Ghost Towns of Washington

County: Franklin
Zip Code:
Latitude / Longitude: 46° 13′ 1.2″ N, 119° 1′ 37.2″ W
Elevation:
Time Zone: Pacific (PST) (UTC-8)
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Comments: Ainsworth, Washington, was a ghost town in Franklin County, Washington. The town was on the northern bank of the mouth of the Snake River, in what is now Pasco, Washington. Ainsworth was built as a depot on the Northern Pacific Railroad and named after John C. Ainsworth, president of the Oregon Steam Navigation Company. The town was platted in 1879. Thomas Symons, the US Army engineer at the site commented at the time
Remains: Ainsworth is one of the most uncomfortable, abominable places in America to live in. You can scan the horizon in vain for a tree or anything resembling one. The heat through the summer is excessive, and high winds prevail and blow the sands about into everything. By the glare of the sun and the flying sands, one’s eyes are in a constant state of winking, blinking, and torment, if nothing more serious results.
Current Status: In 1884, a railroad bridge across the Snake River was completed. By 1885, many of the buildings in Ainsworth had either been dismantled or moved to Pasco. The Chinese laborers also moved to the new town and established their own district, but most of them left when the railroad work was completed and the work let up. In 1885, the State Legislature officially moved the county seat to Pasco. Over the years, Pasco has increased in size and engulfed the original townsite.
Remarks: When Franklin County was created from Whitman County in 1883, Ainsworth has named the county seat. At the time, there were also a number of Chinese laborers who lived in Ainsworth – many of whom worked for the railroad, and the remainder of which operated businesses in town.

Alpine, WA

County: Skagit
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Time Zone: Pacific (PST) (UTC-8)
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Comments: There have been two villages named Alpine in Washington State. The earliest was located on the shores of Lake Cavanaugh in Skagit County from 1894-1898.
Remains: Alpine, Washington, was a town in the Cascade Mountains, near Skykomish, Washington. Founded in the late 19th century and originally named Nippon, Washington, it was first built to house Japanese railway workers. Another nearby railway town, Corea, housed Korean workers. About eight miles west of Stevens Pass, Alpine had only rail access and was a mile from the nearest road.
Current Status: The local lumber baron changed the town’s name from Nippon to Alpine in 1903. Its population peaked at 200–300 people; after the nearby woods were logged out, it was evacuated and intentionally burned, around 1929. All that remains are two foundation stones.
Remarks: Author Mary Daheim, whose family, the Dawsons, lived in Alpine approximately 1916–1922 (before she was born) sets her “Emma Lord” mystery novels in a fictional, surviving town of Alpine.

Attalia, WA

County: Walla Walla
Zip Code:
Latitude / Longitude: 46° 6′ 28″ N, 118° 55′ 12″ W
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Time Zone: Pacific (PST) (UTC-8)
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Comments: Attalia is an extinct town in Walla Walla County, Washington. The GNIS classifies it as a populated place. Attalia was located on the East shore of the Columbia River some 8 miles downriver from Burbank.
Remains: A post office called Attalia was established in 1906 and remained in operation until 1952. According to tradition, the town was named after a place in Italy.
Current Status: Attalia was a stop on both the Northern Pacific Railway and the Oregon Railroad and Navigation Company in 1909. During the 1920s, the town had a newspaper, the News Tribune. Some amount of oil exploration also took place during the 1920s, but never amounted to anything.
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Baird, WA

County: Douglas
Zip Code:
Latitude / Longitude: 47° 37′ 13″ N, 119° 28′ 11″ W
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Time Zone: Pacific (PST) (UTC-8)
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Comments: Baird is a ghost town in Douglas County, Washington, United States. Baird is part of ZIP code 99115 and is home to the Highland Cemetery (also occasionally known as the Baird Cemetery). Baird appears on a 1909 map of Douglas County. The town was located about 7 miles (11 km) west of Coulee City, on the high ground between Moses Coulee and Grand Coulee. A post office called Baird was established in 1896 and remained in operation until 1934. James Baird, an early postmaster, gave the town his name.
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Blewett, WA

County: Chelan
Zip Code:
Latitude / Longitude: 47° 25′ 23″ N, 120° 39′ 33″ W
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Time Zone: Pacific (PST) (UTC-8)
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Comments: Blewett was a town in Chelan County, Washington, United States. The small mining town was established on the west side of Peshastin Creek in the foothills of the Wenatchee Mountains in the mid-1870s.
Remains: The first mining claims were filed in 1874, and a stamp mill followed by 1878. A wagon road to Cle Elum was completed in 1879. The community was originally called Werner with the establishment of a post office in 1893, but the name was changed to Blewett a year later. It was named after Edward Blewett of Seattle, whose mining company owned many of the claims in the area. A road to Peshastin was completed in 1896, and a stage ran three days a week. During this time the town boasted a school, a two-story hotel, stores, a saloon, and a telegraph service.
Current Status: The mill ceased operations in 1905 when the main vein of ore ran out. Not much exists there today, though the Stamp Mill and scattered small buildings are still standing. A few mines are still accessible, but care must be taken when exploring. The town may be found near the US-97 roadside marker. There is a parking area and an information sign.
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Bodie, WA

County: Okanogan
Zip Code: 98859
Latitude / Longitude: 48°49’58″N 118°53’48″W
Elevation: 2,592 ft (790 m)
Time Zone: Pacific (PST) (UTC-8)
Established: 1888
Disestablished:
Comments: Bodie is a ghost town in Okanogan County, Washington, United States. Bodie is located at 48°49’58″N 118°53’48″W (48.832667, -118.896704), approximately 15 miles by stagecoach heading north of Wauconda along Toroda Creek (County Road 9495) of Washington State Route 20. Bodie lies 2592 feet (790 m) above sea level.
Remains: In 1886, prospectors Tommy Ryan and Phil Creasor discovered a continuous mineralized ledge in the North of Okanogan County and claimed the area as Eureka Gulch, which soon after became known as Republic. Republic, Washington’s rapid heyday boasted seven hotels, twenty saloons, nine general stores, and an undisclosed number of brothels. The quality of ore discovered spurred the existence of many nearby mines and townships, including the near neighbors of Wauconda, Washington, and Bodie.
Current Status: North of Bodie Washington on Toroda Road, is 1897, five-patent Bodie Mining Company claim, later owned by the Northern Gold Company and Toroda Mines Inc. Torado Road bisects the appealing remnants of this mining camp, whose apparent ghost town is often confused with the original “old” Bodie Washington. The mine consists of an array of hard rock stopes and tunnels, penetrating a mineralized vein running the length of a ridge rising from Toroda Creek. The Washington State Department of Natural Resources did an in-depth report on this mine and other properties in the region. Mining operations ceased during World War II, as the extraction of essential wartime metals took priority by Government Order L-208 of the War Production Board. A stock certificate signed by president L.S. Kurtz indicates the mine’s net worth to be US$1,500,000 in 1903. The Bodie Mine is currently held in quiescence by the Geomineral Corporation. The property has been continuously occupied since its discovery.
Remarks: Occupied in early 1888, two years after Ryan and Creasor discovered the lucrative area which became Republic’s Knob Hill Mine, high-quality ore was extracted, milled, and processed right in Bodie until the falling gold prices closed the township’s mine and emptied its buildings in 1934, at which time the town had functionally relocated to the Bodie Mining Camp. An estimated US$ 1.2 million in gold was recovered, and it’s said that Bodie Creek still runs color. This scenic area, and its related ghost towns, regularly attract historians, mining buffs, and photographers to the slanting buildings, rusty equipment, and mysterious log cabins. There is only one intact structure remaining of the original “Old Bodie”, a small two-story house converted to a storage building with the help of local resident Doug Prichard. The largest, most visible structure still vertical in what is now Bodie, is often cited as a schoolhouse that doubled as a saloon, but local legend disputes the matter. Old Bodie has also been confused with an assembly of cabins North of the Bodie Mining Camp, at the junction of Toroda Creek, and the road to Curlew, which functioned as a sawmill.

