The 1910 Wellington Train Disaster
0103, 2021

The 1910 Wellington Train Disaster

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Just after one o’clock in the morning, on a frigid, starless night in March 1910, more than a hundred souls aboard Great Northern Railway’s Spokane Local No. 25, a passenger train, and Fast Mail Train No. 27 slept tightly bundled in their cars. They’d been stuck near Wellington in King County, Washington, for almost a week…waiting as railroad crews attempted to clear the tracks of snow, which had been accumulating

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Washington At A Glance
2001, 2024

Washington At A Glance

Following up on a special message to my Patreon supporters, I’ve now scanned in high-resolution the pages of the 1953 Washington territorial centennial commemorative book I bought on Facebook Marketplace. You can find a few of the scanned individual pages in JPG below or to access all the hi-res images or download the full PDF, please become one of my fearless followers at Patreon.com/washingtonourhome. See you soon! Again, see all

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Bedding down at the Bird Rock Hotel
2808, 2023

Bedding down at the Bird Rock Hotel

Whenever I travel around this great state of ours, I always try to find a good place to stay that isn’t a Holiday Inn Express or a Comfort/Quality/Sleep Inn. In fact, my preference is to patronize either a local B&B or an historic property that’s been converted into a hotel (see my posts on the Shelburne Inn, the Olympic Club, and the Marcus Whitman). So, on a recent trip to

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A Fourth of July float down the Little Spokane
0607, 2023

A Fourth of July float down the Little Spokane

July 4, 2023, was a fantastically radiant day in sunny Spokane, Washington. It was also a day off of work, and just happened to be the day before my 20th wedding anniversary. I decided to introduce my beautiful bride to some of my wonderful childhood memories by taking her on an adventure down the Little Spokane River. It was especially nice since the kids were staying with the grandparents for

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Exploring Maritime Washington
0304, 2023

Exploring Maritime Washington

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I am proud to announce the publication of my new book, Exploring Maritime Washington—a History and Guide. Each of the places covered in its pages has a connection to Washington’s maritime history, whether a popular tourist destination or a hidden gem known only to longtime locals. Exploring Maritime Washington provides visitors with a fun and easy way to enjoy each community while learning about Washington’s nautical history. By visiting and

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Spokane’s Garbage Goat
0603, 2023

Spokane’s Garbage Goat

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Installed in 1974, just in time for the World’s Fair Exposition in Spokane, Washington, this iconic structure has delighted children and adults visiting the Inland Northwest for generations—but it isn’t the canted pavilion that once marked the US presence at the fair, or the gondola across Spokane Falls that takes visitors so close they can feel the spray on their faces, or even the German beer garden facility that now

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Virginia V and the Mosquito Fleet
0509, 2022

Virginia V and the Mosquito Fleet

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Before there were roads around the Puget Sound region, there were rivers. Before the stagecoaches, there were Salish canoes. And before the planes, the trains, and the automobiles…there was the water, and the ships that traveled upon it. In the earliest days of human habitation in what is now Washington State, the fastest way to get from place to place around the Salish Sea was by paddling a canoe, whether

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Wilkeson’s Historic Coke Ovens
0407, 2022

Wilkeson’s Historic Coke Ovens

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Boasting a population of just under 500, the small community of Wilkeson, Washington, lies in the heart of Pierce County’s Carbon River Valley. Once a lively and vibrant mining community, it has withstood the test of time…despite seeing an end to its primary economic driver. But rather than resign itself to a fate of joining the ranks of dozens of other ghost towns throughout the state, Wilkeson has endured. And

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The Washington Museum Association
0606, 2022

The Washington Museum Association

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There are hundreds of different museums scattered far and wide across Washington state. Many of them are focused on the history of their particular city, county, or region. Others feature arguably some of the most interesting, thought-provoking, and unique art and sculpture in the world. And a few have captured more of a niche area, showcasing things like robots, quilts, and puppets. But the thing that binds these varied institutions

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Historic Fort Steilacoom
0205, 2022

Historic Fort Steilacoom

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Located in Pierce County, western Washington, in the City of Lakewood are the remnants of a once critical military instillation known as Fort Steilacoom. It occupies the same piece of land where today’s Western State Hospital exists – another historic topic for a future podcast episode, to be sure. But Fort Steilacoom, by its own right, has firmly entrenched itself in the history of Washington State. Built in 1849 to

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The Daring Heist of D.B. Cooper
0111, 2021

The Daring Heist of D.B. Cooper

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Feeling a slight bump up in the cockpit, the pilots of Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 305 looked at each other nervously as rain pelted against their windshield at around 200 miles per hour…a relatively slow speed for a Boeing 727. They didn’t yet know that that bump meant their ordeal of the past several hours was just about over; that they, along with their flight engineer and flight attendant, would live to see another day—because the man known only as Dan Cooper had just exited the plane by leaping from the rear staircase in mid-flight, with a parachute and 200-thousand dollars strapped to his body, never to be seen again.