Website Portfolio
Photo Gallery
- Deep Sea Fishing
- Who's on First?
- Thanksgiving Snow
- Twin Cousins
- Yellowstone
- North Dakota
- Fort Stevens Camping
- Cannon Beach, Oregon
- Amber-Dawn
- The Holidays & Family
Family Genealogy
Onalaska - WA
COOKBOOK: Rememberances & Recipes, 1975
COOKBOOK: History and Favorite Recipes of Onalaskans, 1997
Stories by Jasmine
Jasmine Marzella Curran, pretty unique right? That’s me in a nutshell, unique.
I talk way too much and think ten times more. Love shades of blues and greens :)
I am VERY clumsy and a horrible speller. 4.0 student (go figure)
My dream job, Published author (GO FIGURE) and I can be just a creative as smart, I swear :)
My Hometown: Onalaska, WA
I was raised in Onalaska WA, and came back here to raise my own children, as many of the townsfolk have also done. Four generations in my family have gone to the same schools here in "Ony", starting with my grandma.
"It's a great day to be a logger" (this school moto holds true).
Some of my school memories: In 1983 Onalaska was put on the map when we became the State "B" Basketball Champs. Then in 1986, we did the same for State "B" Football Champs!
Onalaska Book | 10 Years In The Making!
I finished reading my copy of Victor J. Kucera's book: Onalaska - From Kansas to Washington...via Wisconsin, Arkansas, Minnesota and Texas 1886-1942.
Praise for Onalaska book:
“Thank you for all the work you did with this book - it has enriched my historical knowledge about the Carlisle Lumber Company and their genealogical past across the states, before they settled in our little town to stir up some sawdust where the grand smoke stack still stands today! “ -- Teresa
Available early 2012 Alpha: The Classic Hills of Alpha Prairie, Washington
Where to buy: Available at the Lewis County Historical Museum
The website also has a PayPal option for shipping your book to you.
[Image to the right is William Carlisle, circa 1890]
[Picture caption reads: Onalaska, during its glory days, was a company town of trim houses and tremendous industrial output. After the mill shut down in 1942, most of the town's houses were hauled away to nearby farms. Many are still being used today.]
Where is Onalaska?
- Mill Closed in 1938
The mill was forced to close in 1938 as a result of the Great Depression, and the town of 1,000 dwindled to only a few hundred residents today (memories from 1975 historian) - the town has been growing since. - Moving Picture Theater
The company built dwellings, which are of four and five rooms. The five-room houses all contain bathrooms. The lumber that was used in the construction of these dwellings was all sawed in the mill. - The company also built a store and there is a meat market, a barber shop, a pool hall and a moving picture theater. A regular physician is in attendance, furnished by the Hospital Association.
- 1920's Schoolhouse
- There is a schoolhouse with four teachers and an attendance of one hundred and sixty pupils. The town covers one hundred acres of ground. There is a gravity water system, water being secured from sixteen springs and supplied by pipes to each house, while in every department of the mill there is also running water.
Located 9 miles east of Napavine on SR 508.
The town was founded in 1914 by the Carlisle Lumber Co, which built the largest sawmill in the county.
There is some confusion over the source of its name. One source says its name came from Unalaska, in the Aleutian Islands, Alaska. Another source says the Carlisle Lumber Co. named it after Onalaska, Wisconsin.
Cookbook & History of Onalaska
The first edition of Rememberances and Recipes; compiled and published in 1975. It contains 128 pages, with 40 of them dedicated to history & photos. Read more.
The second edition: History and Favorite Recipes of Onalaskans; compiled by Linda Hanson, 1997. It contains 291 pages, with the first 100 of them dedicated to memories, history & photos. Read more.
Food For Thought: Why is it those who can wait 3 hours for a fish to bite, can't wait 5 minutes for dinner?


