Old Town Residents Organize for Electric Rail Connection
A determined group of citizens in the original Yakima site is grading a new side-track, hoping to lure a company into connecting their district to North Yakima via electric rail.
The citizens of old town, under direction of Capt. J. H. Thomas, went to work promptly on Monday morning of last week, and by Friday evening had half a mile of side-track graded. There were seven to ten teams on the work every day, besides a number of men with picks and shovels, and the value of the labor performed is estimated at from $800 to $1,000. Capt. Thomas says if the old town can accomplish this much so easily, the two towns combined can grade and tie a roadbed from North Yakima to Yakima City and give it as a bonus to any company that will operate an electric line between these points, which would only be the nucleus for a road up the Ahtanum and down through the Sunnyside country. A year ago, capitalists offered to iron, equip, and operate an electric line if the citizens would grade and tie the road, and Capt. Thomas is of the opinion that they can get this proposition renewed if the people are ripe to entertain it.
“If the old town can accomplish this much so easily, the two towns combined can grade and tie a roadbed.”
This reflects the ongoing regional obsession with connectivity that defines Yakima’s history. Just as residents once labored to build their own infrastructure to link the 'old town' to the burgeoning North Yakima, today’s regional transit discussions remain focused on overcoming the geographic divisions of the valley.
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