Since the 1960s Leavenworth, Washington, has become a great example of an economically depressed town reinventing itself and embarking on an exciting new life. Other nearby towns like Peshastin and Cashmere have benefited from the creation of a Bavarian village on the Wenatchee River. Cashmere, 12 miles east on Highway 2, is the home of Liberty Orchards, which produces delicious Aplets and […]
After moving with his small family from a farm in Iowa to Washington State in the late 1920s, my grandpa began working for the railroad. The railroad had been pretty good to Leavenworth, at least for awhile. The Great Northern Railroad (now called Burlington Northern) ran its first line through Leavenworth in 1892, complete with division headquarters and a switching […]
Leavenworth, Washington, located in the Northern Cascade Mountains, is a tiny town incorporated in 1906 and relying heavily on the railroad and the timber industry. By the 1960s the town was struggling for economic survival — and that was when the leaders came up with the idea of remodeling Leavenworth as a Bavarian village to attract tourists. As a child, my […]
Hearst Castle, near the central coast, is one of the most amazing spots in California. It was created by William Randolph Hearst and architect Julia Morgan and completed in the mid 1940s. One could wander the house and gardens almost endlessly and never tire of the experience. I’ve been lucky enough to visit twice, but it remains near the top of […]
This week, due to a few technical difficulties, I’ve got only a few of the slides from our visit to The Butchart Gardens outside Victoria, B.C.; hopefully I’ll be able to share the rest of them next Monday The Butchart Gardens, B.C., first began in 1904 as a small garden near a quarry and cement plant. The property now extends […]
June 1978 — We spent two very full days in Victoria, and I’m certain we still missed a lot of great sights there. The Rolls Royce shown above was parked near the Royal London Wax Museum (which sadly, I just learned, was closed in September 2010); we didn’t pay to go inside, but I was entranced by the figure of […]
Thanks again to everybody for sharing these memories with me. Next week, we’re off on a 1978 road trip to British Columbia via Oregon and Washington State. See you then!
Each week, I’ve been trying to group the images together in ways that make sense, but the current slide carousel is completely mixed up, chronologically speaking — I’m not sure if there was a reason. So I’ve decided to finish up the current wheel (and the 1950s) by sorting the remaining slides into two categories: Places (this week) and People (next week). […]
Sitting just north of San Francisco’s Ocean Beach is the famous Cliff House Restaurant. It has a complicated and fascinating history and is currently on its fifth incarnation. The first Cliff House was built in 1853 by one of California’s more colorful Gold Rush characters, Sam Brannan. In the 1956 photo below, you can just see the top and rear of […]