Monday, November 11, 2019

Military Monday: Asotin County Memorial Bridge, Asotin, Washington

In honor of Veterans Day and for The Honor Roll Project, I decided to transcribe the World War I Honor Rolls on the Asotin County Memorial Bridge in Asotin, Washington.


Asotin County Memorial Bridge (Asotin, Washington) [20 August 2014, looking east, cropped]


The Asotin County Memorial Bridge, in the county seat of Asotin, Washington, on the border with Idaho, spans the short distance over Asotin Creek, which empties into the Snake River.  Each corner of the bridge has a pillar with an honor roll plaque with the inscription:

SERVICE ROLL
ASOTIN COUNTY
MEMORIAL BRIDGE
DEDICATED IN HONOR AND
MEMORY OF THOSE WHO
SERVED IN THE WORLD WAR

In this case, World War I, as each plaque also has "1914 - 1918" near the bottom.

Here are the four plaques, in alphabetical order, with their transcriptions following.  All those listed resided in mostly-rural Asotin County, Washington - which apparently had an impressive 334 service members in World War I, including at least one woman.  An asterisk before a name indicates that the service member died during the war.  Links to FindAGrave memorials have been added when a connection to Asotin County could be found.


Asotin County Memorial Bridge (Asotin, Washington) [20 August 2014, panel 1, cropped]

James W. Abbott
John Abbott
Calvin Addison
Francis Ahalt
Ernest J. Anderson
E. Cliff Aplington
R. L. Appleford
Tracy Appleford
Wm. Ashley
Lawrence Autrey
*Perry W. Baldwin
Willis Baldwin
Jesse F. Bales
Marion Bales
Alfred Bauch
Chester Beaudry
Lawrence Beaudry
D. R. Beckman
Vern Beckman
Harold Beckmann
Arthur Benedict
Elmer Biddison
Casper Bilyeu
*Merle C. Bingham
Henry G. Bishop
Theodore Bishop
Joe Bittle
Walter C. Bly

Charlie V. Boggan
Henry N. Bonson
Albert Born
John Bottomly
Everett Brantner
Orval Brantner
Charles Brogger
Harry N. Brown
Walter S. Brown
Herbert Bucholz
Claude F. Buechner
Leo Buescher
Fred Bulfinch
Kale Bulfinch
Alva A. Butler
Albert B. Campbell
Earl Campbell
George Campbell
David W. Carpenter
Clay Cate
Carl E. Chandler
Samuel G. Chandler
Daniel Clark
Geo. W. Clark
Carl B. Clear
Roland Cleary
Wm. C. Clemens
Frank H. Chandler
Richard H. Chandler

Clyde Cook
Jack E. Columbus
Wm. E. Colwell
Earl Cooper
Dennis Costello
Joseph Coulter
Dale Crowser
Albert Davis
Chester A. Davis
Dent Davis
Lillian M. Davis
Melvin S. Davis
Raymond L. Davis
Wayne Davis
Ralph De Beaumont
Lloyd B. De Lore
Robt. De Lore
Wm. T. Delp
Arthur Diebel
George Diebel
Robert Diebel
Earl Duncan
B. Dustan
Clarence Earl
Clarence Everson
Wm. E. Farnham
Chas. Fehr
Ray Ferguson




Asotin County Memorial Bridge (Asotin, Washington) [20 August 2014, panel 2, cropped]

Charles Fields
Glen Fields
Dell Finch
Thomas Finch
Byron Fine
Ralph W. Fite
*Roy Fite
G. W. Fitzsimmons
Wm. H. Flatt
Chelsea Floch
Robert Floch
Louis Florence
Clarence E. Forbes
Dell Forgey
Claude G. Franklin
Everett W. Fraser
S. T. Fuller
J. H. Fulton
Glen Gano
Samuel J. Gatherer
Leslie Garrison
Virgil Grant
George S. Graves
Clyde J. Greene
Jesse H. Greene
Morgan Gregory
*Levi L. Griffin
Wm. J. Griffin
*Fred Gruver
Harry Gruver
Frank Guenkel
*Archie M. Halsey
Burt C. Halsey
Coy Halsey
Wm. Hames
Earl Hamill
Jack Hamill
Wilbur Hardy
Roy Harmon
William Harmon
Arthur Harris
H. M. Harrison
Howard Harwick
Harry Henderson
Wiltse Henderson
Elmer Herndon
John Hickenbottom
Ed. Hodge
Enoch R. Holland
Lester Hoobler
*August Hopkins
Frank Z. Horak
C. H. Houchens
Lester B. Houchens
Charles O. Howard
Ernest E. Hulse
Delbert Hunt
Carl L. Ingram
Mancel R. Ingram
Walter Jackson
Monte Jacobson
Ben Johnson
Edgar Johnson
Mark Johnson
Lillian Johnston
Ernest Johnston
Clarence Jones
Estyn Jones
M. A. Jones
Roger Jones
Hartzel Jurgens
Wenzel Jurgens
Fred Kennedy
Robert Kidwell
Arthur Kiele
John S. Kimball
Allan King
Earl King
Elton King
Leo King
Homer Knapp
*Thomas Knapp
George Knopes




Asotin County Memorial Bridge (Asotin, Washington) [20 August 2014, panel 3, cropped]

