1949 earthquake

Most people who've lived in Mason County for several years have experienced at least one significant earthquake. One of them occurred at 11:57 a.m. on April 13, 1949. The 7.1 magnitude earthquake, centered between Olympia and Tacoma, affected all of Washington, northwest Oregon, southwest British Columbia, the Idaho Panhandle and northwest Montana. Eight people were killed, and dozens were seriously injured.

Although damage in Mason County was not severe, some people who were teenagers at the time remember the experience. Jerry Sheldon, who was standing outside the junior high school building, watched - and felt - the ground rolling beneath him like waves on the ocean. Jack Valley, in a classroom at Irene S. Reed High School, "heard a loud roar just before the building started shaking. The building had damage including many light fixtures falling on the floor and desks. I remember looking to see if the huge Rayonier stack was still standing on Hillcrest - fortunately it was! That afternoon I went to Lumbermen's Mercantile to help clean up all the groceries that had fallen into the aisles." (Jack's father, William Valley, was manager of the grocery department and Jack had worked there since second grade.)

A police patrol car covered the downtown area with a loudspeaker, ordering, "Clear the business district as soon as possible. There is no immediate danger." A brick chimney on the Lincoln School building toppled onto the roof, causing plaster to fall off some interior walls; a quickly organized fire drill allowed everyone to exit the building in an orderly manner. Bricks from an outer wall at the bus depot at First and Grove streets fell onto the sidewalk, and sections of the nearby Eagles Hall collapsed. Telephone operators went on emergency status due to an overload of calls being made. The heavy door to the safe at the Shelton branch of Seattle First National Bank was forced open, and a supporting cross beam on the ceiling was "swaying with a snake-like movement." Several Shelton homes lost chimneys, and Fire Chief Theodore Deer asked that everyone check their oil and gas connections and electrical wiring.

City Librarian Laura Plumb was happy to announce that not one volume of the 11,802 books in the Shelton Library at the corner of Fifth and Railroad (now the Mason County Historical Museum) had fallen off the shelves.

Dewatto resident Mrs. Frank Pearce watched some of her best china and glassware fly off shelves and shatter on the floor. The kitchen stovepipe came apart, scattering soot among the broken glass, and a lamp on the stove fell into her oyster stew. A Mr. McAlfrey of Shelton, who knocked on the door of the R. W. King home just as the quake began, was momentarily startled by his door-knocking strength as the whole house rocked on its foundation.

Shelton Junior High student Kenneth Kirn had walked to the little store near the school to buy his lunch when the building began to shake.

"I looked outside expecting to see a truck that I supposed had caused the tremor. Someone said 'earthquake' and we all hurried outside. A car parked on the sidewalk was bouncing up and down, and other parked cars were swaying in a circular motion. The fire bell at the school rang, letting the pupils out of the building."

Betty Walton was in the junior high cafeteria when the quake struck. It seemed to her as if the foundations were giving way. At first, she thought it was the eighth-graders being especially rowdy as they came down the stairs to lunch. Then dishes started falling to the floor, light fixtures swayed and tables danced. The side door of the cafeteria was jarred open and everyone ran through it to the school grounds.

A story in the Journal the following week about the Forest Festival Court's visit to the governor at the Capitol began with a quote from Queen Mary Carnes: "Right after we girls went over to see Gov. Langlie last Thursday the announcement came that the dome on the Capitol had come loose. We didn't do that. All we did was see the governor and give him a red hat."

■ Jan Parker is a researcher for the Mason County Historical Museum. She can be reached at [email protected]. Membership in the Mason County Historical Society is $25 per year. For a limited time, new members will receive a free copy of the book "Shelton, the First Century Plus Ten."