Railroad Expansion at Priest Rapids
A look back at 1908 reveals a surge of land speculation and railroad grading near the Columbia River, casting doubt on whether the work was truly meant to connect the valley or merely to obstruct.
A railroad grading crew is at work up the river at Coyote under the direction of the Priest Rapids Railroad company. This company has brought condemnation proceedings in the superior court against the Northern Pacific for a 50-foot right of way through three sections of land in the northeast corner of Yakima county, near Priest Rapids. The company announces in its suit that it has completed the surveys for its line in Yakima, Benton, and Kittitas counties to a point on the Northern Pacific. It is said that the new railroad will connect with the Yakima Valley Transportation company, furnishing railroad facilities for the country along the Columbia river. The opinion prevails in some quarters, however, that the grading is obstructive rather than constructive operations.
“The opinion prevails in some quarters, however, that the grading is obstructive rather than constructive operations.”
The suspicion that railroad infrastructure was being built for legal leverage rather than utility mirrors modern anxieties about 'land banking' and developers who hold territory without breaking ground, a frequent issue in the rapid development of Benton County.
From readers
No comments yet. If you know something about this story — a correction, a family memory, a source — it belongs here.