The Clark County Historical Society (CCHS) has been hosting guided walks for over 15 years, but the need to tell growing communities history is greater than ever before, with thousands of new residents moving into Clark County cities each year.
The walks started in downtown Vancouver, exploring architecture, stories, and smaller districts, telling the history of the area through the walks. CCHS Executive Director Brad Richardson said that around 10 years ago the walks expanded into exploring other cities in the county.
“Over the years, we’ve expanded to now we’re in Battle Ground, Camas, Ridgefield, Washougal, Vancouver, and we’re able to tell the story of a lot of our communities because we want to, as a museum, want to make sure we’re representing all of Clark County in telling that story,” Richardson said. “I personally cut my teeth here at the museum as a walking tour guide back in 2011, and so it’s pretty near and dear to my heart getting people out to see the museum of the city.”
The walks accommodate up to 25 people for roughly a mile, making frequent stops along the way to view buildings, share stories, and answer any questions people may have.
The Battle Ground history walk starts at Dev’s Coffee Bar which is situated in an old church, Richardson said.
“We talk about the construction of that, and they’re going to hear stories of buildings they just kind of pass by every day in their cars but never kind of give a second thought about what’s the story,” Richardson said.
The talk on the walk includes the history of a prominent Battle Ground physician, some disasters in Battle Ground, a play-by-play of a robbery that happened at a former bank in Old Town, he added.
“We mention Wooden Creek and Mr. Wooden, who used to deliver the mail to everybody back in the day before there were real good roads, and it would take several days to get back to everybody,” Richardson said. “So the Battle Ground one is really fun and it’s just cool to explore the Old Town Battle Ground and show people that they have a really nice historic district to be proud of up in north county.”
Richardson gave a lot of credit to Louise Tucker, a Battle Ground historian who wrote “Battle Ground In and Around,” for a lot of information that is told in the historical walks.
As the city of Battle Ground works towards its project of revitalizing Old Town, Richardson said that in the four to five years the historic walk has been occurring in the community, he has seen the life that has “exploded through the businesses that are down there now.”
He added that all the current businesses in Old Town Battle Ground create a cool and unique district that highlights the historic buildings while also bringing people to live their lives in those spaces today.
In Ridgefield, Richardson said the early planners of Ridgefield plotted and designed a perfect “tour downtown.”
“With everything being so close and we start in Overlook Park, we talk about the church that’s right next to there,” he said, “we discuss the building that used to be the home of the Priscilla Club, which they helped establish the Ridgefield Library, and they’re really big on public education. We talk about the Old Liberty Theater and the stories behind that. The old jail is gone now but we still talk about some of the stories in relation to that.”
He added that the first traffic ticket in the area was issued to none other than a person from Portland.
There was once a time capsule found — with some materials from it on display in the Ridgefield City Hall, which used to be the First Independent Bank, Richardson said.
“Mr. Firstenburg, who started as a cashier and then eventually grew this regional bank that he had for a number of years,” Richardson said, adding that the Firstenburg name is prominent in Clark County. “The roots are in Ridgefield.”
For North Clark County, currently, the historical society offers walks in Ridgefield and Battle Ground. The Historic Downtown Battle Ground walk will take place at 9 a.m. and 11 a.m. on July 26, while the Historic Old Town Ridgefield walk will take place at 9 a.m. and 11 a.m. on Aug. 23. For tickets and more information, visit cchmuseum.org/programs-event/wandercc/.