Bolster, WA

County: Okanogan
Zip Code:
Latitude / Longitude: 48° 58′ 21″ N, 119° 2′ 20″ W
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Time Zone: Pacific (PST) (UTC-8)
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Comments: Bolster is a ghost town in Okanogan County, Washington, USA. In 1899, the town was platted by J.S. McBride, who named it for the Spokane financier Herman Bolster. He sold lots in the new town and at one time there were several stores, a post office, and three saloons. The small town of some thirty families traded with Chesaw, each calling the other a ‘suburb’. The newspaper could not make any money and eventually went out of business. In 1909, the post office closed. There was a school there in 1910, but it only operated that year.
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Bordeaux, WA

County: Thurston
Zip Code:
Latitude / Longitude: 46° 53′ 41″ N, 123° 4′ 49″ W
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Time Zone: Pacific (PST) (UTC-8)
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Comments: Bordeaux is an unincorporated community in Thurston County, in the U.S. state of Washington.
Remains: A post office called Bordeaux was established in 1903, and remained in operation until 1942. The community was named after Thomas Bordeaux, a businessperson in the lumber industry.
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Bossburg, WA

County: Stevens
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Time Zone: Pacific (PST) (UTC-8)
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Comments: Bossburg is a ghost town in Stevens County, Washington, and is located on the east bank of the Columbia River just south of the Canada–US border. Bossburg had a maximum population of 800 in 1892. The town was once named “Young America,” although in 1896 it was renamed in honor of the town’s first citizen, C. S. Boss. It is currently best known for the 1969 discovery of the footprints in the snow of a supposed Sasquatch known as “Cripplefoot,” and subsequent hi-jinks.
Remains: The town produced lead and silver from established mines; however, when mining operations eventually slowed financial issues arose. In a futile effort to keep the town alive, a ferry system across the Columbia River was established, and a sawmill was built for lumber operations. Several Bossburg newspapers were published, notably the Bossburg Journal from 1893 to 1910, and the Bossburg Herald which was founded and published in 1910 for only one year.
Current Status: The Bossburg cemetery is still in use and is cared for by local families; nevertheless, records are not routinely kept and as a result, there are several unmarked graves.
Remarks: On November 24, 1969, large human-like tracks with a crippled-looking right foot were found near the Bossburg town dump. (Earlier that year a woman had reported seeing a Sasquatch in a nearby location to the police.) The trackmaker was believed by some to be an injured Bigfoot and was dubbed by locals as the “Bossburg Cripple”; it is now generally known as “Cripplefoot.” On November 27 Bigfoot searcher René Dahinden arrived to investigate, but by then the tracks had mostly been trampled by sightseers. Dahinden photographed and cast the best print he could find. He was joined for three days by another searcher, Bob Titmus, who returned about a month later.

Brief, WA

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Time Zone: Pacific (PST) (UTC-8)
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Chesaw, WA

County: Okanogan
Zip Code:
Latitude / Longitude: 48° 56′ 45.6″ N, 119° 3′ 5.4″ W
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Time Zone: Pacific (PST) (UTC-8)
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Comments: Chesaw is a ghost town in Okanogan County, Washington. Chesaw was named after the Chinese settler Chee Saw, who arrived in the mid-1890s and married a Native American woman. The town sprang up and thrived during a brief gold rush from 1896 to 1900.
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Current Status: Chesaw now hosts a popular annual rodeo held every 4th of July.
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Copper City, WA

Curlew, WA

County: Ferry
Zip Code: 99118
Latitude / Longitude: 48°53’08″N 118°35’58″W
Elevation: 1,801 ft (549 m)
Time Zone: Pacific (PST) (UTC-8)
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Comments: Curlew is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) located in northwestern Ferry County, Washington, United States, between Malo and Danville on State Route 21. The BNSF Railway ran through the town. The historic Ansorge Hotel is located in Curlew.
Remains: Curlew is located at the confluence of Long Alec Creek and the Kettle River. Its elevation is 1,800 feet (550 m) above sea level. Via State Route 21, it is 21 miles (34 km) south of the Republic, the Ferry County seat, and 10 miles (16 km) north of the Canadian border. One of the most popular sites on the Kettle River in summer is “the Old Swimming Hole” near the center of town. Curlew was a pick-up point for moonshine that was dropped in the Kettle River. The tradition is still celebrated on the first Sunday in June each year during the Curlew Barrel Derby Days. A barrel is set adrift in the Kettle River at the Job Corps Bridge, and local citizens bet on when it will reach the town.
Current Status: As of the 2010 census, the population of the community was 118.
Remarks: In 1896 two traders, Guy S. Helphry and J. Walters, set up a general store at an old ferry crossing near the junction of Curlew Creek and the Kettle River. The site around the store grew into a collection of log buildings and other stores. By 1901, a bridge was built across the Kettle River and the community had grown to a population of 200. The community contained two general stores, two saloons, a hotel, two livery stables, a dry goods store, and several other businesses. In 1898, a post office was established and the town was named “Curlew”. Miners, railroad workers, natives, and others passed through the region. Nearby mines such as Drummer, Lancaster, and Panama grew. Curlew never really expanded beyond those early boom years. In the 1950s, there was a nearby Curlew Air Force Station, part of the network of Air Defense Command radar stations. The radar site is gone, but the base, 10 miles (16 km) northwest of Curlew up the Kettle River valley, is in use by Job Corps.

Disautel, WA

County: Okanogan
Zip Code:
Latitude / Longitude: 48° 21′ 38″ N, 119° 14′ 14″ W
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Time Zone: Pacific (PST) (UTC-8)
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Comments: Disautel is a census-designated place (CDP) in Okanogan County, Washington, United States, within the Greater Omak Area.
Remains: Established in 1919, the community is located approximately 15 miles (24 km) east of Omak, along what is now Washington State Route 155. It was formerly a logging town that was home to the headquarters of the Biles-Coleman Logging Company. When the highway to Nespelem Community was improved, workers in the sawmill began commuting from Omak, and the town population began to dwindle. After the sawmill closed at the beginning of the Great Depression, the town shrank further. For some time, the Highway Department used the empty warehouses in the town to store road working equipment, but that ultimately did not last, and the town was abandoned.
Current Status: The population was 78 at the 2010 census.
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Doty, WA

County:
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Latitude / Longitude: 46° 38′ 4″ N, 123° 16′ 40″ W
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Time Zone: Pacific (PST) (UTC-8)
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Comments: Doty is an unincorporated community located between Dryad and Pe Ell in Washington, United States. C.A. Doty built a sawmill here around 1900, and the community that sprang up around it was named after him. Doty once boasted the largest sawmill in Lewis County. Today, about 250 people reside in or around Doty, which boasts a general store, post office, fire department, and two churches. Logging and farming are the industries that most of the residents rely on for income. Many residents in Doty participate in the annual River Run, which consists of entrants buying or building watercraft and floating down the Chehalis river from Pe Ell to Rainbow Falls State Park, where some go over a slight waterfall, which used to be a bit large but has changed since a large flood ravaged the area in 2007.
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Dryad, WA

