A Walk Down Harrington

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Empty buildings lined cracked streets. It felt like an old ghost town from the west as my husband and I drove through last January. But it’s still hanging on. Set it Lincoln County, this territory was known as “a howling desert.”

Until fertile soil was discovered by the Harrington, Furth and Robinson firm from Lusa County California. In 1882, the firm purchased 1,500 acres of land in this Big Bend wheat belt, the land Harrington now stands on. The earth promised to be better than gold.

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Harrington, WA was first settled in 1879 by Adam and Jacob Ludy, yet named after W.P. Harrington one year after the first settlers planted their roots.

The town began to grow in 1883, and slowly the town expanded opening a saloon, Tinsley House (a boarding house), a mercantile, post office, black smith shop, hotel and its first grain bins.

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The grain bins were brought in by the newly established Great Northern Railway Company with its tracks running down the middle of town, allowing farmers to transport their wheat to distant markets.

Harrington not only attracted wheat farmers, but also cattle ranchers to homestead during the construction of the Great Northern Pacific Railroad. New buildings and stores were erected with the rush of settlers. High wheat prices, inexpensive land, and easy transportation made Harrington a peak place to put down roots.

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The town continued to bud, adding the Hotel Lincoln, school house, drug store, stables, meat market, barber shop and bank. By 1892 the town was in full bloom. Grain crops were the best they’d been, marking the end of a five-year depression. However, grain prices remained low. Something had to change. Or be supplemented.

It was then the Harrington Milling Company was established. A.C. Billings became the mayor, and city hall governed the town, overseeing 882 citizens.

 

After the Second World War, Harrington began to decay. The harvester plant burnt down in the 1920s. Ten years later the hospital joined the ash heap. Neither was rebuilt. The highway system’s appearance in the early 1950s led to the discontinuation of the iron horse services. Harrington was now bypassed and as a result, the Opera House and too many other businesses closed their doors, including the Lincoln Hotel.

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Today, there is talk proposing Harrington will make a comeback. There is a strong revitalization effort welling up, including the restoration of the Electric Hotel, Opera House, and numerous other buildings throughout the town.

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One major attraction is the 9-hole golf course at the Harrington Gold and Country Club. This course has been rated as one of the finest of its size in Washington. This could be evidence of that comeback, shifting the semi-ghost town into a promise to come.

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14 Comments

  1. I’ve driven all over this state for many decades, but, regretfully, I’d never even heard of Harrington till reading a severe weather warning the other day that mentioned the town. I’ll head there this spring for sure! Thank you for your email and blog opportunities.

    1. Carmen Peone says:

      You’re welocme, Kate! Harrington’s a cute little town with golfing and a park in town. Seems like a nice area to raise a family. There’s a lot of history there.

  2. You should come back for a visit! We now have the Harrington Haus reopen, selling beer, wine, pizza and more, also The Post & Office – a Cafe and gift shop, Home & Makers, The Mercantile, Harrington Tattoo, and much more! The revitalization you mentioned has and is coming to fruition.

    1. Carmen Peone says:

      Thank you for letting me know, Lena! I will come back!

  3. Carmen: All the steps you list in the construction, then destruction, of a town are useful to any author writing historical fiction. Those concrete grain elevators can be seen across the miles and shout “here a town thrives.” Good article.

    1. Carmen Peone says:

      Thank you, Judith. I support our farmers and old farm towns. I have a feeling Harrington was once magnificent.

  4. Carmen Peone says:

    That is true. I think there were a few places that happened. Thank you for the information.

  5. Jean Sutto says:

    Carmen, when the Columbia Princess ferry at Gifford was moved by highway the movers had to take down some light poles to get the ferry through town.
    Good post, love history.

  6. Alice Trego says:

    Harrington sounds likes a place that truly should experience a revitalization. I hope that happens. Great post, Carmen!

    1. Carmen Peone says:

      Thank you, Alice! I hope they do too.

  7. Here’s wishing Harrington a successful comeback!
    (The first 2 pictures truly look like “a howling desert”.)

    1. Carmen Peone says:

      Gaby, it is beautiful farm land with a great view of the sky. Today there is no sign of desert, more like grassland. I hope they do have a successful comeback. I’d love to see some of these buildings come back and their economy grow.

  8. Harrington, WA is a cute town. Bruce and I had a friend from Harrington. We stopped by once, but he wasn’t home. I donated a book to their library. Thanks for the nice post reminding me of this little patch of history.

    1. Carmen Peone says:

      I would have loved to see this town at it’s finest. It is fun to go through. Someday I’ll have to stop and take a better look-see.