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Studio portrait of Bill Phalen, Sioux Falls, South Dakota, ca. 1895
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| Title | Studio portrait of Bill Phalen, Sioux Falls, South Dakota, ca. 1895 |
| Photographer | Fox, G.W. |
| Date | ca. 1895 |
| Caption | Bill Phalen was a prominent citizen of Columbia City, running a grocery store and serving as mayor. He organized the first fire department and a baseball team. |
| Notes | Handwritten on image: Mayor of Columbia - W.W. Phalen 1903.
Caption on mount: G.W. Fox, Ground Floor, Sioux Falls SD.
Handwritten on verso: W.W. Phalen, "Billy Phalen, " taken in late 1890's probably. After leaving Dad's in Wentworth So. Dak. Billy went to Mankato Minnesota & became quite successful in grocery business. Then to moved to Seattle about 1900 or 1 or 2. Philip J. Weiss.
1903 Mayor of Columbia City.
See transcribed article in "Additional Information" below for more information. |
| Subjects | Mayors--Washington (State)--Seattle
Grocers--Washington (State)--Seattle
Phalen, Bill
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| Places | United States--South Dakota--Sioux Falls |
| Digital Collection | Rainier Valley Historical Society Photograph Collection |
| Accession Number | 93.001.261 |
| Ordering Information | To order a copy of this photograph, please email Rvhsoffice@aol.com and mention the Accession Number. |
| Repository | Rainier Valley Historical Society, Seattle |
| Repository Collection | Hall-Summers Collection |
| Physical Description | 1 photographic print mounted on cardboard: b&w; 6 1/2 x 4 1/4 in. |
| Type | Image |
| Digital Reproduction Information | Scanned as a 3000 pixel TIFF image in 8-bit grayscale, resized to 600 pixels in the longest dimension and compressed into JPEG format using Photoshop 6.0 and its JPEG quality measurement 3. |
| Additional Information | W.W. (Bill) Phalen was one of Columbia City's most progressive businessmen. He worked on his father's farm until he was 21 when he went to work in a grocery store.
Bill played professional baseball for 13 years. He then worked at Senator Falls, N.Y., then went to New York City. He railroaded for several years, then became manager of a grocery store.
Bill went to Wentworth, South Dakota, where he worked for Charles H. Weiss, father of Pierre and Phil Weiss. In 1895 he played professional baseball for the Mankato, Minn., team. After the baseball season, he again worked in a grocery store which he managed successfully for five years. He went to St. Paul, working for himself for one year.
Bill came to Columbia City and established himself in the grocery business in 1901. He organized the first Fire Company, and a baseball team for two years. He was elected Mayor in 1905 but was defeated in the next election because he opposed an attempt by the Citizens Telephone Co. to obtain a 50-year franchise. He was elected Mayor in 1907 on condition that Columbia City become a part of Seattle.
Bil put up street signs and did many other things. He was chairman of three Fiestas, Columbia City's annual celebration which began in 1915. He deeded over $37,000 of property to Columbia City.
A newspaper article in the Nov. 17, 1917, issue of the Rainier Valley Times described Bill Phalen as the fairest and most impartial officer ever elected in Columbia City. He died in New York City while on a vacation trip. |
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