The Railway Heartbeat of Walla Walla
When a railroad bypasses a growing town for a smaller rival, the economic stakes—and the town's survival—hang in the balance.
The people of Walla Walla are in considerable trouble over operations in the new town of Prescott. At the latter point, instead of in Walla Walla itself, are to be located the end of a division, with a superintendent and other officers, with shops of the company, and hundreds of employees. The Company, it is said, does not consider itself properly treated by Walla Walla, and while they will do nothing against the town, will do as little for it as possible. They will remove from it, in fact, all the past features of a terminal point, and will make it a way station only. The effect upon our sister town can be easily imagined. Such a move will by no means kill it, but will depress it fearfully and will check its future growth. Under the circumstances it behooves our neighbors to be up and doing. If they cannot have this help in building their town, they must build without it. If they make no effort in that direction during the coming season, they will find themselves immeasurably weaker during the season following. They will not only lose faith in their own town, but outsiders will also. Walla Walla will go backward, while Prescott, Sprague, Cheney and Spokane go ahead.
“If they make no effort in that direction during the coming season, they will find themselves immeasurably weaker during the season following.”
In the 1880s, the fate of a town was literally tethered to the iron rail, where a decision by a corporation to relocate a division could hollow out an economy overnight. Today, while we no longer chase railroad terminals, the 'boom and bust' anxiety caused by the whims of dominant regional employers—like the shifting office footprints of tech giants—remains a core feature of the Seattle economic psyche.
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