By Chuck Haviland

The town of Arline, Wa was located off the road of what is now known as the Carbon River – South Prairie Road.  Arline was spelled many different ways , i. e. Arlene, Arline Mills Road , etc.  In the beginning Arline could only be accessed by wagon train. The first settlers that homesteaded in this area were:  John Dean 80 acres on 12 Oct 1880. George Bodest 40 acres, James Temple 120 acres, James McCarthy 160 acres, Charles Zimmerman 80 acres, Hamilton House 160 acres, Orville Briggs Armstrong , Keating, Wilchuck Moore  and Nettleton.

Most of these people moved on but as of 1915 of the original names listed above were left;  Fred Keating, John Breen, and William Wilchuck.  These were known as smaller settlements of the area or specifically Broomfield, Crocker and Arline. Orville Briggs built a sawmill in 1900. .Later this sawmill was bought out by Manley – Moore. Some of these names have been written up in the local books of the area:. Connells Prairie, South Prairie, Wilkeson, Carbonado,   Burnett, and Buckley.

Orville Biggs first went to Alaska to find his fortune, after  a while he came back to Washington State. Finding an abundance of timber he decided to stay a while and raise his family. Orville settled about three miles south of South Prairie.  Other homesteaders had preceded him,.  Some of the old- timers were John Dean, Charles Zimmerman, Hamilton House, and the Sawyer family.

Orville’s daughter was named Edith Airline Biggs. In June 1914 Arline married Edgar M. Scott, who was the vice president for an aircraft company.  Later the named was changed to BOEING  AIRPLANE COMPANY.  With all of Arlines connection to the airplane industry the county erred in placing a sign for the 300 foot of roadway serving her property as AIRLINE ROAD.  Now the road side sign is all that is left of the town .and the lumber companies such as St. Paul and Tacoma Lumber, Weyerhaeuser, Stevenson Lumber and Manley Moore lumber all operated from the  town of Airline.

George Langlois has said that he has heard rumors that the Chinese would bury their dead among the hillsides.  They were the people who worked the actual mills and lumber industry.   The town of Airline no longer exists, but its legacy the Boeing Airplane Company owes it s beginning to this small hamlet.