Leavenworth

Yes it's February and I am still blogging about things that happened in December.  I guess it's just one step closer to being current.

There is a small Bavarian themed town located in the mountains of central Washington called Leavenworth.  I've made some incredible memories with both friends and family over the years at this enchanted village, but it wasn't until I wanted to blog about it that I really learned the history.

"Leavenworth’s history does not begin with the alpine tradition of the town today, but with the proud heritage of the Yakama, Chinook and Wenatchi tribes. The Native American tribes lived by hunting the land for deer and elk, as well as fishing Icicle Creek for salmon. Surrounded by some of the most beautiful and bountiful lands in North America, the three tribes co-existed from Lake Wenatchee to the Icicle and beyond.

The area was eventually settled by pioneers in search of gold, furs and fertile farmland. Stakes were claimed, land was parceled out, and the Leavenworth area was soon bustling with settlers. By 1890, the original town was built on the Icicle Flats.

But it wasn’t until the end of the century that the town began to blossom with the arrival of the rail line. The tracks of the Great Northern Railway Company through Leavenworth brought  opportunities for work, commerce and a new economy.

A healthy logging and sawmill industry created a thriving town until the Great Northern Railway Company pulled out of Leavenworth. The re-routing of the railroad and the subsequent closure of the sawmill converted the town from a bustling hub of commerce into a hollow, dying community. For more than thirty years, Leavenworth lived on the brink of extinction.

People in the town knew something had to be done to keep the town alive, so in the early 1960’s, in a last-chance effort to turn their precarious situation 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 townspeople agreed to remodel their hamlet into a Bavarian-style 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 completely renovating the downtown area, community members worked to begin a series of festivals. The Autumn Leaf Festival, Maifest and the extremely popular Christmas Lighting Ceremony were the first of many attractions Leavenworth offered to passers-by.

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, with each visitor finding an individual love affair with the community. The story is a landmark case of the human spirit, for not only did the people of Leavenworth survive their most critical hour, but they endured."

While Dallas and I were home for the holidays we were able to make a quick drive up to Leavenworth for a fun day of shopping and dinner.  We had a blast mingling among the millions of other tourists and finally feeling snow under our feet.  If you ever get the chance to make it up to Washington, be sure to plan to visit Leavenworth!