County:
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Latitude / Longitude: 46° 38′ 12″ N, 123° 15′ 5″ W
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Time Zone: Pacific (PST) (UTC-8)
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Comments: Dryad is a rural unincorporated community between Doty and Adna in Washington State. It is one of many former lumber towns that sprang up on the Willapa Harbor Line (Chehalis, Washington to South Bend, Washington) of the Northern Pacific Railway. The community, formerly known as Salal, was originally located two miles south of the present location. The community moved when the Leudinghaus brothers of Chehalis built a sawmill at the present site. The name Dryad was supplied by Northern Pacific Railway officials around 1890 at the suggestion of Willam C. Albee, who was superintendent of the Pacific Division of the NP. In mythology, a dryad was a wood nymph. Albee figured that a dryad might find itself right at home living in the local fir and cedar trees. Rainbow Falls State Park is near Dryad.
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Elberton, WA

County: Whitman
Zip Code:
Latitude / Longitude: 46°58’53″N 117°13’13″W
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Time Zone: Pacific (PST) (UTC-8)
Established: 24 April 1896
Disestablished: 14 January 1966
Comments: Elberton is a ghost town on the north fork of the Palouse River northeast of Colfax and northwest of Palouse in Whitman County, Washington, United States. Elberton was first settled by C.D. Wilbur. The townsite was platted in 1886, and named by S.M. Wait for his deceased son Elbert. Elberton was incorporated as a fourth-class town on 24 April 1896. It grew to have a population of 500 and at one time had a sawmill, a flour mill, a railroad (the Oregon-Washington Railroad and Navigation Company) that passed through, and the world’s largest prune dryer.
Remains: A major fire started in the town in the 1930s and due to the Great Depression, many of the businesses and homes destroyed by the fire were too costly to rebuild. The fire, along with the Depression hurt the town greatly and it started to decline in population, with people packing up what they could carry and abandoning their homes that they could no longer afford to keep and maintain.
Current Status: Currently, about 15 people live in the 200-acre (0.81 km2) area that once was Elberton. Many of the homes and buildings have gone or are partially collapsed, with only their foundations and perennial gardens that still bloom to serve as a reminder of what once was. Visitors coming through the Palouse ghost town can enjoy the few buildings, homes, and landmarks that still remain today, such as the fully intact United Brethren Church and the Elberton Cemetery. They may also read about the town’s birth and death from the small plaque that was erected on the town’s site.
Remarks: Elberton was disincorporated on 6 December 1966, a status that became official with the Secretary of State of Washington on 14 January 1966. Elberton became part of unincorporated Whitman County, Washington again within four years, when the county acquired the property of the town.

Fairfax, WA

County: Pierce
Zip Code:
Latitude / Longitude: 47° 0′ 41″ N, 122° 0′ 54″ W
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Time Zone: Pacific (PST) (UTC-8)
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Comments: Fairfax was a coal town in Pierce County in the U.S. state of Washington. Mining lasted only until the minerals ceased to be economically viable following World War I. Until the completion of the nearby 240 feet (73 m) high Farrell Bridge in 1921 (the highest bridge in the state at the time), the town was only accessible via railroad or pack train. The town is memorialized in a song by singer Ron Fowler, “Road to Fairfax”, on his independently released CD, “Radio Frequency”
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Franklin, WA

County: Pacific
Zip Code:
Latitude / Longitude: 46° 16′ 49″ N, 123° 45′ 22″ W
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Time Zone: Pacific (PST) (UTC-8)
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Comments: Frankfort was originally homesteaded in 1876 in Pacific County on the mouth of the Columbia River near Portuguese Point. In 1890, a planned community was platted by two promoters Frank Bourne and Frank Scott (hence the name). Together they envisioned a resort community at the location. Lots were sold on the premise that the railroad would build a line through the community (the only access at the time was via boat). A store and a hotel were built and a newspaper (the Frankfort Chronicle) was established. The financial Panic of 1893 scared away investors, and the town took a downhill turn.
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Current Status: Frankfort survived mainly as a Logging town until just after the turn of the 20th century. Unfortunately, no railroad line ever materialized and Frankfort began fading away. The post office closed in 1918. By 1960, the town had only two residents.
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Frankfort, WA

County: King
Zip Code:
Latitude / Longitude: 47° 18′ 11″ N, 121° 58′ 16″ W
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Time Zone: Pacific (PST) (UTC-8)
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Comments: Franklin was a coal mining town located in east King County, Washington, near the current Hanging Gardens State Park.
Remains: The community was established in the 1880s, with a post office established by 1886. In May 1891, labor recruiters brought African-Americans to Franklin from Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, and Tennessee with offers of good-paying jobs and free transportation. The white miners who were on strike took exception to the African-American strikebreakers and tensions grew for a month and a half. In early July, a riot broke out resulting in the deaths of two people and the Governor called out the National Guard to restore order.
Current Status: From the late 1940s through 1971, Palmer Coking Coal Company mined both surface and underground coal in and around the townsite of Franklin. This mining ended in late March 1971 when a coal car bridge across the Green River was blasted in a ceremony attended by many local dignitaries. In 1984-1985 the Green River Community College archaeology department, led by Gerald Hedlund and Mark Vernon, conducted digs at the abandoned townsite. The report, From Smoke to Mist: An archeological study of Franklin, WA. – A Turn of the Century Company Coal Town was published in 1994 which in turn relied on research by historian John Hanscom.
Remarks: By the early Twentieth Century, demand fell and mining became more difficult, causing the mine to shut down. The post office closed in 1916. By 1919 nearly all mining had ceased at Franklin and residents vacated, though a few families including the Moore family remained behind. Ernest Moore later wrote a book about his African-American family’s experiences in “The Coal Miner Who Came West” (copyright 1982).

Goshen, WA

County: Whatcom
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Latitude / Longitude: 48° 51′ 16″ N, 122° 20′ 28″ W
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Time Zone: Pacific (PST) (UTC-8)
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Comments: Goshen was a pioneer town in western Whatcom County (approximately 5 miles northeast of Bellingham, and 10 miles south of the US border with Canada). It was a stop on the rail line of the Bellingham Bay and British Columbia Railroad.[citation needed] It no longer exists, yet the Everson-Goshen road is still present. At one point Goshen hoped to compete with Whatcom (now Bellingham) and Seattle for the western depot of the railroad line which was being laid north to Washington State, which would guarantee economic investment and much traffic. Tacoma won the contest. Goshen was a logging and farming community.
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Govan, WA

County: Lincoln
Zip Code:
Latitude / Longitude: 47° 44′ 20″ N, 118° 49′ 23″ W
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Time Zone: Pacific (PST) (UTC-8)
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Comments: Govan is an unincorporated community in Lincoln County, in US state of Washington. Govan was founded as a ranching community which was slowly abandoned as farming in the area decreased. Today an abandoned school house and post office along with a few houses are all that remain. It is considered a ghost town.
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Grisdale, WA

Hanford, WA

County: Benton
Zip Code: 99343
Latitude / Longitude: 46°35’01″N 119°23’16″W
Elevation: 404 ft (123 m)
Time Zone: Pacific (PST) (UTC-8)
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Comments: Hanford was a small agricultural community in Benton County, Washington, United States. It was depopulated in 1943 along with the town of White Bluffs in order to make room for the nuclear production facility known as the Hanford Site. The town was located in what is now the “100F” sector of the site.
Remains: The original town, named for the judge and irrigation company president Cornelius H. Hanford, was settled in 1907 on land bought by the local power and water utility. In 1913, the town had a spur railroad link to the transcontinental Chicago, Milwaukee, and St. Paul Railway, also known as “the electric railroad”. By 1925 the town was booming thanks to high agricultural demand, and it boasted a hotel, bank, and its own elementary and high schools.
Current Status: The former Hanford High School still stands today, marred by its use during the years for SWAT practice, and can be seen from the Hanford tour bus operated by the U.S. government. It is now protected as part of the Manhattan Project National Historical Park.
Remarks: The town was condemned by the Federal government to make way for the Hanford site. Residents were given a thirty-day eviction notice on March 9, 1943. Most buildings were destroyed, with the notable exception of the high school. It was used during World War II as the construction management office.

