A Small Town
06/09/23 02:21
B5FC5415-4198-475E-8E83-D82D5B97B8A6
Every time we stop in Leavenworth, Washington, we are intrigued by the town. Set in steep alpine peeks of the East face of the Cascade Mountains, just a few miles from Wenatchee and Washington’s fruit growing and shipping center, the entire town is decorated around a Bavarian theme. While small logging towns up and down the Rockies and Cascades are struggling and dying, Leavenworth is thriving. A walk up and down the main street, which is closed to vehicular traffic, will reveal hundreds and hundreds of tourists, looking in the many tiny shops and storefronts, dining in the dozens and dozens of cafes and restaurants, sampling wine and beer, listening to German music, riding in the horse drawn carriages, looking into the nutcracker museum, and strolling in the waterfront park system.
All of this is in a town of under 2,500 people. Clearly they are doing something right.
I don’t know the whole story of Leavenworth, but part of the story is that it was a small logging town formed around the turn of the century. It might have gone the way of countless other logging and mining towns and been a boom and bust when the easily accessible timber on public lands played out. However, it was chosen by the Great Northern Railway as the site for a regional office. Extra engines had to be stored in the town to make the pull up the steep inclines of Stephens Pass on their way to Seattle. When, however, the railroad decided to relocate the office 20 miles east to Wenatchee in the 1920s it seemed that the city was fated to suffer decline and eventually die. And decline is exactly what happened. By the 1950s main street was a collection of boarded up store fronts. Even the development of a nearby ski hill didn’t revive the local economy.
A couple of Seattle businessmen purchased a cafe and when they couldn’t make it work financially, they became involved in a local improvement association. Copying an idea from Solvang, California, which is a Danish-themed city, they proposed creating a Bavarian-themed town in Leavenworth. The pair convinced the owner of a local hotel to remodel in a Bavarian style. The hotel was renamed Edelweiss after the Bavarian state flower. Building by building the improvement association helped business owners to remodel and redecorate. They worked with the city government to establish zoning laws and control of signs and other outdoor advertising.
Their insight paid off and today the community is a thriving year-round tourist destination. They have the advantage of location, being s few hours’ drive from the large population of Seattle. In the summer there is river rafting and various city festivals. In the autumn there is an Oktoberfest, In the winter the community has Christmas lights up from November through February. Three is also skiing at the nearby hill and a continual Christmas festival with displays of nutcrackers, Christmas carolers, and lots of activities. Spring brings fishers to the shores of the Wenatchee river and summer features street fairs and dances and dozens of outdoor beer gardens.
There are hundreds and hundreds of hotel rooms available as well as cottage and cabin rentals. A couple of first class campgrounds provide full services for RVs. The city of Leavenworth is a happening place year round.
Perhaps it was just a stroke of luck. Perhaps it was genuine vision. It is hard to say. I really don’t know the whole story. What I do know is that throughout the mountains of the west there are plenty of small towns that continue to decline and eventually die out all together while Leavenworth has figured out how to continue to be a small town with its small town schools and small town hospital while boasting a thriving economy and dozens and dozens of shops and restaurants that offer employment for the people of the town. Certainly it is a combination of many different elements that has produced an economically viable small town located too far from any urban center for commuting.
Leavenworth escaped the crash of the timber industry in the northwest. Blaming spotted owls and environmental regulations, paper and lumber mills were closed and jobs went away. For the most part the reason for the collapse was the failure to modernize and maintain the mills combined with the simple fact that forestry practices didn’t result in a sustainable supply of timber for the mills. While many towns filled with bitterness at the loss of jobs and the ruin of families, Leavenworth chose a distinct path and found a way to keep the locals employed and the economy of the town strong and vibrant.
Not every small town can become a tourist destination. It takes a lot more than a theme to create a sustainable economy in tough times. What is clear is that Leavenworth didn’t have a sustainable economy as a lumber town. And it didn’t have a sustainable economy as a railroad town. It was only when those two former industries pulled out of the area and the jobs they offered disappeared that the town discovered a pathway to a sustainable economy as a tourist destination. Whatever it is that they have done works. We find ourselves drawn to the town. We have planned stops in the town on many different trips. We’ve camped in both commercial campgrounds. We’ve stayed in a hotel. We’ve sampled sausages in local restaurants and walked up and down the streets looking into shops and making an occasional purchase. And we are just one couple out of hundred and hundreds of people who fill up the city streets, hotels, and restaurants. We’ve visited in winter and summer. We’ve trudged through snow drifts and suffered sweltering heat. And we’ve gone away from the town with smiles on our faces. We enjoy it so much that we are sure to come again and again to visit.
Even more, we are continually recommending to our friends that they visit and check out the town. Try it, you are sure to find it as interesting as we do.
