The Bid to Connect Yakima to the Rail Hub
Portland and Omaha capitalists promise a new railroad line if North Yakima residents provide a $60,000 land bonus.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
It is generally understood that Yakima commands the key, topographically, to the railroad situation in the northwest. John T. Flynn, representing Portland and Omaha capital, visited North Yakima to propose building a railroad from Umatilla, Oregon, to the city. Flynn stated that his investors would build the road if North Yakima provided a bonus of $60,000 in land. The plan involves building through the Horse Heaven country and entering the Yakima valley near Prosser. The project aims to tap into coal fields at the base of the Cascades, which Flynn describes as a continuation of the Roslyn mines, potentially making Yakima a vital transit point for regional trade.
“I mean business, and nothing but business. The parties I represent propose to give eastern Washington another new railroad—one that will make a rich and productive country tributary to Portland.”
The struggle to attract major infrastructure investment through land grants and boosters reflects the historical 'boom' mindset of early Yakima, a city defined by its position on the Northern Pacific line. Today, the city’s economic focus has shifted from rail-bound agriculture and coal extraction to modern logistics and diversified industrial growth, yet the reliance on external capital remains a familiar theme in regional development.
From readers
No comments yet. If you know something about this story — a correction, a family memory, a source — it belongs here.