Havillah, WA

County: Okanogan
Zip Code:
Latitude / Longitude: 48° 49′ 41.02″ N, 119° 12′ 11.02″ W
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Time Zone: Pacific (PST) (UTC-8)
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Comments: Havillah is a small unincorporated community located in northeastern Okanogan County, Washington, eighteen miles south of the Canada–US border. Current census searches do not indicate a population count, but estimates are three to four hundred in the immediate and surrounding areas.
Remains: The area was homesteaded and settled in the early 1900s. Many of the families came from the midwest, and several direct descendants (notably the Kuhlmanns, Duchows, Obergs, Bunches, and Vissers) still live there and farm the land.
Current Status: Immanuel Lutheran Congregation (organized January 29, 1905) serves as the community hub, and members and non-members alike attend weekly services and other functions there. Up the road, Sitzmark Ski Hill has been a favorite winter recreation area for local folks since it was established by the Kuhlmann family in the mid-1900s. In addition, hunting, hiking, other winter sports, boating, and fishing opportunities have long been the mainstay of recreation in the general area which borders the Okanogan National Forest and the nearby Pasayten Wilderness. Havillah has no services available, with the exception of church services.
Remarks: At 3500 feet, the climate is considered semi-arid and farming efforts are seasonal due to the cold and snow. Cattle and some sheep are raised, in addition to wheat, oats, barley, and alfalfa hay. Most crops must rely on snowfall and seasonal rains for dryland farming. Many residents who farm or raise livestock in Havillah supplement their income with jobs in the nearest towns of Tonasket or Oroville about twenty miles “down the hill”.

Hot Springs, WA

County: King
Zip Code:
Latitude / Longitude: 47°12’17″N 121°32’47″W
Elevation: 1,512 ft (461 m)
Time Zone: Pacific (PST) (UTC-8)
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Comments: Hot Springs is a ghost town in King County, Washington, United States. Properly Green River Hot Springs, the town was first settled under the name Kendon by the Northern Pacific Railway in 1886. Hot Springs was at one time home to a large sanatorium built around the natural hot springs in the area, and by 1907–1908 had a population of 225 with two doctors. The sanatorium was reported to have been an impressive facility, having nice suites, bowling alleys, and pool tables. The area was also home to Harvey Dean’s mill (which gave the nearby town of Lester, Washington its original name).
Remains: Hot Springs is located east of Enumclaw and just west of Lester, along the Green River and BNSF Railway line. Its elevation is 1512 feet (460m) above sea level.
Current Status: By 1913–14 the town’s population had dropped to 65, with no businesses mentioned. Evidence points to the fact that sometime before 1913–14 the sanatorium had burned down. By 1918, the town had virtually vanished, only being listed as a “Discontinued Post Office.”
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Kennedy, WA

Kopiah, WA

County: Lewis
Zip Code:
Latitude / Longitude: 46° 42′ 21″ N, 122° 48′ 28″ W
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Time Zone: Pacific (PST) (UTC-8)
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Comments: Kopiah was a town in Lewis County (Washington). Located 8 miles southeast of Centralia. A post office there began operating in 1906. The 1910 census shows 298 individuals, but the 1930 census shows only 115. The post office ceased operating in 1928.
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Krain, WA

County: King
Zip Code:
Latitude / Longitude: 47° 14′ 34″ N, 121° 59′ 21″ W
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Time Zone: Pacific (PST) (UTC-8)
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Comments: Krain was an unincorporated community in south King County, Washington, just north of Enumclaw. The area (also often referred to as Krain Corner) now centers on the intersection of SR 169 and SE 400th St. An inn and restaurant has been located at the corner since 1916, and the nearby Holy Family Krain Cemetery dates back to at least 1901.
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Lester, WA

County: King
Zip Code:
Latitude / Longitude: 47°12.55’N 121°29.64’W
Elevation: 1,634 ft (498 m)
Time Zone: Pacific (PST) (UTC-8)
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Disestablished:
Comments: Lester was a small town near Stampede Pass, just south of Snoqualmie Pass in King County, founded in 1892 by the Northern Pacific Railway (now the BNSF Railway). Lester is located along what is currently National Forest Development Road 54, on land owned by Tacoma Water, a division of Tacoma Public Utilities. It is one of the few ghost towns in the U.S. state of Washington.
Remains: Lester was founded in 1891 as the logging camp of “Deans”, named after the owner of Dean’s Lumber Company. In 1886, the Northern Pacific Railway constructed a large depot, roundhouse, coal dock, and other steam locomotive support facilities for the Stampede Pass railway; Lester was at the foot of the railroad’s maximum grade.[citation needed] The town was also renamed “Lester” in honor of Northern Pacific telegraph operator Lester Hansaker.
Current Status: Although most remaining freestanding buildings were demolished in 2017, numerous foundations from the settlement remain.
Remarks: While a series of forest fires in 1902 devastated the local logging industry, Lester continued to thrive as a company town for Northern Pacific. In the 1920s, the town’s population peaked at approximately 1,000, and most of the modern structures in Lester were built during the decade. During the 1940s and 1950s, the town transitioned away from railroading and towards logging, with new camps established at Lester by Soundview Pulp Company, later acquired by Scott Paper Company. The town’s “last resident”, Gertrude Murphy, died in September 2002 at the age of 99. For public safety and watershed security, the remaining large group of buildings in Lester (consisting of the guardhouse, gas and oil shack, and warehouse) were demolished by Tacoma Water in 2017. Other smaller relics of the settlement still exist.

