By Luke Ellington
Once the “Darby Hotel” in ‘downtown’ Saint Andrews
In 1890, after living in the area for three years, Captain James Saint Andrews and his wife, Lucy A. Andrews, decided to open a post office in their small farmhouse. Lucy was to be the postmaster for the families in the surrounding area. Captain Andrews was a Civil War veteran, early homesteader in the area and Douglas County’s 2nd prosecuting attorney. His wish was for the new post office to be called “Andrews,“ but for reasons unbeknownst, the name became “Saint Andrews.” Even after James’ death the following summer, when Lucy was forced to give up the position, the name stuck.
Rustic scenes from the Saint Andrews area countryside As the title of postmaster changed hands, so did the pinpoint location of Saint Andrews. James and Lucy Andrews’ ranch was actually two miles south of the town’s current location. When Miss Dodd became postmaster in 1902, she moved the post office to the 4-way intersection that would become its permanent home. Before the Saint Andrews school was moved to the intersection, classes were held in Joe Bogart’s schack, just southwest of town. The small shack had no floor, and the children used boxes and 5-gallon oil cans as seats. The school moved around for many years, but remained at the Saint Andrews intersection until 1972, when it was dismantled to make room for the new Grange Hall.
The Saint Andrews cemetery began with the burial of none other than Captain Andrews. For many years, a large American flag was raised on his gravesite every Memorial Day and 4th of July. To get to the cemetery, you must travel 1 mile South of Saint Andrews Grange Hall and then 1/2 mile East on 5 Road NE. After 1/2 mile, you turn south for another 1/2 mile. The cemetery lies just over the top of a hill, which has piles of field rocks dumped on it. The cemetery covers roughly 6 acres and has fence on three sides. The early pioneers of the area are buried there.
Much smaller than the “Saint Andrews Cemetery,” the Danish Cemetery holds many of the pioneers from the Danish influx into the Saint Andrews area. To get the there, travel 1 mile South of Saint Andrews, then turn Westward along 5 Road NE. After ½ mile, the cemetery should be on the North side of the county road and has a fence around it with a gate.
At the height of Saint Andrews’ success, in 1906, the “Darby Hotel” was established. The Darby’s had bought the two-story building from Mr. Menger, who ran a general store out of the top floor. The bottom floor had been a meeting hall for some years. For years, the Darby Hotel served as a stopping point for men hauling wheat in horse-drawn wagons from Mansfield to the railroad at Coulee City. Once tracks were laid to Mansfield, the hotel lost its supply of weary travelers. It became a home for many years before being torn down in the 1950s. At one time, Saint Andrews boasted the hotel, a livery stable, a meat market and a blacksmith. In 1915, the Saint Andrews Community Church was built, but it burnt down 8 years later. The small farming community in the surrounding Saint Andrews area prospered for some good years but ultimately fell victim to the loss of business that came with increased automobile production and major roads that bypassed the town.
In 1909, the Great Northern Railroad branch to Mansfield was completed and rail crews began to flood the area. The large crews of men were taken from Spokane to Coulee City, from where they would take turns walking and riding in wagons to Mansfield. When the crews reached Saint Andrews along their way, into the Darby’s hotel the hungry men would run. The hotel’s kitchen was never stocked long.
St. Andrews Grange Hall #832
Around 1915, a unceasing drought threatened to destroy the livelihoods of those in Saint Andrews. Their prayers seemed to be answered when a man by the name of Hatfield arrived in the area and promised rain for a certain amount of money. The people of Saint Andrews hired Hatfield, but he was gone before the rains ever came.
Today, Saint Andrews is known best for its bright white Grange Hall¾the center of activity for the surrounding area. The hall houses grange meetings of all sorts, 4-H club meetings and has even seen some political activity near election time. Diagonally across the street sits the abandoned Darby Hotel. The only other building at the Saint Andrews intersection is the Syth family home. “I guess I’m the mayor and everything else,” said Mike Syth, chuckling to himself. He and his family moved to the country one year ago to get away from Wenatchee. “This is it,” Mike said.
Mike Syth in Saint Andrews
The truth of the matter is that Saint Andrews is more than just a washed up town. As one of the last surviving farm communities in the area, Saint Andrews became the adopted name for a vast collection of farmland stretching out for miles into Douglas County and beyond. Though it is the mailing address for few, Saint Andrews is a place that many are proud to call their home.
For long-time area farmer Jim Davis, “Saint Andrews” is something definite and yet wholly indefinable. “It’s a place, a pinpoint on a map, a population of like-minded people and an attitude,” said Jim, listing but a few examples of what Saint Andrews means to him. In addition to being a Douglas County PUD Commissioner, Jim also manages the 6,500 acres of farmland that has been in his family since he was only one year old.
Intersection of H and 6th
A hasty coyote getaway
Jim Davis can trace his family’s presence in Douglas County back to the Gilberts, who he says arrived in 1886 as the first white settlers east of Grand Coulee. Growing up, Jim remembers his grandma telling stories about Chief Moses traveling by their homestead to get water for his horse. As settlers began to move into the farm land, schoolhouses began to pop up to accommodate the children, and thus was the birth of Gilbert School. The other schools in the area, including Highland, Baird and Saint Andrews, were all relatively close by today’s standards. Without cars, however, it took a vast network of schools and other services to support the large, spread out community.
And that is what Saint Andrews is today¾a network of communities. Jim explained how wheat farms in Douglas County are 20 times larger on average than in the early days. But just because Jim’s neighbors live miles away doesn’t make them any less neighbors, he says. And for the Davis’ and those who call themselves part of Saint Andrews, the St. Andrews Grange #832 is merely the icon for that sense of community, as well as an important gathering place for meetings and groups of all kinds. Jim carries one especially fond memory about receiving a care package in Korea while in the Army “back in another life.” The return address was St. Andrews Grange and the senders were a group of women from the Saint Andrews area.
St. Andrews Grange #832
Saint Andrews area farmhouse
Because of similar interests in farming and agriculture in general, the seemingly loose geographic ties for the Saint Andrews community are quite strong. “If somebody rings the alarm bell, we all come running,” said Jim with a laugh. The Saint Andrews community may get mail and send kids to school in Mansfield, Coulee City, or even Bridgeport, but they are all Douglas County farmers, as Jim puts it. “I know Douglas County, I love Douglas County, I am Douglas County,” Jim said confidently. Laughing, he added, “My roots are long and deep.”
We hear in story poem or bookJust how a one-room school should look‘Little Red Schoolhouse’ they sayThere surely is some other wayTo tell folks in some future yearWhat schools looked like away back hereOf log and board and brick ‘tis saidMost painted white--but never red!