Loyd Kuehl
Morris Lang
Glen Langdon
Harry L. Langdon
John L. Larson
Emory Lathrop
Wm. F. Lathrop
Leslie Latta
Hugh Laufer
Frank Ledford
Earl Russel Lee
*Fred Le Francis
Wm. A. Le Francis
Carl J. Lehfeldt
Fritz A. Lehfeldt
Lawrence Leininger
Edgar A. Leland
Elmer Leland
Richard Ray Lile
Harvey Longfellow
Wm. Longfellow
Annette Lorer
John Lotte
Robert Lusk
Emmet Lynch
Jonathan McAssey
Allen McCracken
Floyd McCracken
Oren McCracken
Lance McCready
Allen McCredie
Lynn S. McCredie
Gilson A. McNeill
Oscar McNeill
Ivan McPherson
Henry Madison
Roy Madison
Hugh Malcom
Chas. S. Malcom
Ben B. Mallory
Lloyd Marker
Calvin Martin
Elwin Matheny
Wm. Mattoon
L. R. Michael
Forest Miller
*Earl Millsap
Everett Millsap
Leslie Millsap
Russell Millsap
Hubert Mohundro
Charles Moore
*John Moore
Wm. L. Morgan
*John C. Morris
Oval Morrow
*Henry D. Moses
Ernest A. Mosier
Jesse Naftzinger
R. E. Newbill
Dale Nobles
Estyn R. Old
Oscar W. Olson
Frank Osborne
Harry Palmer
Albert Parsons
Eugene Parsons
*John Partridge
Elwood Pearson
George Pelton
Harvey C. Pelton
Julius I. Perrin
George Persons
August Peterson
Edward H. Peterson
Wilbur Petty
Harry C. Phillips
Ed. Pitman
John Plummer
Robert Plunkett
W. W. Porter
Alva Powell
Neal Prichard




Asotin County Memorial Bridge (Asotin, Washington) [20 August 2014, panel 4, cropped]

Henry Pruitt
Leo Raaberg
Elmer Ralston
*Wm. H. Ramey
Thomas Rimmelspacher
Clarence B. Roberts
Edwin Roberts
Elveus A. Roberts
Clarence Robison
Guy Rogers
Clarence Rognstad
Louis Rognstad
Kenneth Ross
Wm. Ross
Gerald Rummel
Charles Rusher
Reid Sangster
James Sarro
Walter Savage
Paul Schurman
James Scott
Wallace Scott
Dewey Settles
*Lester Sexton
Levi W. Sexton
J. Louis Shapley
Homer B. Shaw
Gerald Sigel
Richard Sill
Harold Singleton
Lawrence Sittkus
Ray Smiley
David W. Smith
Francis J. Smith
Walter Smith
John Standley
Thomas Stanfill
Wm. A. Steele
Hubert Stephens
Carleton Stewart
Norman A. Stewart
Ed. W. St. John
Geo. A. Stout
H. Boyd Talbott
Harry C. Talbott
Walter Talbott
Arthur Taplin
Oscar Taplin
Gray M. Taylor
Lyle C. Taylor
Marion Tedford
John G. Tervooren
P. H. Tervooren
John Thormahlen
James G. Tierney
Raymond True
Walter Trueblood
Alex J. Unruh
L. Valtz
Maurice D. Van Arsdol
Elmer Van Slyke
*Howard Van Voris
W. T. Van Voris
Julius Vebres
Frank Votaw
Darrell Walls
Martin Ward
John K. Warren
*Roy Watson
Thomas Watson
Harry A. Whitney
Lee Whitney
Lloyd Whiton
*John Wm. Whittaker
Morris Williams
Grant E. Wilson
Harry Windus
Earl E. Wiseman
Einar Wold
Frank J. Wolf
Louis E. Wolford
Willard A. Wyatt
Wm. R. Yeoman




Asotin County Memorial Bridge (Asotin, Washington) [20 August 2014, under bridge, cropped]


According to Bridgehunter.com, a website about "historic and notable" bridges in the United States,

The town of Asotin was prepared to replace the wooden bridge carrying Meador Street across the Asotin Creek in the summer of 1919. That span, built in 1902 by the Caywood brothers, was badly deteriorated after twenty years heavy traffic and the effects of several floods. The town council and the county commission budgeted $10,500 for it to be torn down and replaced by a steel bridge spanning the creek at Second Street.
A Fourth of July editorial in the Asotin County Sentinal led to the adoption of a proposal by Doctor S.D. Brazeau to scrap the plan for a new steel bridge and in its place erect an eye catching concrete arch to memorialize the local men who lost their lives in the recently ended Great War. The more elaborate span would cost $6,000 more than the sum allocated for the original project and this amount was raised through a private donation campaign. The first pledge was made by J.C. Halsey, whose son [Archie M. Halsey] was the last of seven Asotin County residents killed in the conflict.
The finished bridge is a wide elliptical concrete arch topped by an ornamental balustrade. Four pillars with hammer brushed insets adorned with brass plaques listing the names of the area’s veterans and topped by Victorian street lamps mark its approaches. A spiral staircase at the north end leads to a small creekside park.

The United States World War I Centennial Commission adds that "A smaller version of the bridge was constructed for pedestrians entering the community park south of the Memorial Bridge," and notes that it was built in 1920 by the Security Bridge Company of nearby Lewiston, Idaho, designed by R.F. Lorino of Lewiston, and dedicated on Veterans Day, November 11, 1922.

An old photo of the bridge from the 1920s-1930s is here.


© Amanda Pape - 2019 - e-mail me!

6 comments:

  1. my kids great grandfathers name is on it. R E Newbill

    ReplyDelete
  2. My Grandfather Levi W. Sexton and his brother Lester Sexton are named. In a few years Levi moved back to Volney,VA and died in 1976. Lester is buried in Arlington National Cemetery.

    ReplyDelete
  3. My Dad's Uncle is listed there.Walter C Bly.Thank you.

    ReplyDelete