Liberty, WA

County: Kittitas
Zip Code:
Latitude / Longitude: 47° 15′ 14″ N, 120° 39′ 51″ W
Elevation:
Time Zone: Pacific (PST) (UTC-8)
Established:
Disestablished:
Comments: Liberty is a small unincorporated community in Kittitas County, Washington, United States. Following the discovery of gold in Swauk Creek in 1873, Liberty was one of several gold-mining camps that sprang up. The Swauk creek discovery is notable for producing specimens of crystalline gold. Liberty was formerly known as Williams Creek. It was given its name in 1892 by Gus Nelson.
Remains:
Current Status:
Remarks:

Malone, WA

County: Grays Harbor
Zip Code: 98559
Latitude / Longitude: 46°57’31″N 123°19’38″W
Elevation: 52 ft (16 m)
Time Zone: Pacific (PST) (UTC-8)
Established:
Disestablished:
Comments: Malone is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Grays Harbor County, Washington, United States. The population was 475 at the 2010 census. Prior to 2010, it was part of the Malone-Porter CDP; Malone and Porter are now separate CDPs. They are located just off U.S. Route 12, southeast of Elma and northwest of Oakville, and along a shortline that is part of the Puget Sound and Pacific Railroad.
Remains: Malone is located in southeastern Grays Harbor County, east of the Chehalis River valley. It is bordered to the southeast by the Porter CDP and to the southwest by U.S. Route 12, which leads west 25 miles (40 km) to Aberdeen and southeast 21 miles (34 km) to Grand Mound and Interstate 5.
Current Status: Malone is the home of Red’s Hop N’ Market, a mini-mart that is also the U.S. Postal Service’s (USPS) first official village post office, a post office located within an existing retail establishment, with limited service and no full-time postmaster. The mini-mart’s owner is paid $2,000/year by the US Postal Service to sell stamps and shipping supplies and allow the USPS to place mailboxes on-site.
Remarks: According to the United States Census Bureau, the Malone CDP has a total area of 9.0 square miles (23.4 km2), of which 0.004 square miles (0.01 km2), or 0.06%, are water.

McCormick, WA

County: Lewis
Zip Code:
Latitude / Longitude: 46° 33′ 13″ N, 123° 19′ 34″ W
Elevation:
Time Zone: Pacific (PST) (UTC-8)
Established:
Disestablished:
Comments: McCormick is an unincorporated community in Lewis County, in the U.S. state of Washington.
Remains: A post office called McCormick was established in 1899, and remained in operation until 1929. The community was named after H. McCormick, a businessperson in the lumber industry.
Current Status:
Remarks:

Melmont, WA

County: Pierce
Zip Code:
Latitude / Longitude: 47° 1′ 50.81″ N, 122° 2′ 0.06″ W
Elevation:
Time Zone: Pacific (PST) (UTC-8)
Established: 1900
Disestablished:
Comments: Melmont is a ghost town in Pierce County, Washington, USA. The town was founded in 1900 when the Northwest Improvement Company, a subsidiary of Northern Pacific Railway, started the Melmont coal mine. The town consisted of a schoolhouse, a train depot, a saloon, a hotel (which housed the post office, a butcher shop, and store), and rows of cottages that were used as housing for the miners. Each row accommodated a different nationality, the miners being seemingly self-segregated. The coal was used exclusively for use by Northern Pacific, and when they switched from steam locomotives to diesel and electric models, the economic base of the town was destroyed.
Remains: By 1902, the mine was producing coal to be sent 3 miles (5 km) up the rails to Carbonado, where it was processed. During the sixteen years that the mine was worked, it produced approximately 900,000 tons (750 tons per day) of coal, which accounted for 4% of the total output of Pierce County.
Current Status: In 1920, the Melmont schoolhouse (the second one built) was torn down after Steven Poch bought it to use the lumber to build his own home. Today, all that remains of Melmont is part of the foundation of a bridge, a small building used for storing explosives, and the foundation of the schoolhouse.
Remarks: In 1915, the Melmont Post Office was closed, and mail service to the town was done through Fairfax. The Northwest Improvement Company ceased operating in Melmont in 1918, but a few mines were opened by the Carbon Hill Coal Company, which operated from 1917 to 1919. At some point, the miners had affiliated themselves to the United Mine Workers as local #2963. By the early 1920s, the mines were all closed, and a forest fire destroyed most of what was left of the town. The last resident of Melmont was Andrew Montleon, who lived in the remaining basement of the second schoolhouse.

Molson, WA

County: Okanogan
Zip Code:
Latitude / Longitude: 48°58’52″N 119°12’02″W
Elevation:
Time Zone: Pacific (PST) (UTC-8)
Established: 1900
Disestablished:
Comments: Molson is a ghost town in Okanogan County, Washington, United States. The population was 19 at the 2000 census. The ghost town is also an open-air museum known as Old Molson Ghost Town that includes pioneer buildings, farm machinery, mining equipment, and other historic artifacts. It is open seasonally. The Molson Schoolhouse Museum is a separate museum located in a historic schoolhouse building. Displays include hand tools, household artifacts, and photographs.
Remains: Molson was founded in 1900 by promoter George B. Meacham, and investor John W. Molson (of the Molson beer brewing family). The mining town’s population boomed to 300 that year, and the town had a newspaper, general stores, an attorney, doctor, saloon, and hotel. By 1901, as the mining was failing, the population fell to 13 people. When news of a railroad being built in Molson arrived in 1905, the population rose again. J.H. McDonald filed for a homestead including much of the town of Molson. In 1909 McDonald enforced his homestead by publishing a notice that everyone on the property was required to depart. Citizens then founded New Molson, ½ mile north of the site of Old Molson.
Current Status: This is also possibly the location of Molson, Okanogan County, Washington which was incorporated on February 13, 1920. It was then disincorporated on 6 October 1921 by order of the Washington State Supreme Court, as the incorporation was declared invalid.
Remarks: The Molson post office was established July 14, 1900, with Walter F. Schuyler as the first postmaster. The post office was discontinued on August 11, 1967, with mail to Oroville. Old Molson is located two miles south of the Canada–United States border, and northeast of Oroville, Washington. New Molson is ½ mile north of Old Molson.

Monohon, WA

County:
Zip Code:
Latitude / Longitude: 47° 34′ 47″ N, 122° 4′ 29″ W
Elevation:
Time Zone: Pacific (PST) (UTC-8)
Established:
Disestablished:
Comments: Monohon was a small town located on the east side of Lake Sammamish (then known as Lake Squak), near the present-day intersection of East Lake Sammamish Parkway and SE 33rd Street in the city of Sammamish. The community was originally part of a town named Donnelly, founded by Simon Donelly who built a sawmill there, but then grew big enough and was far enough away from Donelly that they created their own town, Monohon in 1888. The new town was named after Martin Monohon who had homesteaded 160 acres (0.65 km2) there in 1877. The railroad along the east side of the lake was completed in 1889, and the Donnelly mill was moved to the site of Monohon.
Remains: By the turn of the century, there were twenty homes in Monohon, and the lumber mill was updated with the latest machinery. The mill also completed a new water system for the community. This brought both new wealth and new settlers to the community, which soon more than doubled in size. By 1911, the town’s population had reached over 300. A 20-room hotel was built overlooking the lake, along with a church and a community meeting hall. The dock was used to ship lumber and dairy products on the lake. Growth slowed but continued over the years.
Current Status: In 1925, the entire town was destroyed by a fire. The sawmill, hotel, depot, post office, and all but about 10 homes were completely consumed. The mill was rebuilt, but the town never recovered, and all but disappeared when the great depression hit in 1929. The sawmill continued to operate for many years after but was repeatedly burned and rebuilt. The mill finally closed forever in 1980.
Remarks: During the height of the prohibition era, the small town was raided by King County sheriff officers looking for bootleggers. 50 gallons of moonshine whiskey were reportedly confiscated.

