SUNDAY MAY 12 2024 TRI-CITY 7A If looking for a great day trip as the weather improves, try blocking out a few hours to drive to and explore a ghost town. You can soak in the preserved history by visiting each remaining structure in the town. Most have resources avail- able for those who want to learn more about the past. What exactly is a ghost town, though? While there is debate over the exact parameters of what is considered a ghost town, the term generally refers to a form- er dwelling that has been largely abandoned by inhabitants because its purpose is no longer bene- ficial, but some buildings or partial buildings re- main. Whether that means a town that ran dry after the mines did, a community that never recovered from a natural disaster or an attempted economic oper- ation that just pan out, these ghost towns are sprinkled all across Wash- ington state.
Gold was discovered in the soon-to-become state of California in 1848, leading to a surge of min- ers moving west in hopes of similar luck. While not as popular as some other nearby states, Washington state had a gold rush- related timber boom and saw miners in search of riches around the 1890s. It take long for small timber and mining towns to pop up across the state. Railroads also brought more small areas of dwell- ing to the Evergreen State with track line building and train station openings. But both mining towns and railroad worker towns were heavily impacted in the years following settle- ment.
Most of these towns were abandoned before long, especially once in- terstate highways were put in. Now, they sit as ghost towns or simply ruins. McClatchy has com- piled a list of ghost towns east of the Cascade Moun- tains that allow free view- ing or visitors: GHOST TOWNS IN CENTRAL, SOUTHEASTERN WASHINGTON A Liberty One of the most well- known ghost towns in Washington state is Liberty in Kittitas County. in the Swauk Mining District, which was established in 1873 so the community of miners could have a functioning government. At the time, it was Williams Creek, and it later was called Meaghersville before becoming Liberty in 1916.
Liberty is one of the oldest mining areas in the state, according to the Washington Trails Association. Several buildings and mining structures remain today. The town was included in the National Register of Historic Places in 1974. still a small population within the town boundaries, making it called a ghost a campground nearby for those interested in an overnight stay. A Goodnoe Hills A pioneer community from around the 1860s, Goodnoe Hills sits in Klickitat County near Rock Creek Canyon.
There is still a schoolhouse, hotel and several residences at the community site today. A Cloverland In Asotin County, Cloverland was intended to be an agricultural com- munity for orchards and crops. The population turned to livestock and grains after other crops were unsuccessful. The most residents it ever had was in 1910, when 400 people lived in Clover- land. Now, the town is just a handful of buildings, in- cluding a church, hotel and garage, which are on the National Register of Historic Places.
The near- by Cloverland cemetery is just up the road with many graves dated from the peak. GHOST TOWNS IN NORTHEASTERN WASHINGTON A Nighthawk Another mining boom town, Nighthawk in Okanogan County is regis- tered with the Historical Society as a ghost town. Its original hotel, school- house, mining office and mill all still stand today. Most of the buildings left date back to 1903, but the town was a mining com- munity and supply center as early as 1860. Nighthawk sits along the Similkameen River.
While estimated that less than a dozen people live in the town now, it is said there used to be thousands of miners. A Old Molson Okanogan County has another mining boom town that serves as an open-air museum: Molson. The Molson Schoolhouse is now the Molson School Museum, with pictures and displays of Mol- and the original library. mining boom lasted only a year. The population remained steady following the de- cline of mining due to railroad construction, but the town eventually dwin- dled to its current ghost town state.
A Govan If any of these ghost towns are likely to have any ghosts, be Govan, the town in Lincoln Coun- ty with several notorious unsolved murders. The city boomed around 1890 in keeping with Central Washington Railway con- struction. Just south of the Grand Coulee Dam, sever- al of the original buildings still stand, in- cluding the schoolhouse, post office and grain silos. The most in- famous case is the un- solved double axe murder of Judge J.A. Lewis and his wife Penelope in 1902.
The installation of U.S. Route 2 halted growth. A Sherman Also in Lincoln County is the ghost town of Sherman. You can find a church and cemetery there today, plus partial remains of the school- house. It is said that the town did well in the late 1800s due to wheat de- mand, but was eventually abandoned when wheat prices fell and better roads were in place.
easy to stop by both Sherman and Govan in one day. A Bodie One last mining town for the list, Bodie in Oka- nogan County was estab- lished around the late 1880s. Gold found in the area kept its population up for some time. In fact, the Wrigley brothers owned the Bodie gold mine for some years in the early 1900s, and established the Bodie Mining Compa- ny. It is said that over $1 million worth of gold came out of Bodie.
The gold oper- ations ebbed and flowed in the following decades. But a fire that destroyed much of the mining infrastructure in the solidified its fate as a ghost town. Parts of Bodie are pri- vately owned, so if you visit, check the status of each structure. Do you have a question or topic suggestion for the Northwest Service Team? Let us know here: Karlee Van De Venter: 509-416-6035, Ghost towns sit abandoned across state, but you can visit them BY KARLEE VAN DE VENTER KENNEWICK, WA The Tri-Cities should get a preview of summer in the coming days. The temperature is forecast to climb to 90 degrees on Saturday.
about 15 degrees higher than normal for the date. And it could even be a few degrees warmer. The National Weather Service says the chances of tem- peratures warmer than 90 is for the Tri-Cities. The hottest temperature so far this year was 83 degrees on April 14. May had yet to have the tem- perature reach the 80s, according to weather service data.
The warmer weather is courtesy of an upper level ridge forecast to stay over the Mid-Columbia for the remainder of the week. The sky should be sunny from Thursday through at least Tuesday. But the temperature should start to drop some after Sat- urday, with highs falling to the high 70s by Tuesday. With a high in the 90s Saturday, the temptation may be to test out the water in the Columbia River for the first time this year. But the weather service warns that rivers will still be very cold and could be swift, as snow melt fills them.
Body heat is lost 25 times faster in cold water than in cold air, and hy- pothermia can start short- ly after being in the water, especially for children. If exposed to cold wa- ters, even experienced swimmers can lose muscle control quickly, and fast moving water makes res- cue more difficult, says the weather service. can cause dramatic changes in breathing, heart rate and blood pressure, leading to rapid breathing that in- creases the risk of drown- ing, it says. Hottest temperatures so far this year about to hit area BY TRI-CITY HERALD STAFF.
