The Skamania County Pioneer, Stevenson, WA., January 15, 1926, page 1

MUCH PROSPERITY SEEN AT UNDERWOOD DURING 1925
(By W.H. Taylor)

     A few of the things that have happened around Underwood in the past few years:
     A new mill has been built at the Highlands, many improvements have been made at the Hicks and Fagly mill; a stream feed was installed last summer and increased their output several thousand a day.  Dr. Ausplin and son have planted a large acreage of new orchard. R.H. Hazelton has added a new truck to assist in hauling lumber from both the Hicks and Kee mills also a steam loading device for loading the lumber on the cars.  The old Climax mill that had been idle for a number of years was rebuilt last summer by Mr. Price and a good business was being done until it was destroyed by the fire, which also burned the school house in district 28.  The school has been replaced with a new one much better than the one destroyed.  Mr. Mickles trucked many logs to the river last summer and is now engaged in shipping wood.  Lewis and Edwards were also heavy loggers from this district last summer.

Conditions of School Improves

     Extensive improvements have been made in school district No. 17.  A new cottage being built at a cost of nearly $2,000, in which to house the teachers.  This cottage is lighted by electricity and is entirely up to date.  The increased number of the great children necessitated enlarging the rooms and sending the high school pupils to White Salmon.  The school bus has been changed from a touring car and a team to a bus with a capacity of 25, and is now offtimes loaded with 35.  Several hundred dollars were also expended last season in improving and beautifying the building.

Irrigation District Formed

     An irrigation district was formed and a flume built to Buck Creek.  This was completed a little too late in the season of 1924 to get much benefit from it that year and the following spring the falling of timber damaged the flume to a large extent and the fire a little later in the season completed the destruction.  It is expected this will be rebuilt in the near future as water is a necessity in the district covered by this flume.

Other Added Improvements

     H. Kapp and Sons have added more trucks to handle their freight business.
     The Underwood Mercantile company installed a soda fountain in their store to please the taste of their customers whose number has been increased by the installation of Ray Meggs’ service station.  This service has grown from one pump to four and now demands all the time of the owners so he has had to sell the repair shop he formerly operated.
     Materials are being placed on the ground are the new depot to be constructed soon.

Improvements in Warehouse

     The Underwood Fruit and Warehouse company lost their warehouse by fire but replaced it again with one much larger and more complete than the old one.  The other warehouses have been adding on each year until every inch of available track room is now in use.  Several hundred car loads of fruit and lumber are sent from the station yearly, in fact it is one of the heaviest shipping points on the S.P. & S. railway.

Electric Planer Installed

     Hood has been constantly enlarging its output of finished lumber, until it has been increased from a small stream propelled planer handling the lumber from one mill to an electric powered planer, now handling the lumber from two mills and running a double shift.  Men who work at the planer are building permanent homes near their work.  This is what the company likes and the men who remain on their job permanently are the ones to receive the benefit.

Mail Service Improved

     The mail service has been changed from a tri-weekly to a daily mail, to take care of the increased population and business.

Religious and Community Gatherings

     The growth of religious societies has been by leaps and bounds.  The community gatherings have also increased until the rooms used for them are entirely inadequate to hold the crowd to attend.  Therefore the need of a new chapel and community house is beginning to be felt, and it is expected that both will be built in the near future.
     Many children have been born in this neighborhood some of whom may become president for aught we know.
     The faint sound of the knocker’s hammer can sometimes be heard, but it is a futile sound to one who has faith in his own country.
     Several new homes have been built and extensive improvements made on others.  The prospects for 1926 are very bright, and our climate is superior to that of California.
     In conclusion we wish to say that to our knowledge only four persons have been buried in our cemetery in the past two years and these have been brought from outside districts.