100 years
Dayton, Proctor celebrate centennial with open house, tour
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As part of their centennial celebration, the communities of Dayton and Proctor got together to produce a Dayton Centennial Tour. The tour included the Proctor church, the old Proctor store, the Proctor school, the S.S. Hodge, the Dayton Bank and the old railroad dock. Visitors could view the buildings, boat and dock at an open house on Oct. 24.
Proctor store
Jim and Donna Pomajevich now own the Proctor Store, which originally started out as the Dayton Trading Post in the 1880s. According to information handed out for the centennial tour, a U.S. Post Office was established in 1893 with Clarence Proctor serving as the first Postmaster of the Dayton Post Office before Dayton was established at its current site.
Jim’s grandma owned a ranch that the couple now lives on and have since 2002, and he remembered coming to visit his grandma and going to the store when he was a kid in the 40’s.
The walls of the room that housed the original trading post were covered, but underneath the Pomajevichs discovered the original log walls, hand hewn but unchinked so they cleaned off all the wallboard and caulked the spaced between the logs. Now local women exercise in the room during the summer even though Jim would love to restore it to a trading post. The store portion of the building still has shelves, a cheese cutter, a scale and lots of vintage items.
The store was in operation from 1893 to 1977 in this location then it moved across the highway and east a ways and was operated by the Eastmans until it closed.
When the Pomajevichs bought the store, their first thought was to preserve the building and its contents so they cleaned, insulated the walls, repaired what they could and jacked up the foundation. They even hired a friend to hand-dig out the basement.
The Pomajevichs “filled and caulked every crack and seam in the store and insulated it so it can be heated efficiently.”
The toughest job according to Jim was redoing the part of the store where the logs had been in contact with the dirt.
Jim said he had looked at any old photos and talked to people in the community who remembered shopping in the store so he and Donna could arrange goods in the store. He was just a young kid when he visited and didn’t have clear memories of where everything went. Pat Eastman even brought the Pomajevichs the original string holder from the store.
Buck Baertsch, who grew up in the area, visited the store during the open house. Baertsch said overalls, as jeans used to be called, were stacked on the top shelf.
“Wonderful recent events” Jim said were “pictures coming out of the woodwork” and thanks to Charlie Adams, the roll tops for the base cabinets in the store.
W. Richard Dukelow and Len Matson were touring the buildings. Both are history buffs and enjoyed the old buildings. Dukelow had a special reason to visit the Proctor store since wrote an article about the building. Dukelow writes for the West Shore News and the Daily Interlake.
Matson lives in Lakeside now, but when he was a child his mom and dad brought him up to Lake Mary Ronan since 1950 or ’51, Matson said. The lure was fishing in the lake. Matson’s parents were “big friends” with Bob and Mattie Maxwell, who lived on Lake Mary Ronan. Matson brought pictures taken in the 1950’s at the store, including ones of Carol Savall, whose dad Urban Savall owned the store and was postmaster.
Proctor Church
The Proctor church began life as a Methodist Church.
The tour brochure said, “The church is a classic, white-steepled clapboard country church that would be at home in any New England valley.”
Located in a copse of trees, the church has a million dollar view of the valley. Near the pulpit is a vintage pump organ, and a painting of Jesus by Jack Newell hangs behind the pulpit.
Improvements made to the church over the years include lowered ceilings, shingles on the bell tower and a new floor installed by Dan Brander.
Proctor School
Brander and his brother and sister Juanita rode a saddle horse four miles to school from the Big Meadow.
There was a horse barn at the school, and parents would haul hay for the horses. There was also a teacherage for the schoolteacher to live in although that building now houses the COPE program.
About 15 years ago, Brander raised the south corner of the building 4” and refinished the floors in the school as well as other repairs. Juanita painted and stenciled apples around the room. The building serves as the Proctor Community Center, and it can be rented for auctions, family and class reunions, wedding receptions, Brander said.
Dayton Bank
The original teller cages, the tin ceiling tiles, even though many are water damaged, and some of the mahogany trim and drawer fronts remain in the old Dayton Bank according to Buck Love.
The Dayton Banking Company moved into the concrete building in 1913. The building had classic columns and copper balls on two corners of the roof.
Old Railroad Dock
The Somers Lumber Company built the “big dock” at Dayton in 1929. At the same time a railroad was built up the Proctor Valley and Dayton Creek to ferry logs down to Flathead Lake. According to information distributed at the centennial tour, the railroad was used from 1934 to 1936. Then a runaway train and increased use of logging trucks ended the railroad.
At low water, the rail system is still visible in Dayton Harbor.
S.S. Hodge
Further down the lakeshore, the S.S. Hodge is anchored. For over 100 year, the S.S. Hodge has been used to drive piles, build docks and piers, move houses, ferry logging trucks, heavy equipment and horses around Flathead Lake, “anything you can’t do by land.”
Eugene Hodge built the first S.S. Hodge, powered by a paddlewheel, in 1903. Frank Hodge, Eugene’s son, built S.S. Hodge in 1957.
Les Morgan, who owns the S.S. Hodge, worked for Frank from 1966 until 1971 when he and his brother Dale bought the business.
“Frank Hodge passed away on Aug. 12, 1981. He was 6’7” tall and weighed about 275 pounds. I’m glad he was a mellow man,” Morgan wrote in notes about his life.
Morgan moved from Outlook to Charlo in 1963 with his father and stepmother, one sister and five brothers. Morgan’s dad bought a dairy.
“Dad figured he had enough sons to run a dairy farm,” Morgan said.
On March 29, 1966, Les and his brother Dale went to Polson for haircuts. Barber Elliot Johnson advised Les to ask Frank Hodge for a job. Les was hired the same day.
“The first day of work, we were loading rock holes with dynamite. I got a bad headache from the nitroglycerine in the dynamite because I didn’t wear rubber gloves when handling it,” Morgan wrote in his life story.
Morgan made $2 per hour plus room and board, “which I thought was pretty good wages,” Morgan said.
The Hodge is powered by two horses apiece with 32” props. Les and Dale changed over from steam to diesel power in 1971.
Les has five children, two girls and three boys. Les’ youngest son, Fred, started working on the S.S. Hodge when he was 14 and now he’s 32. Les said he is a partner in the corporation now.
“I kept the name Hodges Marine Construction. The old timers used to say if you change name of a boat, it’s going to sink,” Les said, then added, “We’re still afloat."
