Moving Odd Fellows Hall

The first settlers to make their homes near the head of Little Skookum Inlet in the mid-1880s called their settlement Kamilche, after the Native American name for the valley. Around 1889, a logging railroad was pushing its way past Kamilche up Little Skookum to reach more open water. When the railroad reached the point where Little Skookum merged with Totten Inlet, docks were built and a small community called New Kamilche took shape. In addition to homes, there was a hotel, saloons, store buildings, a post office, a school and an Odd Fellows Hall. New Kamilche began to decline in 1894, when a fire destroyed the Port Blakely Company's railroad shops. By 1897, the company had moved its log dumping operations to Rollway, a few miles farther into Little Skookum Inlet. By 1908, New Kamilche was practically a ghost town. This story is adapted from an item in the March 12, 1912, Mason County Journal titled "Kamilche Odd Fellows Move."

The first meeting of the members of the Kamilche Odd Fellows in their newly located building was Feb. 28, 1912. The 32-by-72-foot, two-story building had been built at New Kamilche some 20 years earlier, when the "Point," connected with Grays Harbor by railroad, was booming. As New Kamilche faded away, most of the lodge members left as well, with only a faithful few remaining to keep going and hold its charter. Early in 1912, Mr. Ronald McDonald suggested a lot at "Old Town" Kamilche be donated to the lodge, if the members felt that the new location would be convenient to a large number of farmers in the valley and would strengthen the lodge.

Finding that it would cost about $3,000 to construct a new building, and $1,177 to move the existing building to the new location, the move was decided upon and successfully carried out, "with only a trifling damage to the plastering." The building was removed from a steep bank at high tide, loaded on two large barges, and towed the 5 miles down Little Skookum, landing safely on solid ground near the old hotel building at Kamilche. The move just about wiped out the lodge's treasury; however, since a dozen new members agreed to join the order, and about the same number of old members reactivated their membership, lodge members felt they had made a wise move.

(In a letter to his brother-in-law Bill Smith, 7-year-old Rollway resident Herbert Durand wrote, "They are moving the Hall up to Old Town. They will put her on the water tomorrow. I think I'll go down and hitch a ride.")

On March 23, the Kamilche Odd Fellows had its first ball in the new hall. "It was a great success from all reports, over 100 tickets being sold. Everybody within reach by boat, horse team, or auto took in the dance. The music by White's orchestra was good, the supper by Mrs. Griggs fine, and all of the eight hours of dancing enjoyed to the utmost. The Kamilche boys have a reputation as entertainers."

■ 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."