Local Elders Know This History

History of Enumclaw Index

Some of our local folks remember well the "history" John is getting to now, and can add to what we are learning about it.  If you have elders in your family who have memories and stories from this time period or earlier, consider posting a blog and capturing that bit of history to share with us all.  Or add a comment to any of John's entries.  (OK, so this is Doreen writing under John's helmet--we decided my "comment" on anecdotes from long-time residents Helen and Bob Stygar would take up three comment blocks, so better to do it here and keep it as part of the history index.)  So:

While studying the creamery exhibits at a recent visit to the Enumclaw Plateau Historical Society Museum, docent Helen Stygar shared some of her history.  "Working at the creamery was my first job.  I had graduated from EHS in 1935 and then went to school in Seattle for a couple years.  But then my dad said I had better come home as they were hiring at the creamery, so I started working there in 1937.  But I worked in the office, not with the cream."

Helen showed us the museum's collection of high school annuals and asked if we had yearbooks when we graduated.  "Everybody does," she said, "but I don't!  In 1935 they were building a stadium, and there wasn't money for a yearbook, so our class didn't get one!  Look at all these yearbooks.  But no 1935.  Because they were building a stadium!"

Helen's father, Alfred Janson, had come to this country from Sweden.  Her mom Jennie was also Swedish, and had lived in Wakefield, Nebraska.  She and Alfred met in Seattle where both came because they had relatives there.  They married and had three daughters, Ruth, Helen and Evelyn.

The Janson family moved to Enumclaw when Helen was in the second grade.  Her father worked in the woods and later did carpentry at the mill. The family lived in house # 4 at the upper mill, Camp Ellenson-- Helen says everybody just called it  "the Camp".  Later Alfred moved his family to town and over the years built two homes where Helen and her sisters grew up.   (Her sister Ruth later married Fred Farman, of Enumclaw's Farman Bros. Pickle Co.  Evelyn now lives in California and, according to Helen, has written a family history, which we historians would love to see....)

Bob Stygar, treasurer of Enumclaw Historical Society, was born back in Wisconsin.  At the end of World War II he arrived in the Northwest from overseas, and was stationed at the Tacoma shipyards while still in the Navy.   Later he worked at Boeing, with the railroads, then the post office; and finally 31 years at Rohr Industries.  Along the way he met Helen, and they married in 1957.  "You know, I met her in a tavern...." Bob says, with a bit of mischief.  "Oh, don't say that!  Now I have to explain how I happened to be there.  That sounds like I went to taverns!  Well!  The company, you know, was having some kind of celebration, an anniversary I think, and they held it there, you know, because they had really good food."  "Yes," says Bob.  "I ate there a lot.  A great dinner for $2.50!"  Bob further explained that the Red Rooster (near the top of hill where the Muckleshoot complex is) was the "tavern" part of the operation and the Red Hen was the restaurant.  "It had a really good smorgasbord dinner and they would bring food over to the tavern," where, in fact, that celebration Helen attended was held.  (We assured Helen we totally understood and her good reputation was not compromised.)   (BTW, the local history of taverns/saloons is featured in John's almost-ready blog on alcohol and tobacco.)

Pssst--One more thing:  Helen's birthday is May 5, and she will turn 96 this year.  She holds up four fingers and says, "Four more years--then it's a party!"  (She came to John's party and was disappointed that we didn't have dancing.)  So we'll all be wishing you Happy Birthday, Helen.   And Best Wishes, Helen and Bob, and thanks for sharing some Enumclaw history!    

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Enumclaw Centennial Blog Series

The Histories of Enumclaw

Introduction--Enumclaw:  The First 6020 Years

Early Enumclaw:  6000 Years Ago to the Mid-1800s

Early Enumclaw:  The First European Americans Arrive

          The Adventures of Allen Porter's Wagon

Enumclaw's Early Plateau Neighbors

           Schools and Districts

           Franklin

           Enumclaw's Railroads

Enumclaw Becomes a Town:  1879-1913

          Enumclaw Cooperatives

          Historic Houses In and Around Enumclaw

Incorporation through World War II:  Enumclaw from 1913-1945

          Logging and Lumber

          Enumclaw's Affair with Alcohol and Tobacco

          Tom Smith, Enumclaw Town Marshall

          Local Elders Know This History

Growth and Prosperity:  Enumclaw from 1945-2008

          History of the Garden

          120 Years of Churches in Enumclaw

          From Puncheon Roads to Scenic Byway

Recent Past to the Present:  Enumclaw from 2008-2013

          A History of Banking in Enumclaw

          Enumclaw News Over the Years

          Picnics, Parades, Fairs, and Festivals

          Bill Kombol Receives 2013 History Award

Enumclaw's Next Two Decades:  2013-2033

          The Limits of Growth

          Alternative Futures