Building the Iron Road
Yakima citizens gather to propose a massive, citizen-funded narrow gauge railroad to open new agricultural and industrial routes.
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.
Citizens gathered at the opera-house to discuss the narrow gauge railroad project intended to connect the Natchie or Cowlitz passes, promising access to coal, timber, and new agricultural tracts south of Priest Rapids. The proposed railway aims to link local producers with the Columbia River and larger regional lines like the Great Northern and Union Pacific. G. M. McKinney, an incorporator, stated the project required $100,000 in citizen subsidies, with payments tiered to construction milestones. The meeting, presided over by J. T. Eshleman, resulted in a unanimous resolution of support and the planned appointment of an executive committee.
“Should the project fail, men who were interested in the old town had a scheme with sufficient money back of it to build thirty-two miles of electric road.”
This meeting reflects the 'growth machine' mentality of 1890s Yakima, where local elites and residents gambled their own capital to force infrastructure development. The push for a private-public rail subsidy mirrors modern debates over municipal investment in transit and regional economic connectivity.
From readers
No comments yet. If you know something about this story — a correction, a family memory, a source — it belongs here.