Talk:Cora, Washington

Removal of May 2024 PROD discussion
Hey everyone!

Taking the time to log-in on a Saturday to help save, at least in some form, the Cora article. Thankfully the weather is terrible to also justify not going out hiking and do this instead.

To start, it's evident that the Cora community no longer exists and according to searches, seemed to peter-out by the Great Depression, and certainly seemed done by the 1950s. Admittedly, it was never large, nor had a census done under the Cora name (perhaps under Big Bottom), nor had a distinct voting district. However, instead of deleting the page and removing this information about a community that did exist, we can save it by rewriting/relabeling Cora as an extinct community/ghost town.

Using local sourcing - sometimes the only type available for rural, small town U.S. - it is clear to me Cora deserves a standalone article. Below is a list of what I was able to find.


 * 1896 - report on flooding near Cora on the Cowlitz River
 * early 1900s (Cora Ferry) - repeated mentions of a cable ferry located at Cora; most are reports on ferry lease for the coming year; here's at least four sources of over a dozen - ferry operations bid ; move of ferry landing in Cora ; bid and built of ferry ; ferry accident that took 5 lives
 * early 1900s (Railroads) - mentions of rail lines being built at or near Cora
 * 1901 - obituary for founding member of Cora, Lewis Davis, mentioning beginnings of settlement in late 1880s
 * 1903 - Cora school and community happenings ; other very, very brief mentions of existing school exist into the 1910s
 * 1906 - sale of the Davis property, with details regarding Cora's location, townsite, and future potential
 * 1907 - Fight over coal lands near Cora by the founding Davis brothers
 * 1908 - closure of the post office since no one in the community wants the postmaster job
 * 1915 - build of bridge in Cora over the Cowlitz River; bridge becomes known as the Cora Bridge
 * 1918 - creation of a Red Cross auxiliary in Cora
 * 1920s - Cora grange and grange activities; dance held at Cora hall in 1922 ; grange building converted into a "community hall" ; gathering of regional grange members in Cora in 1923; "people of Cora have extended the invitation"
 * 1925 - Road improvements to the area, mentioning Cora five times and connecting to Randle, Washington

A more in depth look at Cora, including the founding, the bridge, ferry, and other parts of its history is at the 2002 "If Towns Could Talk" retrospective from The Chronicle (Centralia, Washington).

Additionally there are some decent obits regarding people living in or are from Cora, including an obit for one of the Davis bros. and a mention of how the family moved out to the Big Bottom district and started Cora.

I would not count out the [Lewis Co., WA GenWeb Project] section on Cora. A connecting page about the life of Henry Davis, founder of Claquato, Washington mentions the naming of the community after a Davis family member, Cora Ferguson. The Gen Web operator has done good, solid work and her sourcing has always checked out when I needed it.

For context, there's also plenty of mentions of Cora Lake and Cora Creek pertaining to the area. Fairly standard to name local geographic areas after a town or community, especially rural places.

Hopefully we can save this article and rewrite it to include some of the above, while also classifying it for what it is today - not an unincorporated community but an extinct community.

Thanks!

Shortiefourten (talk) 18:12, 4 May 2024 (UTC)

Shortiefourten (talk) 18:12, 4 May 2024 (UTC)