View XML QR Code

The Village of Craigmont Records, 1921-1969

Overview of the Collection

Creator
The Village of Craigmont
Title
The Village of Craigmont Records
Dates
1921-1969 (inclusive)
Quantity
5.5 linear feet
Collection Number
MG102 (collection)
Summary
Ordinances, financial records, minutes, public works projects reports, applications for building permits, and other records.
Repository
University of Idaho Library, Special Collections and Archives
Special Collections and Archives
University of Idaho Library
875 Perimeter Drive
MS 2350
Moscow, ID
83844-2350
Telephone: 2088850845
libspec@uidaho.edu
Languages
English
Sponsor
Funding for encoding this finding aid was provided through a grant awarded by the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Return to Top

Historical Note

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.

Return to Top

Content Description

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.

Return to Top

Administrative Information

Arrangement

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.

Return to Top

Detailed Description of the Collection

Detailed Description of the Collection

  • 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.

    • Description: Code of Ordinances, Village of Craigmont. Approved
      162 p.
      Dates: August 1, 1950
      Location: Series I. Code of Ordinances
    • Description: 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.

      Location: Series I. Code of Ordinances
    • Description: 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
      Dates: July 15, 1918
      Location: Series I. Code of Ordinances
    • Description: Acceptance of Ordinance no. 94 by Grangeville Electric Light and Power Co., Ltd.
      Dates: August 26, 1926
      Location: Series I. Code of Ordinances
    • Description: Ordinance no. 128. Defining standards and specifications for service sewer connections to municipal sewer system. Passed by the Board of Trustees, Village of Craigmont
      Dates: November 17, 1952
      Location: Series I. Code of Ordinances
    • Description: Ordinance no. 195. Relating to the municipal water system of the Village of Craigmont. Passed by the Board of Trustees, Village of Craigmont
      Dates: June 11, 1959
      Location: Series I. Code of Ordinances
    • Description: Ordinance no. 196. Providing for the establishment ... of a volunteer fire department. Passed by the Board of Trustees, Village of Craigmont
      Dates: July 7, 1959
      Location: Series I. Code of Ordinances
    • Description: Ordinance no. 200. Establishing a traffic code for the Village of Craigmont. Passed by the Board of Trustees, Village of Craigmont
      Dates: June 14, 1960
      Location: Series I. Code of Ordinances
    • Description: Ordinance no. 207. Creating a planning commission for the Village of Craigmont. Passed by the Board of Trustees, Village of Craigmont

      Miscellaneous zoning regulations are also included

      Dates: August 7, 1962
      Location: Series I. Code of Ordinances

  • Series 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.

    • Description: Audits
      Dates: 1927/1931-1967
      Location: Series II. Financial Records
    • Description: Annual Financial Reports
      Dates: 1923/1924-1925/1926; 1951/1952-1960/1961
      Location: Series II. Financial Records
    • Description: Quarterly Treasurer's Reports
      Dates: 1926-1927
      Location: Series II. Financial Records
    • Description: Monthly Treasurer's Reports
      Dates: December 1921 - May 1924; May 1951 - December 1962
      Location: Series II. Financial Records
    • Description: Village Clerk's Reports
      Dates: May 1952 - June 1969
      Location: Series II. Financial Records
    • Description: Bank Check Registers (5)
      Dates: 1941-1972
      Location: Series II. Financial Records
    • Description: Ledger Sheets
      Dates: 1936/1937-1969
      Location: Series II. Financial Records
    • Description: 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.

      Location: Series II. Financial Records
    • Description: 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

      Location: Series II. Financial Records
    • Description: 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

      Location: Series II. Financial Records

  • Series III. Department of Law Enforcement

    Items in this series include traffic citations and abstracts of court cases.

  • Series 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.

  • Series 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.

    • Description: Building, Applications for

      Sixty-four applications for building permits dated September 1963 to April 1969.

      Location: Series V. Permits
    • Description: 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.

      Location: Series V. Permits
    • Description: Slot Machines - Licenses

      Applications for licenses and a description of each machine. 1946-1955

      Location: Series V. Permits

    • Slot Machines - Receipts

      Receipts for money paid to the village by operators of slot machines

    • Slot Machines - Deposit Slips

    • Slot Machines - Tax Reports

    • Description: Slot Machines - Ledger Sheets

      Records for each machine are kept on separate sheets. The sheets include the years 1947 to 1952.

      Location: Series V. Permits

  • Series VI. Employee Material

  • Series VII. Miscellaneous

Names and SubjectsReturn to Top

Subject Terms

  • Municipal government -- Idaho -- Craigmont -- Records and correspondence

Geographical Names

  • Craigmont (Idaho) -- History -- Sources

Other Creators

  • Corporate Names

    • Craigmont (Idaho)

Finding aid prepared by Judith Nielsen
1980

CC Attribution
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

About Creative Commons Licenses in Archives West

Loading...
Loading...