Special Collections & Archives
Manuscript Group 102
The Village Of Craigmont
Records, 1921-1969
5.5 l.f.
This descriptive inventory of the papers of the Village Of Craigmont in the University of Idaho Library was prepared by Judith Nielsen in August 1980.
CRAIGMONT
The Village of Craigmont, located in Lewis County in the center of the Camas Prairie wheat section, is a major wheat shipping point in the state of Idaho. It is on the main Federal-State north and south highway (U.S. 95), approximately 45 miles south and east of Lewiston, Idaho. It is served by the Camas Prairie Railroad. In 1955 the population of Craigmont was about six hundred; by 1965 it had grown to around seven hundred.
This small town has an interesting history. On November 18, 1895 the Nez Perce Indian Reservation was opened for settlement; by 1898 there were 60 lots in a little townsite called Chicago. The first building was a general store which changed hands several times during its first year of existence, and was eventually bought by O.W. Leggett who established the first permanent business in the new town. From 1898 to 1902 the town grew rapidly and new businesses were established. The United States Post Office often confused Chicago, Idaho with Chicago, Illinois, and mail for one was frequently sent to the other; often these mix-ups caused delay in receipt of much needed replacement parts for farm machinery required by the Idaho farmers. In 1902 or 1903 Leggett, who was a notary in Chicago, had the town renamed for his older daughter, Ilo, thus ending the confusion.
In 1904 a fire destroyed most of the town, but residents soon had it rebuilt. From 1907 to 1909 the Camas Prairie Railroad extended its tracks south from Lewiston, but the tracks were a mile from the Ilo townsite. To remedy this situation the residents moved the entire town to the south side of the tracks, the present location of the town of Craigmont.
At the same time John Vollmer, a Lewiston businessman, built a townsite named for himself on the opposite side of the tracks. Thus there were two towns, each with its own church, bank, newspaper, school, post office, business and residential districts existing side by side in complete disharmony, each town trying to out do the other.
This state of affairs continued until the two towns were finally consolidated on June 17, 1920. At the annual picnic on June 18 a mock wedding was performed and "Miss Ilo" and "Mr. Vollmer" were united and pronounced CRAIGMONT, the new town being named after Colonel William Craig, the first permanent white settler in Idaho.
SCOPE AND CONTENT
The three boxes of papers in this group span the years 1927 to 1974, with the decades of the 1950's and 60's being the best represented. They include such items as audit reports, monthly and yearly financial reports, traffic citations, abstracts of court cases, bids for sewer and water projects, applications for building permits, liquor and beer licenses, and slot machine licenses, employee work sheets, minutes of the planning commission meetings and newspaper clippings of official notices.
Each series in this collection is described in detail in the following Description of Series.
PRINCIPLES OF ORGANIZATION
Items in this collection were separated according to the type of material, unless there was a specific relationship to another series, e.g., the ledger sheets for the slot machines were put with the permit applications for the machines rather than with the financial material. Other interrelationships between series are mentioned in the Description of Series.
SERIES DESCRIPTION
I. Code of Ordinances File Box 1
II. Financial Records File Boxes 1-2
III. Dept. of Law Enforcement File Box 2
IV. Public Works File Box 2
V. Permits File Box 3
VI. Employee Material File Box 3
VII. Miscellaneous File Box 3
VIII. Warrants File Box 4
DESCRIPTION OF SERIES
I. Code of Ordinances
The first series consists of several typed ordinances; other ordinances will be found in the "Proof of Publication" folder in box three. Items in this series are as follows:
Code of Ordinances, Village of Craigmont. Approved August 1, 1950. 162 p.
Ordinance no. 34. Regulating chimneys, flues, furnaces, pipes, smokehouses, and the storage and keeping of waste and inflammable material within the limits of the Village of Ilo, Idaho. Passed by the Board of Trustees, February 4, 1918.
