Mayors and Aldermen of Cascade
A bit of this and a bit of that History of Cascade
January 22, 1915: The will of Augustus Wedsworth provides for the establishment and maintenance of a public library and gymnasium
June 7, 1915: Postmaster Tintinger announces that the Post Office at Hardy will be discontinued
1915: The Mint Bar is sold to A.H. Gray for $1500.00
October 29, 1915: The Cascade Opera House is remodeled and the 2nd floor is used as a lodge room
1915: Stakes are placed and plans are drawn for Front Street Park.
August 4, 1916: Temperature is 108°
1916: Old Bickett blacksmith shop was removed
Cascade ‘Echo’ newspaper went out of business
New electric film machine installed at Pastime Theatre
Advertised at Mercantile – Hills Brothers coffee 3 pounds for $1.00
Cash Cafe was enlarged
A full 3 year High School will be created at Cascade Public School
An adding machine driven by electric power was installed at the Cascade Milling & Elevator Company
There are 45 automobiles in Cascade; an average of 1 auto to 11 people
Chestnut Valley, Soldier Creek, Hardy Willow Creek and Cascade School Districts combined
1917: 1st electric sign in Cascade advertising Ralph Schells’ Barber Shop installed.
April 29, 1918: Class of 1918 members are the first graduates of Cascade High School
December 1918: Prohibition of sale of liquor instituted
1919: Paper bills coming into use
July 1919: Cascade Commercial Club organized
September19, 1919: Cascade Public School’s new building is opened; enrollment is 154
July 17, 1920: Marcum State Bank becomes Stockmens Bank
October 19, 1923: Right of way of Great Northern Railway, north of Central Avenue on Railroad Avenue, plowed up to develop a new park
State Bank has a new mystery clock; public is invited to guess how it runs
October 26, 1923: 1st shipment of sugar beets left for Billings’ factory
February 29, 1924: Good used Fords are for sale at Ludwig’s Garage – $35 to $85 with Moore transmissions
May 2, 1924: Ralph Schell opens an ice cream parlor
1925: Hughes Brothers advertise T-bone and Sirloin Steaks for 25¢ a pound
February 1926: Warmest February in 30 years
May 14, 1926: Chestnut Valley 4-H Girls Clothing Club formed
Published 10/29/1926: CM Russell died
December 1, 1926: Net worth of August Wedsworth estate $32,663.16
February 1927: Gun toting becomes a felony
July 22, 1927: Range war between sheep men and cattlemen being waged
Dog pound moved to coulee in rear of Cascade Mercantile Store sheds; Adolph Panzer is named dog catcher
August 26, 1927: Mayor Wheir instructed Marshall Frank Hall to ticket fast driving motorists and the needless blowing of horns:
1st offense-informed on
2nd offense-fine not less than $10 nor more than $100 or offenders may be sent to jail not to exceed 20 days
Green and black auto licenses will change to orange and black in 1928; 50 tons of steel is ordered
September 10, 1927: Punch Boards and slot machines are outlawed
March 30, 1928: Cascade Businesses are listed:
First State Bank; Hughes Brothers groceries, meats, shoes and clothing; Palace Theatre; Cascade Courier; “The People’s Paper”; Berger’s Toggery; Cascade Community Commercial Club; E.O. Simmons Confectionary, Radios and Supplies; Mattson Lumber; Cascade Garage, Inc.; Lincoln, Ford, Fordson; Cascade Hardware and Implement Company – Hardware, Implements, Electrical Goods; Cascade Drug Store; Cascade Mercantile Company; Stockmens Bank; Cascade Milling and Elevator Company; “Cascade Flour”; White Front Cigar Store; Cascade Hotel and Café; Wade and McCall, Mens Furnishings; Halls Service Station; Schells Bobbing Shop; Cascade Creamery; Hong Chong Steam Laundry
October 5, 1928: The Orchestrope installed at Cascade Hotel, plays 28 records on both sides automatically
December 31, 1928: Cascade Mercantile Company closed its doors
November 29, 1929: Cascade Lions Club formally organized with 21 members
December 20, 1929: Store building and stock of merchandise of Chestnut Valley Market badly damaged by smoke and water
September 26, 1930: Great Falls gasoline costs 20 cents a gallon; Cascade is paying 27½ cents a gallon
November 4, 1930: The drinking fountain in the basement of Wedsworth Hall is installed by the Lions Club
1932: Front Street graveled and a 2 way road through town is developed
Hardy School District 32 is annexed to Cascade District 3
February 1933: Measles epidemic; 40 % of Cascade School enrollment was out with the measles at one point
September 7,1933: Pastime Theatre Building on Central Avenue is being salvaged
January 18, 1934: “Grading and graveling of practically all the streets in Cascade is nearing completion. However there remains one street, and that is Front Street from 1st Street South to the Stockyards. This road at the present is very rough.”