Monte Cristo, WA

County: Snohomish
Zip Code:
Latitude / Longitude: 47°59’8″N 121°23’38″W
Elevation: 842 m (2,762 ft)
Time Zone: Pacific (PST) (UTC-8)
Established:
Disestablished:
Comments: Monte Cristo is a ghost town northwest of Monte Cristo Peak, in eastern Snohomish County in western Washington. The town was active as a mining area for gold and silver from 1889 to 1907, and later became a resort town that operated until 1983. Monte Cristo is located at the headwaters of the South Fork Sauk River in eastern Snohomish County. The town is connected via a trail to the Mountain Loop Highway, which continues west to Granite Falls and north to Darrington. The Monte Cristo Peak, named for the town, is located to the southeast.
Remains: Prospecting in the region began in the Skykomish River drainage with the Old Cady Trail used for access. In 1882 Elisha Hubbard improved the trail up the North Fork Skykomish, from Index to Galena, then north up the tributary Silver Creek. A boom shortly followed at Mineral City. The mineral belt was traced in various directions, including north over the divide between the Skykomish and Sauk River drainages. In the early summer of 1889, Joseph Pearsall saw glittering deposits and traced them north to Seventysix Gulch and the area that became Monte Cristo. A frenzy of claim staking quickly followed. In 1890 many miners hiked to Monte Cristo from the south by way of Index, Galena, and Mineral City, crossing the divide at first via Wilmans Pass and later via Poodle Dog Pass.
Current Status: Very few original structures are still standing, but the four-mile-long road (as noted in driving directions) into town remains popular with hikers and mountain bikers. The road is impassable to vehicles as the shore on either side of the bridge washed out several years ago. The bridge remained standing, however, hikers and mountain bikers now either have to ford the river or cross over fallen trees in order to continue onto the old town-site from the Barlow Pass entry. Extensive plans for removing pollution from mine tailings have been written, and include removal and/or containment of pollution in remote mine sites in the nearby Glacier Basin. A new access road is part of the plans for the cleanup. The cleanup of arsenic and other toxins left behind began in September 2012.
Remarks: Monte Cristo was the first live mining camp on the west slopes of the Cascade Range. There were 13 mines and 40 claims by 1891. By 1893 there were 211 mining claims. The boom required money from the eastern United States to continue to grow. In 1891 John D. Rockefeller became interested in Monte Cristo. His syndicate, Colby and Hoyt, took over the primary mines, including the Pride and Mystery mines. The Wilmans brothers were paid $470,000. Rockefeller’s companies acquired a controlling two-thirds interest in the best properties. Frederick Trump, the grandfather of future U.S. President Donald Trump, was also active in the town; he operated a boom-town hotel and alleged brothel there.

Nagrom, WA

County: King
Zip Code:
Latitude / Longitude: 47° 13′ 30.4″ N, 121° 36′ 12.35″ W
Elevation:
Time Zone: Pacific (PST) (UTC-8)
Established:
Disestablished:
Comments: Nagrom was a town in King County, Washington. A logging company town, Nagrom was located in the Green River Watershed between Kanaskat, Washington and Lester, Washington. The town was built by the Morgan Lumber Company and named after Elmer G. Morgan, the company founder and owner (‘Nagrom’ is simply ‘Morgan’ spelled backward). The site was chosen for its access to timber, and suitability to build a sawmill and millpond. In 1910, Morgan petitioned the Northern Pacific Railway, which operated the rail line out of Puget Sound and up over Stampede Pass to build a spur into the small town. The railway balked, but Morgan persisted, and eventually, the railway relented. The spur into town was built in 1911. A Post office was established that same year, along with a telephone and telegraph exchange.
Remains: Between 1914 and 1918, flooding rivers and streams in the City of Tacoma’s watershed which was located in and around the town of Nagrom, swept sewage and contaminated water from the company settled into the City’s water supply. Worries about the common health risk of the era, typhoid, caused health officials to instruct residents living downstream from company settlements like Lester, Baldi, and Nagrom to boil their drinking water to reduce typhoid-related illnesses.
Current Status: The City of Tacoma acquired the water rights on the Green River c. 1910. In the first half of the 1950s, the city’s utility arm, today’s Tacoma Public Utilities began buying private land along the banks of the river between their intake at Headworks, Washington (just east of Kanaskat, Washington), eastwards to the railroad and logging town of Lester, Washington. Beginning with the construction of Howard Hanson Dam, the city limited access between Headworks and Lester, installing gates at various access points to the Green River Watershed. In about 1967, the city purchased the entire townsite of Lester, Washington, from the Northern Pacific Railway. By 1984, most residents had moved out, the rail line was mothballed by the NP’s corporate descendant, the Burlington Northern Railroad, and all the former communities along the rail line had become ghost towns. Today there are no residents in Nagrom.
Remarks: From 1911 to 1924, the Morgan Lumber Company continued to work the area for timber and to run the sawmill at Nagrom. In 1921-22 the population topped out for this town with an estimated 450 residents. In 1924, however, the company went out of business, presumably due to a post-World War I fall in lumber prices. Logging continued, but at a slower pace, as trucks began replacing railroad in the logging industry. The Forest Service began managing the forested land in the area in the 1930s with the help of the Civilian Conservation Corps.

Nighthawk, WA

Old Torodah, WA

Orient, WA

County: Ferry
Zip Code: 99160
Latitude / Longitude: 48°51’58″N 118°12’10″W
Elevation: 1,453 ft (443 m)
Time Zone: Pacific (PST) (UTC-8)
Established:
Disestablished:
Comments: Orient is a small unincorporated community in northeastern Ferry County, Washington, United States. The Kettle River flows to the east of the town and marks the border with Stevens County. A BNSF rail line runs through the town alongside U.S. Route 395. The population at the 2010 census was 115.
Remains: Orient was the endpoint of a cable bucket tramway completed in 1892 that ran from the First Thought Mine. The First Thought Mine closed down in 1942. Orient was first settled in 1900 by Alec Ireland and by George Temple in 1901. Other mines, which were located in the area, Hidden Treasure mine, Red Lion mine, Copper butte mine, Globe mine, and Scotia mine.
Current Status: Orient is served by Orient School District No. 65. The district offers classes from kindergarten to grade 8. In October 2004, the district had an enrollment of 88 and a single school. The Orient School building is one of the oldest continuously used schoolhouses in Washington state. It was built in 1910.
Remarks:

Osceola, WA

County: King
Zip Code:
Latitude / Longitude: 47° 11′ 42″ N, 122° 2′ 14″ W
Elevation:
Time Zone: Pacific (PST) (UTC-8)
Established:
Disestablished:
Comments: Osceola was an unincorporated community that existed in King County, Washington, around the turn of the 20th century, about two miles southeast of Enumclaw. Today not much remains except the last surviving one-room schoolhouse on the Enumclaw plateau; it is now the Osceola Community Club, a women’s social club. The Osceola Mudflow that spread from nearby Mount Rainier approximately 5,000 years ago forms much of the Enumclaw plateau and was named after the community.
Remains:
Current Status:
Remarks:

Pinkney City, WA

County: Stevens
Zip Code:
Latitude / Longitude: 48° 34′ 35″ N, 117° 52′ 41″ W
Elevation:
Time Zone: Pacific (PST) (UTC-8)
Established:
Disestablished:
Comments: Pinkney City (also called Pinkneyville) was a small community outside of Fort Colville (US Army) in what is now Stevens County (Washington). Originally named for Brevet Major Pinkney Lugenbeel, first commander and builder of the fort in 1859. The town grew up around the fort shortly after.
Remains: The civilian town just north of the U.S. Army post soon became an important trading center and, in 1860, the county seat for the original Spokane County. In 1863, the original Spokane County Board of County Commissioners petitioned the legislature to make Stevens County, which had not yet organized, part of Spokane County. Instead in 1864, the Washington Territorial Legislature dissolved Spokane County and made it part of Stevens County with the original Spokane County Commissioners and the county seat at Pinkney City retained. The first post office for the town was established on 17 December 1859 and discontinued on April 17, 1860. The next post office was established on November 25, 1862, and called Fort Colville. Its name was changed to Colville on April 13, 1883.
Current Status: After the fort was abandoned in 1882, Pinkney City began to disappear with most businesses moving three miles to the current town of Colville, Washington. Pinkney City is located on Aladdin Rd at Douglas Falls Rd. The speed limit through here is 35 MPH.
Remarks:

Queets, WA

County: Grays Harbor, Jefferson
Zip Code:
Latitude / Longitude: 47°32’25″N 124°19’50″W
Elevation: 30 ft (9 m)
Time Zone: Pacific (PST) (UTC-8)
Established:
Disestablished:
Comments: Queets is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Grays Harbor and Jefferson counties, Washington, United States. The population was 174 at the 2010 census. The primary residents of the community are Native Americans of the Quinault Indian Nation.
Remains: The post office at Queets was established July 13, 1880, and discontinued July 31, 1934, with mail being sent to Clearwater, approximately 8 miles (13 km) away.
Current Status: It is near the coast of the Pacific Ocean along the Queets River at the northern edge of the Quinault Indian Reservation. Queets now consists of several homes, a store, gas station, fisheries, daycare, Head Start, and a remote office for the Quinault Nation. Other local attractions include the Pacific beach hiking trails, Olympic National Park, and Olympic National Forest.
Remarks: U.S. Route 101 passes through Queets, crossing the Queets River at the northern edge of the community. US 101 leads north 5 miles (8 km) to Kalaloch Beach and 39 miles (63 km) to Forks, the site of the nearest airport. Southbound US 101 leads east 25 miles (40 km) to Amanda Park and southeast 68 miles (109 km) to Aberdeen.

Ruby City, WA

County: Okanogan
Zip Code:
Latitude / Longitude: 48° 29′ 52″ N, 119° 43′ 34″ W
Elevation:
Time Zone: Pacific (PST) (UTC-8)
Established:
Disestablished:
Comments: Ruby is an American ghost town in Okanogan County, Washington State.
Remains: Silver was discovered in 1886 on the slopes of Ruby Mountain and Peacock Hill. By 1887 a mining district was created and a camp grew up beside Salmon Creek. This camp was called Ruby, or Ruby City.
Current Status: Ruby had a population of 700. By 1888, 70 buildings were located along the main street. In 1889, Ruby has declared the county seat. A publication called the Ruby Miner advertised the mineral richness of the area. When the Panic of 1893 caused silver prices to plummet, Ruby was slowly abandoned, becoming, eventually, a ghost town.
Remarks:

Shanako, WA

Sheridan, WA

County: King
Zip Code:
Latitude / Longitude:
Elevation:
Time Zone: Pacific (PST) (UTC-8)
Established:
Disestablished:
Comments: Sheridan was a small town in southeast King County (Washington). Some amount of silver mining went on in Sheridan in the 1890s. There was a post office in Sheridan from 1892 to 1895. In addition, there was a hotel, store, and a mill.
Remains:
Current Status: Sheridan was located near present-day Maple Valley, Washington.
Remarks: Suquamish tribe chairperson Martha George “was born in Sheridan on April 28, 1892, at a logging camp where her mother and grandmother worked as cooks.”

Sherman, WA

County: Lincoln
Zip Code:
Latitude / Longitude: 47° 49′ 39″ N, 118° 36′ 18.4″ W
Elevation:
Time Zone: Pacific (PST) (UTC-8)
Established:
Disestablished:
Comments: Sherman, Washington, is a little, lowly populated community in Lincoln County, located north of Wilbur, Washington, USA. Sherman, like many small towns in eastern Washington, sprang up in the agricultural boom of the 1880s and 1890s, spawned by the federal government’s many homesteading acts.
Remains:
Current Status: As the price of wheat fell, the average farm size increased, and better vehicles and roads made traveling easier, and Sherman was abandoned. A school (that has since fallen down), a beautiful church, and a cemetery are all that remain. The Sherman Community comes together every year on Memorial Day for a Celebration at the Church. Farm families in the area and those pioneer families whose roots included the Sherman Community in earlier years gather to Honor those that have served and remember their family’s history as part of Sherman.
Remarks:

Skagit City, WA

County:
Zip Code:
Latitude / Longitude: 48° 23′ 0″ N, 122° 21′ 47″ W
Elevation:
Time Zone: Pacific (PST) (UTC-8)
Established:
Disestablished:
Comments: Skagit City was a town at the divergence of the North and South Forks of the Skagit River, in the U.S. state of Washington. The Barker’s Trading Post along the river, opened in 1869, was partially or fully responsible for drawing people to settle at the townsite, which became an important river transportation center at least one point along with its history, most notably 1872. The city prospered until shortly before the 1880s, after the upstream community of Mount Vernon, Washington began to prosper. By 1906, only one building remained of the entire town, and after World War II, it had disappeared entirely.
Remains: The first white settlement in the Skagit River forks area was in 1868 when a small store was established there by a man named Campbell. The Barker’s Trading Post, established by John Barker in 1869, was a trading post near the divergence of the Skagit River into two distributaries named the North Fork and the South Fork. While the South Fork was navigable, the North Fork was the smaller channel that flowed into marshes, estuaries, and sloughs in the northern part of the delta of the Skagit River. Two huge logjams, which often included tree trunks longer than 100 feet (30 m), shortly upstream in the river impeded navigation further upstream, which diverted more water traffic to the trading post rather than to upstream communities. This series of logjams was later destroyed, allowing ships to travel further upstream, and also spelled the end for Skagit City.
Current Status: Today, the city of Cedardale, Washington, is the closest city to the former townsite, and the name “Skagit City” has become simply a placename on the northeastern tip of Fir Island at where two distributaries diverge and carry Skagit River water into Skagit Bay, which branches off the Strait of Juan de Fuca. The city, however, played an integral part to the current settlement of Skagit County.
Remarks: Also in 1877, floods on the Skagit River tearing through the newly excavated channels carried away more logs from the slowly dissipating jams. In late 1877, the logjam blocking the mouth of the Stillaguamish River had been entirely destroyed.

Tono, WA

County: Thurston
Zip Code:
Latitude / Longitude: 46° 46′ 28.3″ N, 122° 49′ 28.3″ W
Elevation:
Time Zone: Pacific (PST) (UTC-8)
Established:
Disestablished:
Comments: Tono, Washington is a ghost town in Southwest Washington. It was a company-owned mining town founded in 1907 by the Washington Union Coal Company, a subsidiary of the Union Pacific Railroad to supply coal for their steam locomotives. Tono was located in southern Thurston County about 20 miles south of Olympia, Washington, 5 miles south of Tenino, 2 miles east of Bucoda at the end of a railroad spur. The town was named Tono in 1909 by one of the many Japanese railroad workers. Folk etymology states the name is a contraction of “a ton of coal”.
Remains: At its peak in the 1920s, Tono had over 1,000 residents, 125 houses, a hotel, a hospital, a general store, and a school. The town flourished until 1932 when the railroads began switching to diesel locomotives and the Union Pacific sold the mines to the Bucoda Mining Company. Afterward, the mines operated intermittently while most of the residents moved away. Many of the vacant houses were sold and moved to nearby communities.
Current Status: By 1950 there were only a few buildings and residents left in Tono. The last full-time residents of Tono were John and Lempi Hirvela, who moved there in 1923. The Hirvelas lived in the last surviving home, the former mine superintendent’s residence, until 1976.
Remarks: In 1967 the Pacific Power & Light Company revived operations at the Tono field, now known as the Centralia Coal Mine. PP&L purchased the property including the townsite (and the Hirvela’s home) and began strip-mining the area to supply coal for the Centralia Power Plant in nearby Lewis County Mining operations obliterated most of the former townsite in the 1980s. All that remains of Tono are a few overgrown foundations.