Ordinance no. 36. Granting to Grangeville Electric Light & Power Company ... the right and privilege to construct, maintain and operate an electric light system and plant in the Village of Ilo, Lewis County, State of Idaho.... Passed and approved, July 15, 1918
Acceptance of Ordinance no. 94 by Grangeville Electric Light and Power Co., Ltd. August 26, 1926.
Ordinance no. 128. Defining standards and specifications for service sewer connections to municipal sewer system. Passed by the Board of Trustees, Village of Craigmont, November 17, 1952.
Ordinance no. 195. Relating to the municipal water system of the Village of Craigmont. Passed by the Board of Trustees, Village of Craigmont, June 11, 1959.
Ordinance no. 196. Providing for the establishment ... of a volunteer fire department. Passed by the Board of Trustees, Village of Craigmont, July 7, 1959.
Ordinance no. 200. Establishing a traffic code for the Village of Craigmont. Passed by the Board of Trustees, Village of Craigmont, June 14, 1960.
Ordinance no. 207. Creating a planning commission for the Village of Craigmont. Passed by the Board of Trustees, Village of Craigmont, August 7, 1962. (Miscellaneous zoning regulations are also included)
II. Financial Records
This series includes many different types of financial reports, yearly audits, monthly reports from both the treasurer and village clerk, and ledger sheets. Financial reports which were published in the local newspaper will be found in the "Proof of Publication" folder in box three. Ledger sheets for the sewer fund are with the other sewer material in box two; those for slot machine receipts are in box three with the slot machine permit applications.
A list of folder headings and the material contained therein follows.
Audits, 1927/31-1967.
Annual Financial Reports, 1923/24-1925/26; 1951/52-1960/61.
Quarterly Treasurer's Reports, 1926-1927
Monthly Treasurer's Reports, December 1921 -May 1924; May 1951 - December 1962.
Village Clerk's Reports, May 1952 - June 1969.
Bank Check Registers (5), 1941 - 1972.
Ledger Sheets, 1936/37 - 1969.
Miscellaneous Ledger Sheets: Councilmen Salary, 1967 to 1970; Refuse Collection, 1966 to 1970; Backhoe Rental, 1965 to 1970; Beer & Liquor Licenses, 1964 to 1969; Building Permits, 1963 to 1968; Grader Rent, 1965 to 1969; Gravel, 1962 to 1970; Junkyard Costs, 1966 to 1969; Craigmont Air Service, 1967 to 1969.
Gasoline Tax Refund: Correspondence between Standard Oil Company of California and F.G. Densow, Chairman of the Craigmont Board of Trustees concerning the refund of federal tax on gasoline purchases. August to December 1955
Miscellaneous Financial: Copy of a letter from F.G. Densow to Elbert S. Rawls concerning the financial status of the village. July 23, 1955; Duplicate deposit slips 869-885. January to July 1942; County Auditor's Detailed Statement (Monthly), May 1927 - March 1931; January to December 1969; Record of Deposit books, 1924-1931; Lewis County Tax Notices (2) 1926; LID assessments, 1920, 1922
III. Department of Law Enforcement
Items in this series include traffic citations and abstracts of court cases. A list of folder headings and their contents follows.
Traffic Citations
Craigmont Police Department. Citation. Nos. 205-487. October 22, 1966 to November 19, 1970.
Idaho Driver's License Bureau. Report of Conviction. (These are stapled to the above citations)
Eight letters threatening arrest if citations are not answered.
Court Cases #1
In the District Court of the Second Judicial District, Lewis County. Abstract of the Court Record and Docket: 2283-2941. January 18, 1971 to July 1, 1974; T17-T2289. January 19, 1971 to December 17, 1974
Court Cases #2
In the Police Court of the Village of Craigmont, Lewis County, Idaho: Eighteen cases, mostly in 1950. The material includes a Criminal Complaint and Warrant of Arrest for each case.
In the Justice Court of Craigmont Precinct, Lewis County, Idaho: Thirteen cases from 1951 to 1953. The material for each case includes a Criminal Complaint and the Warrant of Arrest.
In the Justice Court of Winchester Precinct, Lewis County, Idaho. Four cases in 1949. The items are Affidavits for Attachment.
