The History of the Yakima Valley, Washington, Comprising Yakima, Kittitas and
Benton Counties, The S.J. Clarke Publishing Co., 1919, Volume II, page 624

CHARLES H. KRESGE.

Charles H. Kresge is the owner of seven hundred and eighty acres of valuable
land in Kittitas county, of which he has four hundred acres under a high state
of cultivation and the crops produced are evidence of his progressive spirit and
practical methods. He also makes stock raising a feature of the place and he is
a man of determined character who carries forward to successful completion
whatever he undertakes. He was born in Monroe county, Pennsylvania, October 29,
1865, a son of Joseph and Mary Ann (Houser) Kresge, both of whom have now passed
away. The father devoted his life to the occupation of farming.

While spending his youthful days under the parental roof Charles H. Kresge
acquired a public school education and on attaining his majority he left the old
home and made his way to the Pacific coast. Arriving in California, he there
engaged in farming upon rented land until 1901, when he made his way to Kittitas
county, Washington. Here he also cultivated a rented farm for a decade and
during this period he also conducted a wholesale hay and grain business,
building up a large trade. He also built a fine warehouse in Ellensburg and he
handled as high as eight thousand tons of hay and grain per year. In 1910 he
purchased one hundred and forty acres of land two miles west of Ellensburg and
in 1908 he had purchased three hundred and twenty acres eleven miles northeast
of Ellensburg. In 1911 he took up his abode upon his ranch. He now has
altogether seven hundred and eighty acres of valuable land, of which one hundred
acres is under cultivation. He raises hay, grain and cattle, handling high grade
stock, having a fine herd of shorthorns. He has upon his place a beautiful home
supplied with all modern conveniences and every feature of his place is
indicative of his progressive spirit and the enterprise which guides him in all
the relations of life. His ranch is called the Springdale Farm. One of his ranch
properties is devoted to dairying and upon that place he has a very fine herd of
cattle and all equipments for the successful and sanitary conduct of a dairy
business.

On the 21st of July, 1892, Mr. Kresge was married to Miss Helen I. Faulkner, a
native of Wisconsin. They are members of the Presbyterian church and in politics
Mr. Kresge is a democrat where national questions and issues are involved but at
local elections casts an independent ballot. In 1916 he withdrew from the
wholesale hay and grain trade and took a trip throughout the United States,
motoring for nine months and driving over fourteen thousand miles, while for
three thousand miles he covered the distance by rail. This was a most delightful
trip to Mr. and Mrs. Kresge, enabling them to see much of the country and
especially those points which were of most interest to them. Mr. Kresge has been
a most prominent farmer of his community, a sagacious and farsighted business
man and one whose well defined plans have constituted the foundation upon which
he has built the superstructure of success.

********************************
Submitted to the Washington Bios Project in December 2007 by Jeffrey L. Elmer.
Submitter has no additional information about the subject of this article.