308 North Main Street

From 1946 into 1947, the first structure was built on the site at 308 North Main Street.  A brick building was constructed by Louis Nieukirk for the purpose of opening Nieukirk's Cleaners which opened in early 1947.

First known advertisement for Nieukirk's Cleaners, early 1947.

Tragedy struck in the spring of that first year when a torrential Farm Creek flood washed away a large portion of the new building necessitating an almost complete rebuild.  The town rallied around the Nieukirks, and many people helped get the business back in shape.

The beast that was Farm Creek takes away most of the south side of the building.

The business was back up and running after a few months and filled an urgent need as the only cleaning service for a ballooning post-war Washington.  In 1949, a laundry facility called Washington Laundry was added to the site under the auspices of Roger Pittenger. 

Nieukirk's was in business for around thirty years when it closed for good in 1977.  Other businesses came and went in the back area during that time including R&E TV & Appliance and Hoffman's Sales & Service.

1977 saw the beginning of a few short-lived businesses spending time at 308 N Main.  The first was the Rio Grande Mexican knick knack shop lasting only a year. 

The Rio Grande was followed by Books By Boyd who opened their Christian book store from 1977-78. Dale and Karen Boyd operated Books by Boyd which eventually moved to a new location. They changed the name to Hidden Treasure Bookstore and had a nice long tenure as a business in town.

In 1978, the Country Bake Shop was opened by Paula Zimmerman and daughter Rae Ann Skogley at 308 N Main. In 1979, they moved to Wilmor Road next to the Convenient store where they remained until 1983. The bakery was then turned over to Doug and Sally Jenkins who renamed it Jenkins Bake Shop which lasted until 1985.

In 1980, Russell's Cycle World opened on the N. Main property.  Joe Russell started the business out of his garage in 1977 to help pay for college.  When his business got too big for the garage, he expanded to Main Street.

In 1994, Russell's moved to its current home at 10 Valley Forge Plaza.  Since then, 308 N. Main Street has been home to at least four other businesses:

Fitco Aerobics & Tumbling: 1997-2001
McKenzie River Pottery: 2001-2015
Fire Maple Pottery: 2015-2020
MiMi Photography: 2018-2020