eacquired property. .Talks in favor of this move were made by William Christensen, Theo. Hoss, B. lt;H. Rhodes and J. R. Buxton. It was pointed out the immense advertising value the blockhouse will have to the city and the great number of tour-.tsts who will inspect it when it is lo-Iocated on a more accessible spot.The general opinion was expressed today that the fort should not be taken apapt, but should be moved in Its entirety. It Ib believed that onlythe ground Umbers are decayed, and these can easily be placed when theSkookumehuck and. it is probable; structure la fi„ally placed', in its.newnamed Ft.thechaIcon wh is ivlgChthat the park will be namcu i*t. tocatlon.park. Mrs. Mary Bora I has j There is little doubt but that Ccn-r expressed willingness toold structure moved and a!', that remains to be done is tin*, raising of necessary finances. The commit* co appointed today will see to this, al-hsive the u.au;mB jn general realize the valueof the old fort to the city and are behind the club In the present proposition of moving it.Mr. Keir stated at the luncheonthough It is likely that the money j0lt;^ay the old fort was built bywill be raised by popular subscription, the school children and club women of the city assisting.soldiers, Mr. Borst hauling the tint-bers by oxen. That the soldierB did tfteir work well is evidenced by theThe old fort will'be moved in its fact thRt cvery part flt8 to a ..T» entirety and .'it Is not believed that The lowcr piut| which is seven feetthe expense will -.be very great. That immediate action is necessary,; however, is evidenced by the facL thatA.reithe blockhouse is only a few inchesfrom the bank of the Chehalis river and could not possibly 'go through the coming winter without toppling into the water.J. D. Wonderly acted as toastmaster at the luncheon today and he explained the need of. immediate action. W. B. Keir gave a short history, of the structure and of the Borst family, its present owner.•According to Mr. Keir old/Jofbph Borst crossed the plains in IS45 and his yvlfo in 18.62, they being married at Grand Mound,two years later. The blockhouse was erected in ths wintej-of 1855-56 when the Indians had an uprising. It was never intended as a place of defense, bub was so constructed that it could be used for protection in case of an attack on the colony by the India jib. That such, an attack never ■ developed, however, does not decrease the hls-' toric value of the structure.The fort was built on the old military irail between Vancouver ' and b^Tumwater and was visited in theREGINALD M’KENNA.Latest Photo of Chancellor of Exchequer of Great Britain.in height and-24 feet square, has no windows and but one door. ‘ There are eight loop holes. The upper section Is 30 by SO feet in size and' contains 12 loop holes. The structure was plainly built as a place of safety and its builders were apparently true pijoneefB and not.amateurs at the business. *The fori? was buitt of logs about '.a foot thick, hewed and closely fitted. The^ were cut o.n the south aide of the Chehalis. and ferried across. The structure was built 100. yards from any object so that an enemy would have to cross an opeu space in 'order to reach it. The .block house was never attacked, the bulJeLs lodged in the logs being the result.of target practice. About $100 worth of repair work was recently pul on the structure.Was Lively SettlementFort Borst, as It is called, was a lively place at one time. On the opposite bank stood, and ^9till stand b, the. old mansion of Joseph Borst, while a store, warehouse and hotel 4^'re on the same aide as the fort. The store has been torn down, while-the hotel* was moved to this city and is now occupied as a residence.Among the relics of historical value at the fort are an old yoke and a plow used by Joseph Borst. There is probably not another plow in the state as old or as gigantic in' structure. The beam is 12 feet, lon'g(Continued on Page Sli.)
Newspaper Details
Centralia Daily Chronicle Examiner
Centralia, Washington, US
Mon, Nov 29, 1915
Page 4
Full Page
Clipped by
Timberland R.
WA, USA 02 May 2025
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