SARA GETTYS/Yakima Herald-Republic Chad Jones, left, and Kyle Brown uncovered newspapers dating from 1916 while renovating the building at the corner of A St. and Front St. Photographed Friday, May 16, 2008. SARA GETTYS/Yakima Herald-Republic A Yakima Daily Republic, from February 1916, was found in the wall as renovators worked in the building on the corner of A Street and Front St.. Photographed Friday, May 16, 2008.
After finding newspapers dating back to 1916 in a wall of a historic downtown building, construction workers renovating the structure are curious about what other treasure may be inside.
Kyle Brown and Chad Jones were tearing out a wall of the old Senator Apartments building at the corner of A and Front streets Friday when they found dated copies of the Yakima Daily Republic and the Spokane Spokesman Review inside.
The two men are converting the first floor of the four-story brick building into window storefronts for commercial shops.
The old newspapers were found stuffed between wall studs of the structure that was built in 1911. Jones says they were probably used for insulation.
"We're kind of curious what we'll find when we start tearing at this wall," said Brown, pointing to another strip of wall adjacent to the one where the newspapers were found. "I'm kind of curious as to what else is in this building.
Brown said he was amazed looking at the advertisements in the old newspapers, some with World War I propaganda and another with an ad listing a pair of roller skates for $1.95.
Looking back at the era, he recalled, "Ten dollars was a lot of money back then."
But the newspapers weren't the only discovery at the historic structure, which features ceramic floor tiles and an aluminum plate ceiling covering lath and plaster.
Another worker gutting the ceiling found two jars of tobacco dating back to 1908 behind the lath and plaster. There was still tobacco inside the jars.
Finding old stuff in old buildings is pretty common, Jones said. He once found a 1940s nail saw in the wall of an old building he worked on in West Valley.
"I like doing these old buildings," Brown added. "You never know what you'll find."
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