Talk:Ceres, Washington

Reinstated article via undeletion process, May 2024
Hey everyone!

Bear with me here - my original compilation past the late 1930s was lost when my browser froze so I have to re-find a few things...but I have all the early, good stuff, so here we go.

The article was originally deleted in late March/early April via PROD. The issue stated was that Ceres is not a community in the present day and lack of sources on the page and attempts to find other sources yielded few, if anything, of note.

Where I agree - Ceres was a rail station with a small post office in a grocer's building, surrounded by a farming community at its beginnings. The depot was across the tracks from the general store. Also, during my search. I can agree that Ceres is no longer a recognizable community.

The area begins to be referred to as "Ceres Hill", rather than Ceres beginning in the early 1930s, and by the end of the 20th century, Ceres seems to never be referred to as a community, mostly just a general area. Based on that, I find that simply rewriting the article to classify Ceres as a "former community" to be a proper course of action. I lead to this source during the massive floods caused during the Great Coastal Gale of 2007 that hit Lewis County - - where a trip to view the aftereffects of the event doesn't give Ceres (the community) a mention, just a brief summary of damages of infrastructure around Ceres Hill. If a catastrophic event that hit an existing town/community doesn't mention a community while visiting said community, it probably doesn't formally exist anymore.

Where I disagree - that Ceres was never a community.

Now, onto the fact that Ceres was a community in the past. Below is a list of sources about Ceres as a community - mentioning either outright or in a vein as one would in talking about a community.

Overall history -


 * from the Pacific County Historical Society and Museum referring to Ceres as a community with depot, post office, and store. The depot was known as Long's Crossing.


 * Another brief overall history of Ceres clearly describing the community as small and mentions the school, post office, and depot (and a decent photo of the building, too).


 * Mentions of describing Ceres as "Ceres district". Outside of voting, post office, or World War I fundraising, almost always in terms of farming - 1920 pioneer farmer from Ceres runs for Chehalis mayor; 1931 article about drought relief and farming. District description is off-and-on into the 1950s.

Specific Ceres event and history -


 * Undated - operation of a steamer from Ceres to the Skookumchuck River. Still searching for more.
 * 1897 - loss of splash dam built by loggers/mill due to 1897 flood.
 * 1898 - early mention of Ceres station on rail line along with towns of Adna, Washington and Claquato, both of which grew beyond a rail station to become communities or towns.
 * 1899, 1901, 1903 - early mentions of "Ceres station" and build of Ceres Bridge.
 * 1908 - grocery built in August; post office established in October.
 * 1911 - installation of phone lines in Ceres, "intermediate houses of note", "residents are delighted".
 * 1918 - report of a Ceres logging camp; not unusual in timber-heavy WA state.
 * 1924 - Detailed route description of Ceres postmaster/carrier; information written certainly describes a complex, well-traveled route and pickup surpassing a "pigeon cabinet" post office at this point.
 * 1924 - obit describing community as "Ceres neighborhood".
 * 1930-1931 - post office to be run out of Chehalis; resignation of postmaster later in the year; ; reintegrating new Chehalis route to "Ceres neighborhood" and lack of postmaster in Ceres due to "the compensation is so small no one will take the position permanently"; official closure announcement of May 29, 1931.

Ceres school -


 * 1900 - Ceres school mention with music appearance by students presumably from Green Hill School.
 * 1917 - Ceres withdrawals from consolidated district.
 * 1918 - school population is only 15.
 * 1936 - new road allowing students to go to nearby Klaber, Washington; school closing before 1936-1937 year.

Further, similar to Talk:Forest, Washington, there are hundreds of newspaper articles (local or regional) about daily life in Ceres, such as comings-and-goings, visitors, dances, grange activities, farm production, deaths (drops dead, 1913) (long-time resident of Ceres, 1962) and an enormous amount on the Holstein cows. There's also plenty on the local hops farms including the winning of some big award in New York City. The heaviest concentration of these types of writings are in the 1920s with many describing the Ceres Improvement Club, which had their own hall.

So, as I'll repeat at the deletion discussion talk page, Ceres was a community but no longer is and we should Keep the article but reclassify the page as a former community.

My thanks!

Shortiefourten (talk) 19:29, 21 May 2024 (UTC)


 * How did you write all that "coat hanger" stuff without realizing the place never existed? James.folsom (talk) 23:03, 30 May 2024 (UTC)

Shortiefourten (talk) 19:29, 21 May 2024 (UTC)