Vader What's in a name?

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VADER — To get technical, the town of Little Falls actually turned 100 this year.

But don't bother with semantics with the residents of Vader, who have been planning their centennial celebration for the past year or so.

"It's a great honor to be the mayor of a town that turns 100 for anybody," said Mayor Guy Chastain, 81, who has served in the capacity three times, beginning in 1968.

A sleepy valley town bordered by lush agricultural land and forests, Vader in Southwest Lewis County has about 600 residents. But in its past, it was a much larger town. Marie Chastain, 85, who was born in Vader and has lived there the majority of her life, said when her mother moved to Vader in 1911, it had a 4,000 population.

"It was at one time the largest city between Tacoma and Portland," commented Ivan Bachman, who, with David Holland, owns the Ben Olson House, one of the oldest homes left in Vader. "It was a crossroads."

LOGGING, A BRICK COMPANY and a railroad station spurred growth for the town that was originally called Kraft before being incorporated in 1906 as Little Falls. The name referred to the well-known man-made structure on Olequa Creek that used to be a popular swimming attraction for young and old alike.

In 1913, the Northern Pacific Railroad demanded Little Falls change its name. The railroad already had a Little Falls, Minn., on its line, and because ZIP codes had not yet been invented, the similarly named towns were causing mixups in the mail. Rumor is that a shipment of soap bound for Minnesota was inadvertently delivered to Washington, evoking the ire of the intended recipient.

Town meetings were held between the railroad and townspeople to determine what the new town name should be. For a time, the railroad began to refer to the town as Sopenah, and even erected a sign at the station with the name. The first suggestion from the townspeople for a new town name was Toronto, which was also nixed because of another town's claim on the moniker. They finally settled on Vader, after elder citizen Martin Vader, who is buried at the Little Falls cemetery.

In November 2005, Vader citizens defeated an attempt to revert to the town's original name of Little Falls by a margin of about 91 votes against and 75 votes for.

NO MATTER THE NAME, Vader prospered in its early years, becoming a bustling crossroads. Marie Chastain recalled the town once had a meat market, pharmacy, two taverns, a bank, dance hall, opera house, candy kitchen and blacksmith shop, all of which it no longer has.

"It was altogether different than it is now," she said. "There was the main street, and it was full."

Holland, who will be conducting historic tours of the town during the Vader centennial celebration Saturday, has been researching Vader of 100 years ago through historic photographs he's been lent and given by various townspeople. He decided to use the historic photos for the tours because most of what he will be showing no longer exists.

For instance, the once majestic Banyon Hotel, home of the founder of the town of Little Falls, is now just a grove of trees. Three Victorian homes on B Street speak to the proud history of Vader, and one of the original A Street building façades still stands from the days of dirt streets and wooden sidewalks.



"Most of them are just completely gone," Holland said.

One of the few remaining pieces of Vader's history still similar to its original glory is Holland and Bachman's Olson House. The Victorian home on D Street was built in 1903 by Swedish emigrant Ben Olson, owner of the Stillwater Logging Co. In 1986, Holland and Bachman moved to Vader from San Francisco. They had been looking for a historic home to restore, and they found their match in Vader.

"My main thing about Vader is the beauty, the scenic beauty as you come down into town. It looks like a little New England village," Holland said.

VADER MAY LOOK DIFFERENT from the town to which Hayden Hancock, 84, first came in 1953, the spirit remains the same for him. Hancock lives in a smaller home next to the Olson house that Olson built for his bookkeeper. The Hancocks reared four daughters in the town, one of whom is now the superintendent of Vader schools. Hancock said it is family and fond memories that have kept him in place in the town.

"I don't know. I guess it's the friendly people," Hancock said. "It's nice and quiet down here. I think we've got the nicest part of town here."

Though a small town listed on one Web page as one of Washington's ghost towns, Vader has big events afoot in the coming years. Absolute German Auto Wrecking of Seattle plans to build a high-end wrecking yard on 31 acres in western Vader in the city's first industrial zone. No building permits have yet been issued, but owners Brandon and Sarah Milton still intend to pursue the project. Annexing more land into the city limits as well as upgrading the city's sewage system are also planned.

Chastain, who moved to Vader in 1946 to marry Marie, said he believes the upcoming projects will bring population growth. No matter the size, Chastain said, his vision is that the city's heart remains the same.

"All I want to do is keep the integrity of the town," Chastain said.

From a citizen's standpoint, Vader has been up and it's been down, so, Hancock said, he doesn't exactly know what the next stage will be. When asked what he thought the next 100 years have in store for Vader, he gave a hearty laugh.

"That would be something, wouldn't it?" Hancock said. "If you could see ahead as well as you can see back, we'd all be rich."

Next issue: Quarry boom town of Tenino rolls 100th birthday into annual Oregon Trail Days

Carrina Stanton covers municipal government and health for The Chronicle. She may be reached at 807-8241, or by e-mail at cstanton@chronline.com.