The tiles of those honored in the Distinguished Residents
category (sponsored by the Pullman Rotary Club) of Pullman’s “Walk of Fame”
include art work in a circle located in one corner of the tile.
Within the circle is the letter “P,” representing Pullman. Difficult
to decipher for some is the object in front of the “P.” No, it is not a
haystack. It’s a representation of a Pullman artesian well.
=An artesian well replica is located in downtown Pullman on
Northeast Kamiaken Street, across the street from Porch Light Pizza and on one
side of the Neill Public Library parking lot. It is a replica of Pullman’s
original artesian well #7 located near that site in 1890. Pullman known then as
the “Artesian City” had 20 such wells by 1909.
=The book ‘Pullman: Images of America’ (2010) includes these
photo cutlines related to artesian wells:
--“Artesian water was first encountered in May 1889. The
artesian well shown here was struck in 1889 or 1890. This one was located in
what is now the parking lot of east of Neill Public Library. The plentiful
water supply from these wells was a stimulus to Pullman’s early growth. The
building in the distance in the upper left was the second schoolhouse in
Pullman, located on the present site of the Gladish Community Center."
--“Pullman’s artesian wells were an important focus in the
selection of the town as the location for the Washington Agricultural College
and School of Science,” now Washington State University. “This well appears to
have been located west of North Grand Avenue. The photograph was probably taken
about 1913."
=The 42-room Artesian Hotel of Pullman was
constructed in 1892 and opened in 1893. It was at the
corner of Grand Avenue and Main Street, directly across Grand Avenue from downtown Pullman’s Flatiron Building. The hotel was destroyed by fire on Sept. 3,
1922.
=Some issues of the Pullman Herald newspaper nameplate featured
a shield with text “PULLMAN The Artesian City Gem of the Palouse.”
=Members of the “Artesian Committee” of the Pullman Chamber
of Commerce “act as representatives at ground-breakings, grand openings,
dedications and other events.”
………..
Information
and photos posted here were found via searches on Internet. Some, but not necessarily
all of the info and photos are from WSU Manuscripts, Archives, and Special
Collections; Whitman County Historical Society; Pullman Herald; City of Pullman
and the book ‘Pullman: Images of America’ (2010).