Miscellaneous
List of Bond Clerks, 1972.
Idaho Magistrates Association. Suggested Bond Schedule, 1969.
Dept. of Law Enforcement, Boise. Miscellaneous letters and news releases, 1941-1962.
"Some questions and answers about the omnibus crime control and safe streets act of 1968 (Public Law 90-351) Prepared by the Idaho Law Enforcement Planning Commission.
"Idaho Magistrates and Justices Manual." 1961, 31 p.; 1966, 46 p.
IV. Public Works
Two major public works projects were undertaken by the village of Craigmont, the construction of a new sewer system and treatment plant and the improvement of the city's water system. The folder headings in this series and the contents thereof are listed below.
Licensed Public Works Contractors
August 1955
January 1956
February 1956
Sewer - Correspondence I
With Federal Works Agency regarding financing. 1946-48.
With Housing and Home Finance Agency regarding financing and repayment of a loan. 1953.
Sewer - Correspondence II
Bids from construction companies.
Letters from Wesley H. Grow, Engineer, about the plans. 1952.
Records of work done. August to December 1953; May to December 1954.
Sewer - Correspondence III
Prospectus & Notice of Sale - General Obligation Bonds for sewer construction.
Information sheets for the sewer bond vote.
Correspondence regarding the bonds between city officials and the Idaho Attorney General, Pacific Northwest Company, Pain, Rice & Co. of Spokane, and Richards, Merrill & Peterson, inc. 1953 to 1968.
Sewer - Warrants
Construction Fund. August 1953 March 1956
Interest & Sinking Fund. February 1, 1964 - August 16, 1961
Sewer Revenue, Special Fund. February 1, 1954 - December 31, 1961
Sewer - Ledger Sheets
Pages for the years 1953 to 1967
Water - 1955-1956
Correspondence between city officials and the Federal Housing Administration, Wesley H. Grow & Associates, and the Idaho Dept. of Labor. Bids for construction from George K. Meacham & Sons, Northwest Erectors, inc., Spokane Culvert & Fabricating Co., Timber Structures, inc., and Waterworks Supplies Co.
Water - Bids
Calls for bids, 1961-1970
Bids received from the following companies: Consolidated Supply Co., H.D. Fowler Co., inc., Hahn Supply, Hughes & Co., Leo Cook Co., Material Distributors, Pacific Water Works Supply Co., and Waterworks Supplies Co.
V. Permits
Among the permits required by the city were building permits, beer and liquor permits and permits to operate slot machines. Ledger sheets dealing with the beer and liquor permits and the building permits are with the miscellaneous ledger sheets in box 2, but due to the extra material dealing with the slot machines, the ledger sheets for that group are in this series. A list of folder headings and their contents follows.
Building, Applications for
Sixty-four applications for building permits dated September 1963 to April 1969.
Liquor Permits, Applications for
Thirty-eight applications for beer licenses, 1944-1957
Twenty-four applications for retail liquor licenses, 1947-1956 This folder also includes a petition to limit the number of liquor licenses to two, and a letter to Craigmont's mayor from Richard Mitchell, Lewis County Prosecuting Attorney, dated October 27, 1942, regarding the sale of beer on election day.
Slot Machines - Licenses
Applications for licenses and a description of each machine. 1946-1955
Slot Machines - Receipts
Receipts for money paid to the village by operators of slot machines
Ilo Club. May 25, 1948 - January 2, 1949
Sid's. November 12, 1948 - July 30, 1949
Camas Club. October 1, 1948 - January 3, 1949
Slot Machines - Deposit Slips
Receipts for money deposited by the village. July 1947 - May 1949
Bingo and Punchboard deposit slips. August 1947 - June 1949
Slot Machines - Tax Reports
Paid to State Treasurer. 1947 to 1953
Paid to Lewis County. 1948 to 1953
Slot Machines - Ledger Sheets
Records for each machine are kept on separate sheets. The sheets include the years 1947 to 1952.
