Saloons, livery stables, harness shops and general merchandise stores were plentiful in La Center.
Tom Headley’s Blacksmith Shop is the building with the lowered awning on the left. (His name was misspelled in the La Center Clipper)
The La Center Hotel. Customers and staff of the La Center Hotel posed for the photographer in early 1890’s. The building was located on the west side of mid-Main Street, and was destroyed by fire in 1897.
Oscar Nelson’s prune dryer which was on his farm at the top of Lockwood Creek Hill. He was a major prune grower in the area as well as a dairyman in the early days.
The La Center School located on the Old Pacific Highway and Sixth Street was built in 1908 and served all local students until it was torn down in 1938.
Dr. C.R. Zener built a home/hospital on East 5th Street in 1906.The building was moved further east in 2002, renovated and now houses the Fort Vancouver Regional Library, La Center Branch.
Lewis River Post Office.
Emma Roberts Hansen, the first mail carrier on the route from Ridgefield to View via La Center, is pictured in front of Holbert’s Store about 1895. The wagon also carried groceries and freight, and could be hired as a taxi service. The Lewis River Post Office was established at Timmen’s Landing in 1873. It was re-named La Center Post Office in 1877.
La Center Historical Museum 