WAnderings...

This is my final post about our days of wandering through Washington. Next stop is Idaho.

Our detour was in the quaint town of Cashmere, the acknowledged geographical center of Washington State.
Like all these towns, it comes with history. In 1881, Alexander Brender, a German immigrant, arrived as the first white settler and filed a claim. Eight years later, a post office, identified as Mission, was established.
Soon it was discovered that this name competed with several other towns named Mission in the state. The citizens agreed to change the name to Cashmere, after the beautifully mountainous Vale of Kashmir in northwest India.
The town was incorporated in 1904. Its first decade was a productive one. Telephone lines were installed in 1909, paved walks in 1913, electric lights in 1914, and paved streets in 1919. In a few short years, with the construction of major irrigation canals, Cashmere blossomed forth from barren sagebrush desert into one of the most beautiful and productive agricultural areas in the Wenatchee Valley While still charming, the town doesn't appear quite as productive, but we enjoyed our explore none-the-less.



The big deal, here currently, is Liberty Orchards and their sweet treats and interesting history.
Just after the turn of the century,  and several other business attempts, Armenian immigrants Armen Tertsagian and Mark Balaban found their way to Cashmere and purchased an apple farm.
   
Times were tough for most orchardists in 1918, so Mark and Armen searched for new ways to make use of their surplus fruit. Apple dehydration seemed a logical first move and, coinciding with the onset of World War I, Northwest Evaporating was born. This new enterprise not only assisted the local farmers, but helped the war effort by providing "an apple a day" for the boys over there.
Another use for surplus fruit occurred to Mark and Armen. Why not use apples to make Lokum (also known as Turkish Delight), the popular near eastern candy they had loved as children? After much R & D, they perfected a delicious apple and walnut recipe. The story is a longer one, but what fun to be there where it all sweetly began.
Just today, I had an interesting coincidence with this via an article by Gastro Obscura. Its title was, "C.S. Lewis’s greatest fiction was convincing unknowing American kids that they would like Turkish Delight." Described as popular in the U.S., it rarely makes an appearance at the kids table.

As a result, many young Americans knew it only as the food for which Edmund Pevensie sells out his family in the classic children’s fantasy novel The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe. Interesting literary connection!
A fun gimmick in town is its Gnome Trail. They take this very seriously and it was fun, in our brief visit, to discover some of these little beings.


A trip to the farmer's market helped to paint a better picture of the productive agriculture found here.



Each little town held treasures.



Many gave glimpses of grander times.

Coulee City (1890) possessed one of our favorite campsites.
It came complete with a breathtaking sunset.



We saw this building from the road and had to visit.
The historic Hartline School building, completed in 1922, is one of the oldest and best preserved “rural brick schoolhouses” in eastern Washington. Its high degree of structural integrity conveys the building’s unique historic character. The building was designed by Frederick Westcott and Howard Gifford’s Spokane architectural firm. It is an excellent example of their collaboration and interpretation of the Colonial Revival style of architecture.
Our last Washington history lesson (after a visit to the Goodwill Outlet) was at the home of Sonora Smart Dodd. Special because Sonora created the first Father's Day in 1910.
Dodd's dad William Smart was a single father and widower as his wife died during childbirth. Through much persuading, it became a legal holiday in Washington. Over the following 60 years, she advocated for Father's day to become a national holiday. She was successful in 1966 when President Lyndon b. Johnson signed a proclamation declaring every third Sunday in June to be recognized as Father's Day. Six years later, it was made a permanent holiday by President Richard Nixon. Cool history, right?
“The open road is a beckoning, a strangeness,
a place where a man can lose himself.”
-William Least Heat Moon

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