The brief life of Shelton's Lake Farley

This story is from a series of articles in 1936-1938 issues of the Shelton Daily Spokesman.

In June 1936, Shelton Postmistress Jessie Knight received a telegraph from Congressman Martin Smith announcing a federal allocation of $80,000 for a new Shelton post office. After several months were spent on selecting and preparing a site on Railroad Avenue, a contract was awarded to A. F. Mowatt of Seattle, and on Oct. 26, 1937, Mowatt's crew began excavation for the building's basement.

November 1937 was the third wettest on record in Mason County. The combination of rainfall and extreme high tides (several blocks of downtown Shelton are built on filled tidelands) soon filled the excavation with water, and work had to be halted. Ducks began to arrive - a couple of them took up residence - and a big white collie enjoyed retrieving sticks thrown into the water. Folks in Shelton started referring to the water-filled excavation as Lake Farley, after U. S. Postmaster General James A. Farley.

By Jan. 28, 1938, with the rain easing and tides retreating, water from the site was being "pumped to the mother sea via the city streets of Shelton, much to the chagrin of ladies with fancy slippers and men with thinly soled shoes. The water is pouring out rapidly and work is resuming in the excavation hole."

In early February, Jessie Knight received a letter from Postmaster Farley, which read, "My dear Miss Knight: I enclose a letter received from Mr. Frank T. Bell, head of the Bureau of Fisheries. Sometime I will have to come out and fish in Lake Farley." The enclosed letter from Mr. Bell to Mr. Farley read, "Thanks a million for your letter of Feb. 11, enclosing a clipping concerning Lake Farley, and the need of fish in the lake. You can be assured the needs of Lake Farley will be immediately taken care of. We'll fill her 'er so full of fish they'll get sunburned every time the tide goes out. With these fish and the ducks so prevalent, Lake Farley will no doubt become a true sportsmen's paradise."

The last article "In Which Lake Farley Again Breaks into Print" was on June 10, 1938. A couple of tame-looking mallard ducks had made their way to Mayor L. D. Hack's home on Second Street, where a creek ran through the yard. Mrs. Hack took them in and treated them royally, thinking perhaps they were a couple of the ducks that had graced Lake Farley. Just before Bill Cowling came to claim the ducks, which had been his pets, one of them swam away.

"There is probably no truth to the report that the ducks had been imprisoned in the post office basement and had to tunnel through 18 inches of concrete to reach freedom, then flew over to the Cowlings to make their new home. For all we know, the missing duck may be down in the basement of the post office now, having returned there with a bad case of homesickness for a last look at the remains of his Lake Farley domicile."

■ Jan Parker is a researcher for the Mason County Historical Museum. She can be reached at [email protected]. Membership in the Mason County Historical Society is $25 per year. For a limited time, new members will receive a free copy of the book "Shelton, the First Century Plus Ten."