“That’s where my dad was born. I think he was probably the fifth or sixth child back then. Then one of the customs of the Japanese that were here that I guess were more the elite and affluent, they sent all their kids back to Japan to get their formal education. I think by going back there and then coming back, in Japanese, they were called Kiba. What that meant is they’re born here, they went to Japan for their education and they come back. Then what happened is when they went back to Japan, they stayed with my grandmother’s brother and he raised him and they’d always send money to support the kids. Like I said, there was a herd of them.He [my father] became a businessman and he had a boarding house down in Oakley plus they owned a coal mine down there, I believe. Then from they moved up to Kemmerer and I think when they got the Corner, it was called the Corner Pool Room and cafe or something. Then they still had a boarding house above, I believe.”
“Going back to the early years when the store was first started, when my grandfather came here, there were communities here which my best guess is that there were about 15,000 people in the area. By the time 2010 rolled around we were shaking the trees to get 5,000. When they had the 15,000 people here, they had very limited mobility. If they wanted to come here from Cumberland, they could take the train or ride their horse or take a carriage, whatever, but it was difficult to get here.
I'm thinking it would've been about 2005, and that started another little mini boom. It's fun to watch our construction workers. They're specialized workers who come in. They can't be supplied by the population here. They'll come in from places like Texas, Oklahoma. In the winter it gets chilly. We would have the crew come in. They would hit the store. They would buy the warmest work clothing they could get, spend a couple hundred dollars per person or more for heavy-duty Carhartts, for winter packs, Sorels, Red Wing boots, everything under the sun. They'd last a few weeks be frozen out and take all their good clothing with them and the next batch would come in. It was considerably lucrative to have that group keep the turnover constantly occurring. However, once that was finished, it just dropped out again and because of the lack of people and the lack of business the time we closed up the store in 2010 which it had lasted for 101 years by then. That was the end of that era.” -JS
“It was one of the first radios in town They strung that antenna and it’s right there in that office. If you standing there looking at the big window there in the office look off to the side the window you see wire. But I guess people come over to listen and listen to whatever there’s listening to, you know. [I have the original battery] in a glass jars with lead rings inside of there. Really, really old. I got one of them over there. ”
“I'm still upset over them tearing the Kemmerer Hotel down because it was just the sandstone building right next to the post office, just across the street from the post office, but it was a lot bigger. If you go to the senior center, you can see pictures of the Kemmerer Hotel. They said it was beyond repair, I don't think anybody wanted to spend the money, that's all”- MK
The demolition of the Kemmerer Hotel- a registered historic landmark. April 12, 2004
“Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.”
“What happens with Kemmerer after coal mining is done here, I don’t know. ”