Every time we stop in Leavenworth, Washington, we are intrigued by the town. Set in steep alpine peeks of the East face of the Cascade Mountains, just a few miles from Wenatchee and Washington’s fruit growing and shipping center, the entire town is decorated around a Bavarian theme. While small logging towns up and down the Rockies and Cascades are struggling and dying, Leavenworth is thriving. A walk up and down the main street, which is closed to vehicular traffic, will reveal hundreds and hundreds of tourists, looking in the many tiny shops and storefronts, dining in the dozens and dozens of cafes and restaurants, sampling wine and beer, listening to German music, riding in the horse drawn carriages, looking into the nutcracker museum, and strolling in the waterfront park system.
All of this is in a town of under 2,500 people. Clearly they are doing something right.
I don’t know the whole story of Leavenworth, but part of the story is that it was a small logging town formed around the turn of the century. It might have gone the way of countless other logging and mining towns and been a boom and bust when the easily accessible timber on public lands played out. However, it was chosen by the Great Northern Railway as the site for a regional office. Extra engines had to be stored in the town to make the pull up the steep inclines of Stephens Pass on their way to Seattle. When, however, the railroad decided to relocate the office 20 miles east to Wenatchee in the 1920s it seemed that the city was fated to suffer decline and eventually die. And decline is exactly what happened. By the 1950s main street was a collection of boarded up store fronts. Even the development of a nearby ski hill didn’t revive the local economy.
A couple of Seattle businessmen purchased a cafe and when they couldn’t make it work financially, they became involved in a local improvement association. Copying an idea from Solvang, California, which is a Danish-themed city, they proposed creating a Bavarian-themed town in Leavenworth. The pair convinced the owner of a local hotel to remodel in a Bavarian style. The hotel was renamed Edelweiss after the Bavarian state flower. Building by building the improvement association helped business owners to remodel and redecorate. They worked with the city government to establish zoning laws and control of signs and other outdoor advertising.
Their insight paid off and today the community is a thriving year-round tourist destination. They have the advantage of location, being s few hours’ drive from the large population of Seattle. In the summer there is river rafting and various city festivals. In the autumn there is an Oktoberfest, In the winter the community has Christmas lights up from November through February. Three is also skiing at the nearby hill and a continual Christmas festival with displays of nutcrackers, Christmas carolers, and lots of activities. Spring brings fishers to the shores of the Wenatchee river and summer features street fairs and dances and dozens of outdoor beer gardens.
There are hundreds and hundreds of hotel rooms available as well as cottage and cabin rentals. A couple of first class campgrounds provide full services for RVs. The city of Leavenworth is a happening place year round.
Perhaps it was just a stroke of luck. Perhaps it was genuine vision. It is hard to say. I really don’t know the whole story. What I do know is that throughout the mountains of the west there are plenty of small towns that continue to decline and eventually die out all together while Leavenworth has figured out how to continue to be a small town with its small town schools and small town hospital while boasting a thriving economy and dozens and dozens of shops and restaurants that offer employment for the people of the town. Certainly it is a combination of many different elements that has produced an economically viable small town located too far from any urban center for commuting.
Leavenworth escaped the crash of the timber industry in the northwest. Blaming spotted owls and environmental regulations, paper and lumber mills were closed and jobs went away. For the most part the reason for the collapse was the failure to modernize and maintain the mills combined with the simple fact that forestry practices didn’t result in a sustainable supply of timber for the mills. While many towns filled with bitterness at the loss of jobs and the ruin of families, Leavenworth chose a distinct path and found a way to keep the locals employed and the economy of the town strong and vibrant.
Not every small town can become a tourist destination. It takes a lot more than a theme to create a sustainable economy in tough times. What is clear is that Leavenworth didn’t have a sustainable economy as a lumber town. And it didn’t have a sustainable economy as a railroad town. It was only when those two former industries pulled out of the area and the jobs they offered disappeared that the town discovered a pathway to a sustainable economy as a tourist destination. Whatever it is that they have done works. We find ourselves drawn to the town. We have planned stops in the town on many different trips. We’ve camped in both commercial campgrounds. We’ve stayed in a hotel. We’ve sampled sausages in local restaurants and walked up and down the streets looking into shops and making an occasional purchase. And we are just one couple out of hundred and hundreds of people who fill up the city streets, hotels, and restaurants. We’ve visited in winter and summer. We’ve trudged through snow drifts and suffered sweltering heat. And we’ve gone away from the town with smiles on our faces. We enjoy it so much that we are sure to come again and again to visit.
Even more, we are continually recommending to our friends that they visit and check out the town. Try it, you are sure to find it as interesting as we do.
