100 years ago in Spokane: ‘Pole Road Joe’ opens mission for lumberjacks

“Pole Road Joe” Cullen, a logger for 45 years, planned to open a downtown mission for lumberjacks called the Gospel of Grace Mission.

“The men who follow the woods will not listen to a sissy boy, nor do they want a nurse, nor are they looking for charity,” said Cullen. “They will listen to one of their own who can meet them on common ground. Men from the lumbering and mining camps come to Spokane in considerable numbers to spend their spare time, but there is no place where they feel much at home. It is for such men that we are opening the mission.”

He said it will be used as a “reading room and hang-out during the day” and at night services will be conducted by Pole Road Joe himself.

He said he got the nickname 25 years ago when he was the first man to build what is known as a pole road for getting out logs in Michigan.

The mission would be financed and supported by the Fourth Presbyterian Church. The mission was at 519 W. Trent, today’s Spokane Falls Boulevard.

From the patriotic beat: The Women’s Patriotic Organization in Spokane launched a “clean flag” campaign.

The women of the group expressed indignation at the “dirty flags that were allowed to float over some of the buildings of the city.”