[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 2]
[House]
[Pages 1956-1957]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                  HAPPY BIRTHDAY VANCOUVER, WASHINGTON

  (Mr. BAIRD asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. BAIRD. Mr. Speaker, it is a pleasure today to wish happy birthday 
to America's Vancouver, Vancouver, Washington. I rise in honor of the 
150th birthday of Vancouver, Washington. As we say back home, Vancouver 
not B.C., Washington not D.C.
  There was a place up north that was not founded until 29 years later, 
so we were the first. America's Vancouver was the first incorporated 
city in what is now Washington State. It hosts its proud heritage with 
the Vancouver National Historic Reserve. Fort Vancouver, Pearson Field, 
the site of the first transpolar aviation landing, a host of historic 
achievements and wonders.
  I would invite everyone to join us in America's Vancouver on July 7 
of this year as we officially celebrate America's Vancouver's 150th 
anniversary.
  Mr. Speaker, I include for the Record an article from the Columbian.

[[Page 1957]]



                  [From the Columbian, Jan. 21, 2007]

                              Happy 150th!

       And the most-senior city in Washington state is . . . 
     Seattle? The biggest city in the Northwest and hub of the 
     state's economy, is a sad non-contender in the competition. 
     It was incorporated in 1869.
       And Spokane? The Capital of the Inland Empire, as the 
     second-largest city calls itself, is practically a newborn. 
     It was incorporated in 1881 and just celebrated its 125th 
     birthday anniversary.
       Walla Walla is older than that. It came into being in 1862.
       But Steilacoom (near Tacoma), now there's an old city: 
     1854.
       That was just one year after the oldest incorporated city 
     in Washington, Columbia City . . . Ooops . . . Columbia City 
     was the name as late as 1850, when it was recognized as more 
     than just a military or fur-trapping post. But when it was 
     incorporated seven years later, on Jan. 23, 1857, as the 
     first city in what would become Washington state, it was 
     Vancouver. Our Vancouver!
       The real newcomer is the other Vancouver, in Canada, eh? 
     Incorporation: 1886. So, if nothing else, on Tuesday this 
     week, when Vancouver USA officially turns 150, you might 
     silently pledge to pay no attention the next time someone 
     suggests, as someone always does, that we rename our city 
     Fort Vancouver in order to avoid confusion with the bigger 
     city to the north. We were here first. Let them rename their 
     city.
       Much of the story of Vancouver USA's early years and most 
     famous people is efficiently and colorfully told in words and 
     photographs in a special section in today's Columbian, 
     ``Vancouver, Washington--150 Years in the Making.'' Frankly, 
     it's a hoot. There's also an online slide show at columbian 
     com/video.
       Mayor Royce Pollard, who always calls the state's oldest 
     city ``America's Vancouver,'' will deliver his State of the 
     City Address on Tuesday, kicking off a year-long celebration. 
     While acknowledging the past, the speech will fittingly look 
     ahead. Pollard has titled his address, ``Pride, Progress, 
     Possibilities.''
       The signature event of the 150th birthday will be on 
     Saturday, July 7, at the Vancouver National Historic Reserve, 
     which long-time residents still refer to as ``The Barracks'' 
     and newer residents know as the place they have the big 
     fireworks shows on the Fourth of July. The hope is to get 
     country singer Willie Nelson out for the event. He was a disc 
     jockey in the mid-'50s at the old KVAN radio station, 707\1/
     2\ Main St.
       In a Columbian editorial on May 31, 1921, the writer was 
     effusive about the county and the town, noting that it was 
     the world's greatest prune producer, had ``industrial 
     possibilities second to no other city on the globe . . . has 
     the finest water in (the) state'' and that its ``beautiful 
     homes (and) wide streets elicit wonder from its visitors . . 
     .''
       Such boosterism brings a snicker today, but you gotta love 
     the spirit behind it and wish for more like it in this, 
     Vancouver's 150th year.

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