On the move
The years 1898-1902 were probably the most exciting five years the Lewiston-Clarkston Valley has ever had.
Here are the events that makes me say that.
In 1898 the railroad came to Lewiston. Our soldiers went to the Philippines and fought in the Spanish-American War. And the Lewiston State Normal college’s two-year program graduated its first class with 17 in the class.
In 1899, the toll bridge from Lewiston to Concord was completed.
In 1901, the Carnegie library was built.
In 1902, the new St. Joseph’s Hospital was built and the name Concord was changed to Clarkston.
Let me tell you about some of those events.
On the night of Sept. 15, 1898, the railroad came to Lewiston. The streets around the old depot were full with buggies, horses and people. The Fifth Street Depot had been built in 1895 and was called “the depot without a train.”
At 11 p.m., the melodious sound of a whistle was heard, and the bands played as people danced on the platform.
It was one of the greatest nights in the history of Lewiston, and the saloons did big businesses.
The nation lost a president in 1901 when William McKinley was murdered and Vice President Theodore Roosevelt became president.
There you have it. Our area was a place where you could get to Spalding or even New York City by train, cross the river by bridge, get a college degree, check out books from a library and get health care in a new hospital.
Dick Riggs
Lewiston
