The History of Leavenworth
Leavenworth was settled by pioneers in search of gold, furs and fertile farmland. The Leavenworth area was soon bustling with settlers. By 1890, the original town was built. But it wasn’t until the end of the century when the town began to blossom with the arrival of the rail line. The Great Northern Railway Company’s tracks through Leavenworth brought with them opportunities for work, commerce and a new economy.
A sawmill and a healthy logging industry eventually fell apart, however, when the Great Northern Railway Company pulled out of Leavenworth. The re-routing of the railroad and the subsequent closure of the sawmill sadly converted the town from a bustling, thriving hub of commerce into a hollow, empty community. For more than thirty years, Leavenworth lived on the brink of extinction.
But in the early 1960’s, everything changed. In a last-chance effort to turn their town around, the leaders of the community decided to change Leavenworth’s appearance, hoping to bring tourism into the area. Using the beautiful backdrop of the surrounding Alpine hills to their advantage, the town agreed to remodel their hamlet in the form of a Bavarian village.
Hoping to create more than a mere facelift, the entire community rallied to create the illusion of Bavaria in the middle of Washington state. Besides the complete renovation of the downtown area, community members worked to begin a series of festivals to attract people. And it worked!! Since the change to a Bavarian motif, Leavenworth has become a pillar of the tourism industry in the Pacific Northwest. Today, more than a million tourists come to Leavenworth each year, each visitor finding their own individual love affair with the community. The story is a landmark case of the human spirit: Not only did the people of Leavenworth survive their most critical hour, but they endured.
Why does he look so happy? Maybe it's the German beer!
No comments:
Post a Comment