Waitsburg Has History As Valley Boom Town

Recently I had the opportunity to look through some interesting travel books about the state of Washington.

Among them, I found "Exploring Washington's Past," written by Ruth Kirk and Carmela Alexander. Kirk and Alexander's book gives an excellent background into the history of the state, especially rural areas.

In this book it has a section that discussed the town of Waitsburg, its size and the local community.

" In 1871, a visitor to Waitsburg described the little town as "The most enterprising and thrifty of any town, except Walla Walla, in the whole valley."

The book also says that Waitsburg still stands today. Waitsburg still operates on the basis of its original territorial charter.

From the publication "Wait's Mill," a story about Wait's Mill, or the Preston- Schaffer Mill, a wooden structure where milling took place until 1957 when it closed, was written by Ellis and Elvira Ellen Laidlaw.

In the story it says, "At first, settlers here ran cattle and horses on the hillsides and experimented with crops to earn cash, they hauled freight for miners bound for Lewiston and beyond."

In 1865, as the first wheat crop was harvested from the fertile benchlands, a man named Sylvester Wait built a gristmill where mule trains loaded flour headed to mines in the state of Idaho.

"Sixteen years later, when the Oregon Railway and Navigation Company laid its tracks to Waitsburg, the town's population spurted."

In another passage from "Wait's Mill," it says "The Waitsburg Times, more elegant than ever, continued its invitation: No droughts. No floods. No blizzards. No grasshoppers. Grain, fruit and beef to sell to the world. Think of it, ye frozen fools of the Frigid East and straightway come West."

"And come they did. From a population of 497 in the Census of 1885, the town of Waitsburg increased to 700 in a year and it was a "given" that the population had reached 1,000 by 1889.

The Dayton Chronicle in 1888 observed "The phenomenal growth of Waitsburg this year is a source of wonderment to all. It is growing faster than Walla Walla and Dayton."

The Waitsburg Commercial Club in 1887 decided to use of Preston Park as a destination with stage performances for entertainment and concessions with food and drink to encourage travelers to stop as they pass through on Highway 12.

The venture at the park was very successful when Cycle Oregon visited here last summer. The cyclists presented the town of Waitsburg with a grant to be used for the beautiful hanging baskets. This certainly did help beautify our town.

My late husband, Bob, would give a wink of the eye when people would inquire, "How is Waitsburg?" and would say: "It's a Boomin'."

Maybe "It's a Boomin'" soon. I notice four different places to eat; drink and lodging are being prepared now-to be ready soon.