The Town That Might Move: Wenatchee Waits on the Great Northern
With the railroad undecided on its Columbia River crossing, Wenatchee's townsite company threatens to relocate the whole town—just as North Yakima was moved—and engineers send divers to probe the riverbed.
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 people of Wenatchee are in a quandary. The Great Northern has not as yet given out where it will make the crossing of the Columbia, and now the Wenatchee Development Company, owners of the townsite, threatens to change the location of the town, in which event those who have purchased lots from the company will be given lots in exchange in the new town—a la North Yakima. As the present townsite is pretty well built up, it looks as though there would be another big job for house movers.
The Great Northern’s engineers are now busily engaged in trying to decide upon a point where the crossing of the Columbia will be made. The exact place has not been fixed upon, although it will be in the neighborhood of nine miles south of Wenatchee City, where the banks are high and the channel is only about 400 feet across. In order to determine the final location professional divers will be employed to examine the river's bed, in order to find suitable foundation for piers. It is understood that only a temporary structure will be built at first, and that the permanent bridge will be put in after the completion of the road.
“the Wenatchee Development Company, owners of the townsite, threatens to change the location of the town ... a la North Yakima.”
Railroads once decided which towns lived, died or simply picked up and moved, and Wenatchee’s anxiety captures that raw civic bargaining. Modern debates over highway alignments, port terminals and bridge routes still carry the same question: who gets connected, and who gets left behind?
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