 Picture Courtesy of Washington State Department of Transportation
In the fall of 1883, the last stretch of the Northern Pacific Railroad was completed, connecting Washington Territory to the rest of the United States. Many immigrants, including Chinese, Scandinavians, and eastern and southern Europeans, labored 13 years to build this second transcontinental route. Upon completion, overland trips that once took months now took days.
During the next decade, a half million people came by rail to the Pacific Northwest. Free land and expert marketing attracted immigrants from Europe and North America. Trains rushed along tracks just south of here, bringing homesteaders, miners, speculators, and entrepreneurs.
The town of Sprague, located two miles east of there, was an important stop on the line. It served as the Lincoln county seat and Northern Pacific's division office and maintenance shop. In 1885,the Wool Growers Association of America decided to ship its fleece by Northern Pacific Railroad and Sprague became its main shearing grounds. After a major fire ten years later, the railroad moved its yard to Spokane.
Washington State Department of Transportation.
Conservation Corps
Washington State Historical Society.
Washington Department of Parks and Recreation.
I-90, In the Sprague Safety Rest Area about 13 miles west of Sprague Lincoln County Washington
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