The Station Master’s Garden Oasis
A bachelor station agent in Elk, Washington, earns national acclaim for transforming a railway depot into a picturesque landscape masterpiece.
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.
George W. Dishmaker, a bachelor railway station agent at Elk, Washington, has been cited as a distinguished landscape gardener for his achievement in creating the most picturesque station park grounds on the entire 8,200 miles of the Great Northern system. Dishmaker started cleaning up the station grounds in 1910, transforming two acres into an attractive landscape spot that thousands of overland travelers have marveled at. His work caught the eye of Louis W. Hill, chairman of the Great Northern Railway, who recently had his private car set out from the Oriental Limited to inspect the place. Hill congratulated Dishmaker, who modestly maintained he did it all for his personal love of flowers. The park features white flower boxes, graveled paths, and rustic bridges.
“The little park is a riot of colors from early spring till fall.”
This story highlights a time when the railway station was the civic heart of small towns like Elk, and individual efforts could define a community's identity. Today, many of these small-town depots are gone, and the pride once invested in them has shifted to other civic projects.
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