January 25, 1934: Stockmens Bank of Cascade purchased all the assets of the First State Bank
June 13, 1935: Driver’s licenses can now be secured at Stockmens Bank
February 1936: Earthquakes shook Cascade at 4:55 pm and 5:30 pm
October 1937: First issue of Cascade High School paper was printed
April 1938: Evacuating started on corner of First Street and First Avenue South for Masonic building
October 3, 1940: Bicycle riding on sidewalks will be stopped
1941: Preparations have begun on the new $40,000 gym
March 1941: Oldest landmark, Riverside Hotel being torn down
1945: Electricity for farms in Chestnut Valley turned on
1947: B & Y Store started by Benjamin Brown and Ronald Yandell
August 4, 1949: City Council continuing with plans to bring water across bridge into Cascade
April 1950: 435 people in Cascade counted for census
1951: George Powe purchased the B & Y Store. Inc. and his brother-in-law Charles Cunningham joined him
July 1951: Cascade is host to the 1st state convention of the American Veterans of World War II
July 1953: New Missouri River Bridge opened
August 27, 1953: Cascade Telephone Service converted to dial operation
November 7,1953: The new Smith River Hall opened
March 1954: TV came to Cascade from KFBB
January 1954: One of the oldest landmarks, Old Ferguson School, is moved to Mrs. Eva Olson’s ranch
March 1954: Cascade Parent Teachers Association organized
June 1954: Central Avenue oiled, curb to curb; Front Street paving from Frank Creveling’s to south of
Wedsworth Hall, completed
July 1954: Cascade Drug closed
Cascade Creamery was first opened in 1906; the 1926 output of butter fat was 21,000 pounds
January 22. 1956: Ground is broken for Stockmens Bank new building
January 1957: Students are moved into the new Cascade Public School building
February 16, 1957: Great Northern Railway Company opens a new depot
April 6, 1957: The new Stockmens Bank building opens
August 15, 1957: Moving pictures are discontinued at Wedsworth Theatre
October 1957: American Legion Post Hood-Mortag Post 133 was chartered on the 17th of April
January 2, 1958: new Explorer Scout post formed
February 13, 1958: Cascade School Board let out bids for construction of a pumice block garage
March 22, 1958: Farmers Electric opened
April 17, 1958: Cascade Lions Club celebrates newly organized Charter of Cascade Lions International
May 29, 1958: Frenchy’s in Wolf Creek, An explosion and swiftly spreading blaze burned to the ground, one of the area’s best known restaurant,
August 1, 1958: First class postage is 4¢; drop letters are 3¢; (drop letters are letters mailed in the local post office for local delivery)
September 1958: 3 blocks of streets were paved – 2 blocks from Mattson Lumber Company to Ralph Halversons and one block on the north side from the former A.T. James to the A-C Motel
October 1958: Two TV channels were added – Channels 5 and 3
December 1958: The first section of interstate from Ulm to Cascade was opened
August 20, 1959: Effective September 5, 1959 rural mail service will be extended to approximately 20 miles south of Cascade
1960’s: Started putting sewage in the lagoon on the Island
October 1963: The new Post Office is completed
1986: Tom Klock bought the B & Y Store and renamed it “Tom’s Foodtown”
July 5-6, 1986 Cascade Diamond Jubilee celebrated
December 1973: Old Cascade jailhouse was moved from near the Ed Hilt residence south of the bridge. Sidewalls were-2×6 planks flat one atop the other and the floor – 2×4’s spiked together on edge. No one remembers when the jail was built but it was lined with galvanized steel when an errant rancher tried to burn his way out and nearly died in the attempt.
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