Same Streets
← All stories

Walla Walla Imports Its First Motor Transit

After failing to conquer the steep grades of the Lewiston-Clarkston valley, a pioneer automobile is relocated to the flatter terrain of Walla Walla.

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.

The large automobile brake that has been in service between Lewiston and Clarkston for several months was yesterday loaded on a Northern Pacific car and will be taken to Walla Walla today, says the Lewiston Tribune. Mr. George White, the present owner, has found that the machine cannot be successfully operated on the heavy grades of Lewiston and Clarkston, and the inducements offered by the people of Walla Walla were such that it was deemed advisable to make the change. Walla Walla is a city scattered over a large area and at the present time has no means of transportation other than the city hacks, and the addition of the automobile will be a great accommodation to the citizens of the place.

“Walla Walla is a city scattered over a large area of land and at the present time has no means of transportation other than the city hacks.”

— Printed in The Evening Statesman (Walla Walla, Wash.) 1903-1910, 1903
Then · 1903123 years apartNow · 2026

This early attempt at mass transit highlights Walla Walla's long history of searching for effective transportation solutions. Before buses and ride-shares, the city's geography (flatter than the canyon-walled Lewiston) made it an early adopter for emerging motor technology.

The original page

The Evening Statesman (Walla Walla, Wash.) 1903-1910, 1903-09-30. Library of Congress, Chronicling America.

From readers

No comments yet. If you know something about this story — a correction, a family memory, a source — it belongs here.

About this story

From
The Evening Statesman (Walla Walla, Wash.) 1903-1910, SEP 30, 1903, Page 8
Rights
Public domain
Place
46.20552, -118.51743 · placed automatically
The paper in the Library of Congress catalog ↗