Twenty-one years ago, people in Kingston were busy planning for a very big event. They were celebrating the centennial of Kingston. The plat for the Kingston Townsite was filed at the courthouse in Port Madison on April 24, 1890.

The opening event was held on April 21, 1990 with Harold Osborne, a historian and retired newspaper man, giving a talk and slide show about the early history.

The centennial celebration was to culminate with an extended five-day celebration ending July 4.

On the night of June 29-30, a dramatic event dampened the mood and celebration. The main shopping center was nearly consumed by fire.

A fire began at the rear of the Olympic Red Apple Market (current site of Henery’s Hardware) destroying most of the businesses in the complex and damaging the few remaining at the west end.

The “before photo” (top right) from “The Little City by the Sea” shows a fireman walking in front of the burned out buildings after the fire. Before the inspectors were able to get to the scene to assess the losses, the community had rallied together to begin rebuilding. The Seattle P.I. reported on July 2, 1990, that Tom Waggoner, owner of Kingston Lumber, offered an empty building close-by for a replacement drug store. The Post Office was being moved to the VFW Hall.

As you can tell by the “after” picture taken this year, Rick Bjarnson decided to rebuild the grocery and the shopping center. The grocery is now Kingston IGA and still under the same ownership.

Harriet Muhrlein is president of the Kingston Historical Society.