Holden Mine History: Community Identity
We are grateful to the photographers Larry Penberthy and Ray Baker, and their descendants for allowing us to use their images. To view the full set of mining period photographs,click here.
Howe Sound Company had originally intended Holden to be a “single man’s camp,” complete with dormitories and cookhouse, with housing provided for management only, but this was not to be. Employees built homes and brought their families to Holden. Local orchardists, still feeling the ravages of the Depression, eagerly sought employment at the mine. Farmers seeking relief from the Dust Bowl made their way to Holden where they could find employment and make homes for their families. The company also employed its share of “tramp” miners who roved from mine to mine through the Coeur d’Alene Mining District in Idaho and Butte, Montana. This diverse group of citizens made up the community of Holden.
The personality of Holden was unique. Management brought with it the formality of its Canadian/British origin. Tea parties were held in the afternoon, complete with sterling silver service and finger sandwiches. Ladies attended dinner parties in long, formal gowns escorted by their men in suits and ties. Young engineers, fresh out of college, brought their brides to Holden where they set up housekeeping in the cabins at the original campsite near the mine entrance and renamed the camp “Honeymoon Heights.”
After World War II, Holden experienced some change. Employees who had been “frozen” in their jobs because copper was a strategic metal were free to relocate. One of the single-men’s dormitories was converted to two-room apartments to house returning GI’s and their brides. Space was made in another dorm for a privately owned grocery store. Air service was provided on Lake Chelan giving residents the choice of a 30-minute flight versus a 4-hour boat trip
The community was isolated. In 1950, Holden was featured on the “Answer Man” program as the only town in the United States that could be reached by boat only and still be located on the mainland. Getting to and from Holden required a 30-minute bus ride over 12 miles of mountain road over “white knuckle” switchbacks and then a 4-hour boat trip down the lake to the town of Chelan. The bus and boat made the round trip once a day, and most residents traveled to the “outside” just once or twice a year.
A self-sufficient community evolved. In 1937, several families petitioned for a school for their 17 children. A school district was formed, and a teacher was hired to teach the first eight grades at the one-room schoolhouse. The second school year opened with more students, another room, and two new teachers. The teachers were paid $1,300 a year for grades 5-8 and $1,200 for grades 1-4.
Political life began with the unionization of the miners in 1937 by the International Union of Mine, Mill and Smelter Workers, and Holden Precinct 60 was established in time for people to register and vote in the 1938 elections.