A town overflowing with geniality

COLFAX — Colfax Mayor James Retzer was a busy man Saturday, presiding over multiple events during a daylong celebration of the community’s 150th anniversary.

After leading the rededication of Lippett Fountain in Eells Park, he helped dedicate a new mural on the county Public Works building, took visiting dignitaries on a tour of city facilities and then led the children’s parade down Main Street.

He didn’t stop smiling the whole time.

Retzer, who has lived in Colfax for 28 years, said planning for the anniversary began when he was elected mayor three years ago.

“There’s not too many towns in Washington that are still around after 150 years,” he said. “We wanted to celebrate and share our history.”

Now the county seat of one of the largest wheat- and lentil-producing counties in the nation, Colfax was originally a timber town.

James Perkins and Thomas Smith built a sawmill there in 1870, at the confluence of the north and south branches of the Palouse River. The townsite was platted in 1872 and incorporated five years later. It’s named for U.S. Vice President Schuyler Colfax, who served under President Ulysses S. Grant from 1869-73.

Retzer said Colfax has always been a town where people care about each other.

“Everyone says hi. You go in the grocery store and everyone wants to talk to you,” he said. “That’s what I think of when I think of Colfax.”

Karen Johnson echoed those thoughts. She grew up in Whitman County and has lived in or around Colfax for 60 years. Her great-grandson is the eighth generation to live there.

“It’s wonderful that families can continue to make a living and thrive in this area, raising their kids and grandkids,” she said.

That’s certainly true of her own family. She owns Double J Cookie Company with her daughter, Kelly.

Johnson is also member of Plymouth Congregational Church, which was originally built on the site where Lippett Fountain now stands.

The church was relocated to Main Street in 1912, she said, after the building was flooded. Eells Park is named after Cushing Eells, the church’s founding pastor.

The Lippett family, which owned a general store in town, built the fountain shortly after the church was relocated, in honor of their 11-year-old daughter who died from diptheria.

The fountain later fell into disrepair, but Retzer, together with Larry and Travis Harrison, put it back in working order.

“A lot of people in the community have never seen it flowing,” he said.

Jeannette Solimine, former pastor of Plymouth Congregational Church, offered a prayer during Saturday’s rededication ceremony.

“Gracious and loving God, we give you thanks for your many blessings, for this beautiful and bountiful place we call home,” Solimine said. “We thank you for those who worked so hard to repair this beautiful fountain. We ask your blessings to flow on us as beautifully and refreshingly as this fountain now flows. As we celebrate our community, be with us in the fun and joy of being a community.”

Spence may be contacted at bspence@lmtribune.com or (208) 791-9168.