This Week in Odessa History

Odessa’s fire brigade had to be called to the scene of a fire by whatever means possible before 1925.

That year, a siren, which would alert firemen to their station was put in place atop Odessa’s Community Hall.

The alarm was used not only to alert for fires or other disasters but also as a curfew to keep youngsters off the streets at night.

Here is the Odessa Record’s report of the new installation, in the issue of June 5, 1925:

A fire siren, something Odessa has been in need of for a long time, was installed this week on a 12-foot tower on the roof of the Community Hall.

The siren was installed by the Nixon-Kimmel Company, of Spokane, from whom the Odessa Town Council purchased it last April. Owing to a mistake on the part of the manufacturer, the one installed was not the one which was ordered. It has only a three-horse-power motor. A five-horse motor had been ordered.

The manufacturer has agreed to let the town use this until the one which was ordered arrives.

There are three alarm stations, one at the Farmers & Merchants Bank, one at the Community Hall and one at the office of the Pacific Telephone and Telegraph Company. Alarms for fire in the residential areas will be turned in by telephoning the telephone office, where the alarm will be within reach of the telephone operator and the alarm will be turned in almost instantly.

It was necessary for the town to put in special wiring from the telephone office to the fire station in the Community Hall for the alarm stations.

In the future, the siren will be tested everyday, probably at noon, to indicate the noon hour. The pitch of the siren rises and lowers automatically, but it can be kept at a shrill pitch as a signal of extreme emergency.

100 Years Ago

From The Odessa Record

May 9, 1913

Odessa carried off most of the honors in the first tennis tournament of the Lincoln county schools, held at this place last Friday and Saturday, with players from Reardan, Edwall, Wilbur, Creston, Harrington and Odessa participating.

The visiting players were entertained by the members and faculty of the Odessa high school at a banquet at the school house.

75 Years Ago

From The Odessa Record

May 12, 1938

For the third time in six days, fire broke out in the Julius Kuest home, calling out the local department during the noon hour.

Mystery surrounds the cause of the fire, declared to originate in wiring. Following the first fire, the home was rewired and checked.

Sunday’s fire proved more stubborn, requiring hard work to extinguish. A crew from the Washington Water Power company responded that afternoon and spent Monday checking wiring in the area, transformers and the wiring of the home.

50 Years Ago

From The Odessa Record

May 9, 1963

Mock aerial battles high above the community last Thursday brought a series of sonic booms. One rocked main street, breaking out windows at the Strate Furniture Store and the Hotel Odessa. Other windows rattled and shook but remained unbroken.

Dogs in the area were close to nervous prostrations and livestock responded. A horse at the Ed Bischoff ranch became so scared that he tore through a wire fence and continued running until exhausted.

The aerial phase of Coulee Crest would have been unnoticed but for the booming noises as an occasional plane passed the speed of sound. Releasing the built up air pressures that create the sonic boom called, "crashing the sound barrier."

Apparently Thursday’s action completed that phase of the war exercises, as Friday, Saturday and Sunday passed without repeat blasts.

Mrs. Adolph J. Weber pinned the wings on her son, Marine Second Lieutenant Dallas J. Weber at graduation rites at the Naval Auxiliary Air Station in Kingsville, Texas, March 29.

25 Years Ago

From The Odessa Record

May 12, 1988

Odessa’s Junior Miss, Teresa Repp, flanked by princesses Becki Jantz and Kelly Schafer, stood at the prow of the Odessa Community float that made its public debut for the parade season at Wenatchee’s Apple Blossom Festival parade.

Steve Scanlin was elected a state convention delegate and Brian Sayrs an alternate at the April 23 Lincoln County Democratic Convention held in Davenport. Both are from Odessa, and both are pledged to presidential candidate Michael Dukakis.

Moved into place just two weeks ago, the giant crane changing the skyline in the vicinity of the new school construction has been kept busy moving cement into place for flooring. The arrival of the crane was a cause of excitement on campus, as it marked earnest beginnings of visible landscape change.

10 Years Ago

From The Odessa Record

May 8, 2003

The 12th annual Odessa Healthcare Foundation Auction and Wine Tasting event turned out to be one of the most successful.

There were 180 in attendance. The Wine Tasting, auction netted over $26,000.

The worst outbreak of stripe rust in recent years in the Inland Northwest wheat fields was reported this week by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

There have been reports of stripe rust on the bottom leaves of both spring and winter wheat varieties in Lincoln County, said General Manager Keith Bailey of the Odessa Union Warehouse Cooperative.