Hull, Lindley M., compiler and editor.  "A History of Central Washington,
Including the Famous Wenatchee, Entiat, Chelan and the Columbia Valleys."
Spokane: Press of Shaw & Borden Co., 1929.  p. 242.
 
I. J. BAILEY

     whose location in Wenatchee preceded the building of the Great Northern
Railroad, is a native of New Jersey.  When he was six years of age the Bailey
family located at Canton, Illinois, thence, four years later removed to
Wisconsin.  At 21 years of age, having developed considerable ingenuity as a
worker of wood, and with a taste for building programs, he turned his attention
to bridge construction, first as a member of a building crew, and later becoming
a contractor himself, an occupation he followed many years, operating in
Indiana, Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin, North Dakota, Montana, Idaho and later
Washington.  In Idaho, he was associated with J. L. Bailey, to whom, however, he
was not related.  Soon after his location in Wenatchee in 1892, he became
identified with building programs in Wenatchee and other parts of Chelan County.
That same year he built the first wagon bridge across the Wenatchee River, which
was located very near the present bridge, but on a level with the railroad
tracks.  In association with A. H. Wheeler, he built a cable ferry across the
Columbia River with the west side landing at the foot of Orondo Avenue.  Jointly
with J. J. O'Connor he built the steamer Wenatchee, which was sometimes called
"The Irish World."  The steamer North Star built by O'Connor, Evans and Ingram,
was wrecked in the Entiat Rapids, and was thought a total loss.  But Mr. Bailey
salvaged the boat and put it in commission for less than five hundred dollars.
He then acquired an equal partnership in this craft with J. J. O'Connor, which,
with the steamer Wenatchee, was operated by them.  The Wenatchee was destroyed
by fire in the dock at the foot of Orondo Avenue, and the North Star was sold to
the C. & O. Navigation Company.  The first of the large school buildings in
Cashmere was built by I. J. Bailey & Company, as was the Okanogan reservoir
south of Wenatchee.  For many years J. J. O'Connor was a business associate of
Mr. Bailey, and these men did the first heavy sewer contract work in Wenatchee.
Mr. Bailey was one of the contractors that built the concrete bridges at Dryden
and Cashmere.  The last named beautiful structure forms a part of the
magnificent driveway entering Cashmere from the north.  He has built many of the
Wenatchee River bridges, also several across the Entiat, as well as some of the
large canyon bridges in different parts of the county.  It may be interesting to
note that the first bridge across the Wenatchee River -- a wooden structure was
lifted up and carried away by the high water of 1894.  This structure was
replaced by a combination of wood and steel, but several years later the wooden
part was destroyed by fire and the two steel spans, 120 and 180 feet
respectively fell into the river, and were pronounced a wreck, but Mr. Bailey
bought and salvaged these spans and learned that they were practically
uninjured, and proposed to the county commissioners that they be used for the
contemplated bridge above Cashmere instead of an all-wooden structure; the
suggestion was carried out and this bridge still stands as a monument to Yankee
wit.  It may be safely said that Mr. Bailey has been identified with more public
construction than any man in the history of Chelan County, and what is more to
the point, his work has always been satisfactory.  The Bailey apartment house on
North Mission street was erected in 1922.  On June 1, 1894, Mr. Bailey was
married to Miss Helen Parrish, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. George W. Parrish.  One
daughter has been born to this union, Ruth.  Mr. and Mrs. Bailey have a fine
home on Pennsylvania Avenue.  Mrs. Bailey is a pioneer in her own right, having
been born in Kittitas Valley.
     
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Submitted to the WA. Bios Project in August 2006 by Diana Smith.

Notice: These biographies were transcribed for the Washington Biographies
Project. Unless otherwise stated, no further information is available on the
individual featured in the biographies.