Portal Into the Past - Harrington, Washington History

Portal Into The Past

Hello everyone, 

 Today I bring you the third Portal Into the Past - Harrington, Washington History. Let me start off by saying that over the weekend we did not go Geocaching, so I decided to do this Portal Into the Past on Harrington, Washington, a small farm town in which I currently live. If you read on, I will give you something like the Ritzville History I gave last week - a post full of facts and interesting stories. I hope you enjoy this week's Portal Into the Past - Harrington, Washington History:

The green star is where Harrington is located

Since this weekend we did not go Geocaching, I decided to do a Portal Into the Past on Harrington, Washington, a small town I currently live in. Harrington is a great community of about 400 people. It is located in Lincoln County, Washington. Harrington's start was in 1882 when the firm of Harrington, Furth, and Robinson bought the land because they knew it was fertile and good for farming. Currently, Harrington is known for its wheat farming. The town was named after W.P Harrington who was a banker from Colusa, California and an investor in the Harrington land.

The town of Harrington soon had many buildings. Edward Willis and Charles Billings opened up the first store in Harrington. A year later, the post office was opened and Edward Willis became the first post master. Then in 1884, the blacksmith opened up followed by the Pickell Hotel. Then two years later in 1886, the saloon was opened.

In 1892, Harrington received its first grain bins that were from the Northern Railway Company which ran through the middle of town. Within two more years, Harrington's population grew as the railroad

The old City Hall

expanded and improved. After that, Hotel Harrington opened and the main street was created. At this time, the town of Harrington had a two-room school house, drug store, stables, meat market, barber shop, two hotels, four general stores, the bank, and furniture stores. 

For five years, Harrington was in a depression. Prices for grain were extremely low. But finally in 1892, the depression ended and the Harrington Milling Company was created in the early 1900's. In 1901, A.C Billings was chosen as Harrington's first mayor. The city hall was built and Harrington reached their highest population of about 850 people. Soon, in 1901, the Portland Milling Company bought the mill. With that, C.D Ellis became manager and the mill increased its production rate to 325 barrels a day.

The Bank Block Building was created in 1904 which was home to the Bank of Harrington, Opera House, a barber shop, saloon, and lodging. Currently, this area is where the City offices and library are located and the Opera House is being restored to its former glory. In 1914, a new school was created to replace the two-room school house. Two years later, the telephone and telegraph came and Harrington created a camp for tourists.

The Opera House where city offices and library are located

But things started changing for the town of Harrington. In 1920, the prices of wheat dropped dramatically, the crops were failing, and a new depression was starting for the local farmers. Luckily, crops improved three years later in 1923, but the prices of wheat were still low. Because of this, Harrington's population size began shrinking. The Odessa Union Warehouse bought the Harrington Milling Company, later changing it into a bulk grain elevator. After the depression, the only bank that remained was the Harrington State Bank.

Then in 1923, Harrington had a horrible event - a fire that destroyed many things. The fire burnt down the harvester plant and then the hospital burned down just 10 years later. Sadly, neither of these buildings were rebuilt. Along with this, many other buildings were burnt to dust in the fire.

A water tower was built in 1938, costing $10,450. After World War II ended, the water tower was redone, but some original parts still remain. Then in 1949, a grade school was built to replace the old school. And in 1955, the high school was built on to the grade school, making it K-12th. The school is still in use today, but with some things redone. About ten years la
ter, Harrington built tennis courts and a golf course.

This is painted on one of the buildings in Harrington

After this, another disaster happened to the town of Harrington. Mount St. Helens had erupted on May 18, 1980. Harrington, like many other Eastern Washington states, were blocked off from the world for days. Yet, good came out of the eruption for the farmers found the ash to be very good for the farmland.

After World War II, along with the fires that burnt down the harvester plant and hospital, a highway system was built. Since the highway did not go through Harrington, and people were not using trains as much anymore, the town's population grew even smaller. Then in the early 1950's, the passenger rail services were discontinued for almost everyone was using the highway. Because of the lack of people coming to Harrington, the Opera House, Lincoln Hotel, and many other buildings shut down. Then in the 1980's, the railroad depot was shut down.

This is painted on a building as well

Currently, Harrington is working to restore the Electric Hotel, Opera House, and many other of the old buildings. Of 2013, Harrington received ultra high-speed internet service, and there is even a chance the passenger rail service might return. Even now, the small town of Harrington is strong in its agriculture work. About 424 people currently live in Harrington, Washington and about 144 students attend the K-12 school.

I hope you enjoyed today's Portal Into the Past - Harrington, Washington History. I am unsure what the next Portal Into the Past will be about, but I think it might be of a Spokane-related area since that is where we are going this weekend. Maybe a building or area in Spokane? Or the town in general? If you have any ideas, feel free to leave a comment. But I plan for the Portal Into the Past to be on the 13th or 14th of this month, so keep an eye out. Thanks for reading today's Portal Into the Past, and I hope you enjoyed it!