VI. Employee Material
Applications
Twenty-nine applications for the position of City Marshall which became vacant in 1969. This folder also includes the carbon copies of the replies to the applicants and some notes taken during interviews.
Unemployment Insurance
"Unemployment Insurance; Questions and Answers for Employers." Employment Security Agency, Boise. 1961. 14 p.
Employer's Contribution Report (6). April 1962 - May 1963
Withholding Taxes
Social Security tax schedules
"Official Idaho Manual for Social Security Reporting."
Employer's copies of Federal W-2 forms, 1968 and 1969
Employers Quarterly Federal Tax Return, 1968
Employer's copies of state withholding statements, 1967 and 1968
State quarterly report of wages paid, 1967 and 1968
Bureau of Census
Census of Government Employment: Municipalities & Townships. Copies of forms for 1953 - 1968.
Worksheets
Monthly work sheets for Rex Farris and Vernon Hill showing the number of hours worked in each city department. April 1956 -.April 1958.
Miscellaneous
This folder contains one letter declining nomination as a village trustee (1925) and the Oath of Office of the Chief of Police (1920)
Resignations
There are seven letters resigning such positions as village clerk, village councilman, village trustee, and water superintendent, dated from 1919 to 1925.
VII. Miscellaneous
Airport
"Regulations for Administering Federal Airport Act." 1947
"Steps an Airport Sponsor Must Take to Participate in the Federal-Aid
Airport Program," by W.R. Mactee. 1946.
"National Airport Plan for 1949." 20 p.
Correspondence
The correspondence in this folder spans the years 1950 to 1968 and is in chronological order. Subjects include the request for use of a private gravel pit; correspondence with Van Waters & Rogers regarding chlorine and includes contracts with that company for several years; letters concerning a survey of Craigmont streets; a letter to Gov. Smylie in 1965 requesting a patrolman at Craigmont; and several letters in 1967 regarding the newly formed Clearwater Economic Development Association.
The additional correspondence spans the years 1921-1928 and includes such subjects as the payment of waterworks bonds opening Division Street where it had been closed by the Camas Prairie Railroad, and a personal injury suit.
Idaho Municipal League
Annual report for 1949 - deals with revenue bond measure
Radio talk, November 3, 1950 - also dealing with the bond measure
Information sheet, December 1950
Municipal populations, 1955
Bulletin, April 1959
Bulletin, March 16, 1959 - deals with Home Rule Legislation
Legal
This folder includes foreclosures of labor liens on sidewalks (1921), contracts and bids, and protests against local improvement districts 3 & 4 (1921).
Petitions
Local improvement
Nominating
Protest
Poll List & Tally Sheet
Bond election July 10, 1922
Planning Commission
Minutes of meetings held Sept. 18, Sept. 26, Oct. 31, Nov. 28, 1962; Jan. 30, Feb. 27, March 27, April 24, Sept. 30, Oct. 15, 1963; Oct. 24, Oct. 25, Nov. 1, 1966; Aug. 29, 1968; and March 11, 1969
Proof of Publication
Copies of official notices placed in the Lewis County Register and the Lewis County Herald from April 1947 to April 1969. Items include ordinances, financial reports, notice of elections, and invitations for bids.
Specifications
City Hall and Post Office, City of Craigmont
Water Receipt Ledger
1946-1947 in ledger binder, each subscriber has a separate page
1950-1951 on loose pages, each subscriber listed alphabetically with payments noted across the page.
Bond Register Ledger (2)
Contain interest coupons and bonds from sewer bond issue.
Warrants and other additional material
Warrants #501-1592 (May 1923 - April 1031) Each folder includes warrants, warrant receipt book and canceled checks.
Clerk's Warrant Register, July 12, 1920 - December 3, 1930
Miscellaneous: Apportionment for Cash book, October 2, 1922 - January 30, 1924; Receipt for Cash book, September 14, 1923 -January 30, 1924; Bank Statements: Craigmont State Bank, 1924-1927; Bank of Vollmer, 1924-1927
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