The New Yakima Depot: Planning a City from Scratch
Northern Pacific Railroad directors map out a new town with schools, churches, and canals in Eastern Washington, signaling a transformation for the frontier.
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.
New York—Dispatches were received here yesterday announcing that the board of directors of the Northern Pacific Railroad Company met in New York on Tuesday and were considering the location of the depot for this valley. The dispatches state that the board fully concurred in the recommendations of Land Commissioners Lamborn and Schultze with reference to the new town, and authorized an expenditure necessary for the construction of a large irrigation canal from the Naches River, and also for planting out a large number of shade trees; also for building a fine school house, removing the churches from the old town, and for other needed improvements. The dispatches further state that the depot at New Yakima is the only one authorized to be established between the Ahtanum and the Naches. A letter from Colonel Lamborn mentions the action of the board, and expresses the belief that New Yakima can now be made the best town in Eastern Washington. A plat of the new town, duly signed by the board, has been forwarded to Mr. Schultze at Portland.
“New Yakima can now be made the best town in Eastern Washington.”
This 1885 report on the planning of New Yakima illustrates how rail infrastructure and corporate land development were the primary engines of early Washington urbanization. Today, the roles have shifted from rail depots to light rail stations and corporate tech campuses, yet the pattern of developers and civic leaders 'making' a neighborhood continues to define Seattle's housing and transit debates.
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