Last Thursday, a vehicle driving in the parking lot north of Celebrations in Snowflake broke open a two-foot hole in the asphalt. No one was hurt and there was no damage to the vehicle, but it did open a 10-foot mystery.
A brick structure was under the small hole that appeared to have a concrete cap and dirt covering it. Over time, with the weather and traffic, the dirt disappeared and the cement cap broke.
Snowflake Public Works Superintendent Terry Cooper noted that the town was called and they set up a barricade.
The mystery now is whether the hole was once a cesspool or a hand dug well.
In 1878, William Jordan Flake purchased the Stinson Home from James Stinson, and that was the beginning of Snowflake, as well as the square block known as the Flake Block because several homes and the store were built on that block.
James M. Flake built the Flake mansion on the southwest corner, and the Flake Brothers Store was built in 1880 in the middle of the block on Main Street. It served the community for many years with proprietors James and Charles Flake, and now houses Celebrations, a popular restaurant.
James’ son Virgil and his wife Gerda bought the home on the northwest corner of the block that had been built by Osmer D. Flake. It is now the bed & breakfast owned by Craig and JoAnne Guderian.
Cleone Flake Solomon, a daughter of Virgil and Gerd, grew up in the home, and later she and her husband Carvel Solomon raised their family in the home.
Cleone has talked to her sister Evelyn Taylor in researching the block, and said Evelyn jogged her memory. They recall that north of the Flake Brothers Store was a lawn and apple trees. Cleone noted that there were four homes around that area, which all needed a cesspool.
Her cousin Gerald Flake thinks that as a child, he remembers people pulling a horse from the cesspool/well.
Ray Flake, another cousin, recalled that he had bought a registered quarter horse gelding when he was 13 years old and was breaking him. The horse would run around that area, and he noted that often they drove trucks loaded with seed there.
“One morning I couldn’t find him,” said Ray. It appeared that the horse had been sleeping, and sank into a hole hindquarters first. He was buried in dirt, and moving back and forth in an attempt to get out.
Ray was in charge of the family while his parents were attending conference in Salt Lake City, Utah, so he sought help from Linford Webb, a neighbor who had a loader.
They put a chain below the front legs of the frightened horse, but couldn’t move him; he was wedged in the dirt and the loader wouldn’t lift him. Webb had gotten his brother who also had a loader, but, “When the horse squealed with pain I couldn’t stand it. I told them to wait a bit and went to the house and got a gun,” said Ray. Then they were able to get the horse out.
“Our stewardship is important enough, I couldn’t stand him in that much pain,” said Ray.
Ray anxiously awaited the arrive of his dad to explain what he had done, and his dad confirmed that Ray had done the right thing. Because of this memorable incident, Ray thinks that the hole is a hand dug well.
Last week Dean Porter had the hole filled with cement and the mystery of what the sinkhole was remains a mystery.
JoAnne Guderian made clear her theory, noting, “The sink hole is a stink hole.”