Triangle of Fire, WA

Trinidad, WA

County: Grant
Zip Code:
Latitude / Longitude: 47° 13′ 47″ N, 120° 0′ 2″ W
Elevation:
Time Zone: Pacific (PST) (UTC-8)
Established:
Disestablished:
Comments: Trinidad is an unincorporated community in Grant County, Washington, and a ghost town. The town is located between Quincy and Wenatchee atop a ridge overlooking the Columbia River. At an elevation of 928 feet (283 m), Trinidad appears on both the Babcock Ridge and West Bar U.S. Geological Survey Maps. Trinidad was originally a railroad stop and was named Trinidad by workers for the Great Northern Railway due to its geological and physical similarity to Trinidad, Colorado. Trinidad is located on the border with Douglas County directly above the Crescent Bar resort on the Columbia River.
Remains:
Current Status: Trinidad is becoming less and less of a ghost town as houses are built to take advantage of the sweeping views of the Columbia River. The White Heron Cellars winery has been located above Trinidad since 1989.
Remarks:

Trinity, WA

Vail, WA

Walville, WA

County: Lewis
Zip Code:
Latitude / Longitude: 46° 33′ 10″ N, 123° 21′ 19″ W
Elevation:
Time Zone: Pacific (PST) (UTC-8)
Established:
Disestablished:
Comments: Walville is an extinct town in Lewis County, in the U.S. state of Washington. The GNIS classifies it as a populated place.
Remains: A post office called Walville was established in 1903, and remained in operation until 1936. The community’s name is an amalgamation of Walworth and Neville Company.
Current Status:
Remarks:

Wellington, WA

County: King
Zip Code:
Latitude / Longitude: 47°44’58″N 121°07’10″W
Elevation:
Time Zone: Pacific (PST) (UTC-8)
Established:
Disestablished:
Comments: Wellington (later known as Tye) was a small unincorporated community and railroad community in the northwest United States, on the Great Northern Railway in northeastern King County, Washington. Founded in 1893, it was located in the Cascade Range at the west portal of the original Cascade Tunnel under Stevens Pass. It was the site of the 1910 Wellington avalanche, the worst in U.S. history, in which 96 people died. The Wellington avalanche was the worst avalanche in the history of the United States, marked by the total death count, which numbered 96.
Remains: For nine days at the end of February 1910, Wellington was assailed by a terrible blizzard. Up to a foot (30 cm) of snow fell every hour, and, on the worst day, eleven feet (340 cm) of snow fell. Two trains, a passenger train, and a mail train, both bound from Spokane to Seattle, were trapped in the depot. Snowplows were present at Wellington and others were sent to help, but they could not penetrate the snow accumulations and repeated avalanches along the stretch of tracks between Scenic and Leavenworth.
Current Status: The old track and snow sheds remain and have been preserved as part of the Iron Goat Trail, which is accessible easily from U.S. Highway 2 near Stevens Pass or near Scenic, east of Everett. This ghost town went on to have an elementary school built and named after it. Wellington Elementary is an elementary school in the Northshore School District
Remarks: Wellington was quietly renamed “Tye” during October, because of the unpleasant associations of the old name. In the same month, the Great Northern Railway began construction of concrete snow sheds to shelter the nearby tracks. The depot was closed when the second Cascade Tunnel was completed in 1929; the town was then abandoned and it eventually burned.

Weston, WA

County:
Zip Code:
Latitude / Longitude: 47° 12′ 14″ N, 121° 24′ 42″ W
Elevation:
Time Zone: Pacific (PST) (UTC-8)
Established:
Disestablished:
Comments: Weston, Washington, began life c. 1885-6. Located at the foot of the western 2.2 percent grade of the Northern Pacific Railway’s climb up Stampede Pass to Stampede Tunnel, the town served as the western helper station on the pass, counterpart to Easton, Washington. Facilities included an engine house, telegraph station, water tank, turntable, and some ancillary residences and eating houses.
Remains: With the Cascade Range to the north and the Green River to the south, Weston was disadvantageously located for future expansion. In 1891-2, the Northern Pacific moved its western helper terminus approximately four miles to the west at a point it designated Lester, Washington. Weston was unique in that the Northern Pacific, crossing the Green River twice, also created a short cut-off line at Weston, creating a complete loop. (Further to the east, approaching the summit of Stampede Pass, the Northern Pacific’s engineer’s alignment created what came to be known as the Borup Loop [so named for the telegraph station located at the center of the loop—Borup, Washington], this, however, was a misnomer, as the alignment is actually an elongated S-curve created by back-to-back horseshoes.)
Current Status: The exact location of Weston, Washington is still unknown, however, it was most likely along the Green River southeast of Lester, Washington, and east of Enumclaw, Washington. Old maps show it as being near the confluence of Green River and Intake Creek. Somewhere near 47°12’14″N 121°24’42″W. There are many long overgrown man-made clearings in this area and evidence of the original rail line cut through the trees.
Remarks: Weston lasted as a small telegraph station (one-story, twenty by thirty feet) and water stop on the Northern Pacific until c. 1915, when double-tracking of Stampede Pass between Lester and Easton (sans the summit tunnel area itself) completely replaced the Weston Loop and Weston. The image accompanying this article looks down from the large viaduct which crosses the Green River and replaced the old loop arrangement.

White Bluffs, WA

County: Benton
Zip Code: 98944
Latitude / Longitude: 46°39’59″N 119°29’05″W
Elevation: 413 ft (126 m)
Time Zone: Pacific (PST) (UTC-8)
Established:
Disestablished:
Comments: White Bluffs was an agricultural town in Benton County, Washington, United States. It was depopulated in 1943 along with the town of Hanford to make room for the nuclear production facility known as the Hanford Site. Prior to the arrival of white settlers, the land was inhabited by the Wanapum Indians, a tribe closely related to the Palouse, Yakama, and Nez Perce tribes.
Remains: The first white settlement at White Bluffs was in 1861. The original townsite was located on the east bank of the Columbia River in Franklin County, near present-day Area 100H of the Hanford Nuclear Reservation. A ferry was built to accommodate traffic across the Columbia headed for the gold rush in British Columbia. By the early 1890s, the population had grown and the town expanded to the west bank of the Columbia in Benton County.
Current Status: When U.S. government seizures of homes of White Bluffs residents occurred beginning in March 1943, some homes were seized immediately for government office buildings. Residents were given from three days to two months to abandon their homes. Homes and orchards were burned by the government to clear the site. The remains of some 177 persons buried at the White Bluffs Cemetery were moved on May 6, 1943, to the East Prosser Cemetery, some 30 miles (50 km) away.
Remarks: At the time of the government’s destruction of the town of White Bluffs, production of pears, apples, vegetables, and grapes for wine production were primary sources of livelihood. Today, almost nothing remains of the town. A U.S. Department of Energy photo gallery containing various White Bluffs pictures was released on June 15, 2008.

Ainsworth, WA