My eyes were glued to my Android last Saturday as the Aberdeen Armory was devastated by a raging inferno. The scene, dominated by flames reaching skyward and a huge column of smoke resembling a swirling tornado, was surreal.
I’d spent some time in that building, and, though I wasn’t at the scene that day, I was among those grieving its brutal loss. Authorities were reportedly beginning to investigate the cause Monday.
The historic structure at 117 E. Third Street began as an armory. But in later years, it was home
to the Coastal Community Action Program, Aberdeen Senior Center, Aberdeen Museum of History and the Grays Harbor Genealogical Society.
“Click on a date and read about a slice of Aberdeen history!” the museum’s website still invites. One “slice” on the timeline notes: “1922 – Aberdeen’s Armory building completed.”
More recent history
The National Guard’s move in the 1970s to its current location on Montesano’s Clemons Road meant “the Armory” could begin a second “life.”
“On March 18th, 1976, the Armory was purchased from the state by the Swanson Brothers, Carl and Charles, a well known local family who introduced the concept of ‘supermarket’ to Grays Harbor,” the website says. “Their tenure of ownership was characterized as a period of general disuse of the building after the last National Guard battalion left in 1978.”
The Swansons donated the Armory to the City of Aberdeen in 1981, “with the condition that the building be used for public purposes only. Since that time the City has actively pursued re-occupancy and rehabilitation of the building,” the museum’s website says, adding that since then, “the City, the Aberdeen Museum of History, and the Community Action Council have infused nearly $250,000 into the structural rehabilitation of the building; fixing the roof, new electrical and communication services, heating system upgrade, and amenities such as a new paint job and window panes.”
With many dozens of employees, the Coastal Community Action Program provides social services including weatherization, job training and placement, housing, energy assistance, transportation and more.
I spent a lot of my time there when I was hired through CCAP as a “family educator” for Twin Harbors Head Start, an early-learning program. Though it home-based, with twice-weekly group classes in Westport, I spent time at the “Armory” for meetings and other job duties.
The Aberdeen Senior Center has been a place for senior citizens to gather with others their ages, as well as enjoy a hot lunch. Part of the Senior Nutrition Program, it also provides the home-delivered “Meals on Wheels” to folks 60 and older.
History at the Armory
“The beautifully-restored building you see represents twenty-three years of private donations and volunteer labor,” the Aberdeen Museum of History’s website says. “Each exhibit is a window into some part of Aberdeen’s past. Throughout are rich signs of community pride in Grays Harbor.”
The beautiful facility was also a premium venue for numerous events, such as Harborite of the Year banquets, historical programs and more. Former Daily World editor and publisher, John Hughes, and I once presented an update on the legendary — and still-unsolved — Laura Law murder. A Law family relative attended, and later John and I met with her and her husband twice in their home to share information on the 1940s crime.
I became hooked on the mystery by John when I worked as a reporter in The Daily World newsroom. We also presented the case by request at the Southwest Regional Branch of the Washington State Archives a few years ago, when its theme for the year was “Law and Order in the Archives.”
Admittedly, I get hooked on history easily. At the Aberdeen paper, I also wrote a profile on Dann Sears, founder and longtime (now former) director/curator of the Aberdeen Museum of History. We quickly became friends, and I learned that Dann was completely immersed in a love for all things historic and extremely generous in sharing his knowledge.
Saturday, Dann and the museum’s current executive director, Dave Morris, watched as the rabid blaze decimated the beloved history, including murals painted on the walls by the celebrated late artist and former Seattle Post-Intelligencer illustrator and editorial cartoonist, Bob McCausland. Retiring after 33 stellar years, McCausland and his sweet wife, Ruth, moved to Tokeland. Bob, also a generous man, painted breathtaking murals on the museum’s walls.
Dann, an artist in his own right, and Morris fervently hope some of the artifacts might be able to be salvaged. I truly hope so, too. But there is one picture I’ll carry in my memory forever:
Watching live, I saw a police officer, a firefighter and Dann (an Army veteran) quickly lower the American flag from where it still waved unharmed outside of the blazing “Armory.” It was heart-wrenching to see Dann hurriedly catch the flag to keep it from touching the ground.
Tommi Halvorsen Gatlin is a retired reporter of The Vidette. She contributes a monthly column. She can be reached by emailing editor@thevidette.com.
