Vancouver, Washington entered the 1910s on the heels of a regional transportation crisis. The Lewis and Clark Centennial Exhibition in Portland in 1905 had drawn massive crowds, exposing just how badly the area needed a proper bridge over the Columbia River. Ferry crossings were packed to capacity, and travelers faced long, frustrating waits. On March 2, 1912, Vancouver business leaders took action — parading through downtown Portland to publicly push for a wagon bridge. Their campaign would eventually pay off, with the Interstate Bridge changing how people and goods moved between the two states.
While the bridge debate played out, daily life in Vancouver continued to grow and change. The Vancouver Barracks was one of the city’s most active institutions. Soldiers trained, drilled, and lived on the grounds year-round, making the barracks a central part of the community’s identity.
Military life at the barracks wasn’t all drills and inspections. Soldiers took part in recreational activities and community events. Washington’s Birthday in 1918, for example, was marked with a lighthearted pie eating contest on the grounds — a small but telling glimpse into how the men spent their off-hours during an otherwise serious period of war.
World War I reshaped Vancouver’s economy in a dramatic way. The Standifer Construction Company built two shipyards along the Columbia River to supply wooden and steel ships to the war effort. The first ship produced at these yards, the Kineo, was launched on May 30, 1918, just west of the Interstate Bridge. Steel ships were constructed about a mile further west, downstream from the railroad bridge. Both shipyards kept running until 1921, when the city purchased the property for use as a municipal dock.
Supporting the shipyards and the broader war effort required raw materials on a massive scale. The U.S. Army Spruce Production Division built logging railroads through Clallam County to haul spruce logs to Fort Vancouver and other sites. Spruce was essential for building military aircraft frames, and the Pacific Northwest’s forests were a primary source.
Logging had already been an established industry in the Vancouver region well before the war. At Tichenor’s Camp near Vancouver, crews worked with donkey engines to pull logs through the forest. The work was hard and dangerous, and the men who did it left little written record — but photographs captured what words often didn’t.
The Spokane, Portland & Seattle Railway was another major piece of the region’s infrastructure. The roundhouse crew in Vancouver kept locomotives running across the Pacific Northwest, and the men who worked there took pride in their machines. When the first draftees from Vancouver were called up for military service in 1917, they answered the roll call in front of the Hotel St. Elmo at 5th and Washington — a moment that marked the city’s formal entry into the war on a personal level.
As soldiers shipped out, those remaining at Fort Vancouver were fed at outdoor mess stations, where men in white aprons served food to long lines of troops. A pilot named Lincoln Beachey made history at the barracks during this era, flying an airship to the Vancouver Barracks to deliver mail to General Constant Williams — the first airmail delivery of its kind.
When the Armistice ending World War I was announced, the celebration that erupted in most American cities was largely absent in Vancouver and Clark County. The Spanish flu epidemic had gripped the community hard. From October 5 to November 15, 1918, local newspapers were almost entirely filled with pandemic news. The city shut down completely — public gatherings were forbidden, and even churches closed their doors. There was simply no room for celebration when so many were sick and dying.
Before the war years brought such heavy weight to the city, Vancouver’s streets were alive with commerce and community. Downtown businesses like Andresen Grocery at 804 Washington Street, B.P. Youmans Hardware at 8th and Washington, and Frank X. Thibodeau Groceries served the growing population. The McKay Restaurant on its diagonal counter with a row of stools was a typical gathering place. These businesses reflect a city that was building itself steadily through the decade.
Downtown Vancouver’s streets saw parades, snowstorms, and everyday foot traffic throughout the decade. A snowy day at 6th and Main in 1914 showed horse teams and pedestrians pushing through covered streets, while the Schofield Building stood on the left. Businesses like the Majestic Bar, Vancouver Stationery, and Atkinson and Gilbert Real Estate lined those same blocks. By 1917, the streets filled with parade marchers — the Berean Bible Class, the Methodist Bible Class, and the New Era Chinese Band all made their way down Main Street at different points in the decade.
The city’s physical landscape was also changing rapidly. New buildings went up throughout the decade — the Arnada School was built at the corner of 26th and G Street, and the Clarke County Abstract & Loan Co. Building took shape nearby. The post office on Daniels Street was documented in its finished state as of July 1, 1917. Schools, churches, and civic buildings all reflect a city that was investing heavily in its own future.
The ferry crossing at the foot of Washington Street remained in use even as the Interstate Bridge was being built. In 1915, a photograph taken from the top of the ferry looking east captured the abutment construction underway — a reminder that the transition from ferry to bridge was a gradual, years-long process. When automobiles finally lined up waiting for the bridge to open in 1917, it marked the end of an era for the ferries that had connected Vancouver and Portland for decades.
Beyond the major events and institutions, these photographs capture the quieter corners of Vancouver life in the 1910s. A greenhouse at 706 West 13th Street, a feed store, a neighborhood café on Franklin Street, a family portrait at a home in Camas — each image adds a layer to what the decade actually felt like for the people living through it.
