| In 1998, we published
“Toppenish... from Sagebrush to 1997.”It is a 322 page, 8 ½” x 11”x 1” book with a hard cover. The book has over 220 family stories (with 105 pictures). It also includes a short history of the Yakama Nation and city government after Toppenish was incorporated April 29th 1907. More information and another 106 pictures pertains to the fire department, schools, churches, theaters, businesses and industries, organizations, disasters and events, along with a list of war veterans. It is a great reference. |
A limited supply of these books
are available and can be purchased by sending a check or money order, made
payable to: Toppenish
Historical Society, in the amount of $45.00
(which includes shipping charges)
Books can also be purchased at the Toppenish Mural Office for $40.00. |
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Pictures in “Toppenish From
Sagebrush to 1997 “
Josephine Bowzer Lillie Parker often called the “Mother of Toppenish.” In 1905 she, being of ½ Indian blood, received a patent to an 80-acre allotment from the U.S. Government. She platted the north 40-acres into lots and put them on the market. These were the first deeded lots to be sold on the reservation. Building began and the town of Toppenish began to grow. |
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In 1898, the Methodist
Church was built near where Asotin Avenue now joins North Beech Street.
The building was to house the first public school as well as the church.
The first eighth-grade graduating class in 1903 were Bessie M. Holt, Lottie
A. Felton, Abbie May Fleming, and Ray Milton.
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This was the first two-story house in the settlement of Toppenish built by Josephine and Nevada Lillie about 1892. It was the first of its kind and located between South Division Street and South Toppenish Avenue about on the site of the drive-through window behind Bank of America. The house burned in 1900. | |
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Dr. Hiram M. Johnson
built the first building specifically for a hospital in 1908 at the corner
of Jefferson Avenue and South Chestnut.
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The Yakima Indian Agency building was financed and owned by a group of Toppenish residents, from whom the Office of Indian Affairs (OIA) rented the facility. In 1927 the building was purchased by the OIA and in 1931 a second story was added. The building now houses the Mary L. Goodrich Library. |
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