The Great Railway Race to the Pacific
Northern Pacific and the 'Hunt Road' scramble to capture Aberdeen's budding port.
The best evidence of Aberdeen's importance as an ocean port is the effort the Northern Pacific is making to reach this city in advance of the O. & W. T. R. R. This latter road is striving to the limit of its powers to outstrip its formidable rival in the race to the head of navigation on Grays Harbor. These two roads have between them some four thousand men at work between Tacoma, Centralia, and this city. The Northern Pacific, having bought the Puget Sound & Grays Harbor Railroad, is clearing ground in South Aberdeen for freight yards, warehouses, and a passenger depot. The O. W. T. R. R., better known as the 'Hunt Road,' will probably reach Aberdeen by next spring. These three roads are the most important ones seeking to reach the Grays Harbor country, though others have lines projected from points east and north.
“The most casual glance at any map will show that Grays Harbor is the natural gateway to the new state of Washington.”
In 1891, Aberdeen was in a feverish race to become the primary rail-to-sea terminus for the Pacific Northwest. Today, that legacy of industrial rail and shipping infrastructure continues to define the city's struggle to adapt its waterfront economy to modern logistics.
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