WE GREW UP AT MELBA
The valley between the river and Rock Spur was already being homesteaded, although the water was not in yet. There was a train to Murphy that stopped every day and filled a barrel with water for those who needed it. Arrowrock Dam and Reservoir were still in the blueprint stage inn 1909, but by October, the word was spreading and more people filed for homesteads. By 1910 the first settlers were required to establish residence and show their good faith by living on their homestead seven months out of a year---thus giving them a leave of absence to work in town. For most, the residence consisted of the one room shelter known as the “homestead shack”.
A source of fuel in those days was a constant concern. There were no trees. Coal had to be brought in by train and money was always in short supply. So the thing to do was to go to the natural source--sagebrush. Gathering for winter meant taking a team and wagon and going beyond the perimeter into the desert where the brush was cut into short lengths. There were always rattlesnakes and rabbit holes to watch out for, and then, back at home, there was the search for ticks on your person or clothing.
The year 1912, 1913 and 1914 saw many people come to the valley to settle, among them was C L Palmer. Stories of the Arrowrock Dam and the opening of land brought many aspiring farmers and their families. Gold fever also brought travelers, among whom was Clayton C Todd, who stayed to lay out a town and name it for is four year old daughter, Melba. Todd built a small house near the railroad track but most of the town lay east. He continued to live and direct much of the activity in Melba, such as securing the first water wells. In 1927 the Melba Chronicle noted that Melba shipped more sheep than anywhere else in the United States--more than 100 cars per week.
Henry Conyers built the first store so near the railroad track he was asked to move it--he did--the width of an alley from the track. He sold to John Sanford who later sold to McLean who built a fine brick hardware store where they sold everything from “thunder mugs” to farm machinery.
Dewey Harris built a store one block over and that building was owned by the Walter’s Butte Grange for many years. W C Eichenberger built the second store. Due to keen competition he traveled through the valley twice a week delivering groceries, taking orders and picking up produce, poultry and eggs.
Mrs. Ben Gardner and her daughter, Iva, built a hotel across from Harris Store and call
ed it the Gardner Hotel. A man from Nampa named Fuller built a dance hall on the corner. Mr. Bramsted bought the hall and held community dances and let his fellow LDS members use it for a meeting place. The Mormons later bought the building and it was used for a church for many years.
North of the McClain Hardware was a building used as a cooperative grocery store. Later, Art Montgomery and Tex Smith had a garage there. Herschel Cummings conducted a pharmacy in part of that building. Cummings also had a nursery a little way south of Melba and the road continued to be called “Nursery Hill”.
Ben Gardner preferred to have a pool hall, so the same carpenters who built the hotel also built him a pool hall on Broaway. Eichenberger bought it later and had a feed sstore there for many years. Earny Smith and Carl Buzzel bought it in 1938 and they ground grain and sold supplies to many of the farmers. Seven years later they dissolved the partnership and Buzzel took the hauling business. Smith expanded the feed business. He built an elevator near the track.
In 1919 Todd built a commercial company across from McCleans hardware and Melba
was on its way to becoming a metropolis. A butcher shop stood next to Todd’s for a couple of years and there was a blacksmith shop near Harris’; both burned. Burt and Ben Hawley built a real estate office on the other corner from Todds. They replaced the first building with a sturdier one and for a short time there was a bank.
Dr. Samuel Swayne came to Nampa in 1920 following internship in New York. He wanted to live in the country for he liked camping, hunting and fishing. He put ten dollars down on a model T Ford, and with one dollar and fifty cents in his pocket he opened a practice in Melba. He bought a house and built an office across the street from the lumber yard. The house had a cistern on the roof of the house and water was reached from a trapdoor in the dining room. Two of his daughters were born there. He fixed a basket on pulleys to pull them to the ceiling to keep warm. He stayed in Melba for four years.
It was not
all work. Melba had a band at one time and a ball team. The ball
park was located across from John Gray’s house near the
railroad
track.
In 1927 there was move on to get electricity before winter. The Trade Dollar Mine had built Swan Falls Dam and put electricity in to Silver City, but it would be nearly 30 years before it came to Melba.
Another concern was the building of schools. Toy Halverson told of walking the entire Glendale area to get enough signatures to form a school district. In September 1913, the first term of school began in the homestead shack of Robert McDonough with Miss Nettie Hamilton being the first teacher . Meanwhile, arrangements were under way for the building of a brick school house on land donated by McDonough and Reineke.
By 1915 school was under way, the Northwest room was complete with entryway and bell tower. A year later the Southeast room was built, and in 1919, another two rooms were added. Eva Duffes serves a hot lunch of chili, soup or baked potato from the stove in the entryway. Governor Moses Alexander attended an Arbor Day commemoration and assisted in planting some trees in the school yard.
Trustees to manage the business of the newly formed high school district were appointed: Frank Sanford, W C Eichenberger and C L Palmer.
Churches were the next concern of the community. The Melba Friends Church was organized in 1920. Those who attended were the families of Neal, Eicenberger, A L Selby, B N Hawley, and C L Palmer. Clark Smith became the pastor in 1928 and served for eleven years. In 1937 a homecoming was attended by 170 people.
The Baptist Church also began in 1920. Those who attended came each week with two water barrels to obtain drinking water from the Todd well and this had to last until the next week. The Catholics met in private homes as did the Mormons. The Methodist Church was built in 1926 after meeting in the Grange Hall for two years.
Melba continued to grow and flourish. They mostly raised hay and sold it for a good price to the sheep men who fed it right on the farm. In the early 1920s they found they could raise good potatoes and some made it ‘big’ with this crop. In 1921 there were 900 cars of spuds shipped from Melba.
In 1929 sweet corn for seed was introduced to the area. Henry Haynes and son Clifford, raised eight acres for the Crookham Seed company of Caldwell. C L Palmer grew see for Crookham as well as Northrup and King. Crookham considered CL Palmer to be his best supplier of the best seed.
The Melba Mustangs Reunion, Robert Palmer (back row 10th from left)