​Rural Abandoned Places

 
​Farmhouse in the Palouse
The farmhouse pictured in the following pages has been in a wheat farming family for generations. It is located on private property, not visible from any road. When asked why these old places are not torn down and the land used more productively, Jessiann, a fourth-generation wheat farmer, explained, “It can be emotionally hard to burn those houses down. They are often part of a family’s history. Our family always farmed around it, even though it was a hassle, because it meant something to us.”
 
​Abandoned farmhouses serve as a reminder of how hard it was for past generations to dedicate themselves to working their land and raising their families. In the early 1900s, wheat fields would sometimes yield only twenty bushels per acre and all the farmers could get for their backbreaking labor was 50 cents per bushel.

All photographs under Rural Abandoned Places are by the author.

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​Olmsted Family Farm
In 1875, Samuel and Sarah Olmstead and their three young children migrated on horseback from Tennessee and staked their claim of 160 acres of land under the federal Homestead Act of 1862. Theirs was among the first homesteads in the Kittitas Valley, in what was then the Washington Territory. Rich, natural grasslands attracted many settlers who built prosperous farms and ranches. More settlers migrated to the Northwest in the 1880s than in the entire history of the U.S. up to that point. Unfortunately, Samuel died about six years after the family arrived, so Sarah and her three children had to forge ahead on their own.
 
They eventually built a successful farm. The Olmsteads originally raised grain and beef cattle here. They switched from beef to dairy in 1892, producing butter for the Seattle market. Three generations of the Olmstead family farmed this land for almost 100 years.

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​1937 Chevrolet Car
This is a 1937 Chevrolet Master Deluxe Town Sedan. It was abandoned on a ranch in the Columbia River Gorge. William Crawford and his wife Julia filed a homestead claim for this land in the Columbia River Gorge in 1877. They operated a cattle ranch until 1935. Subsequent owners operated the ranch until 1993. It came with a 3-speed manual transmission, 85-hp engine, independent front suspension (new in 1937), seated five passengers, and cost $720 when new. 

The car is located on the historic Dalles Mountain Ranch, now part of Columbia Hills Historical State Park. It was a large ranch that operated for many years before being donated to the State of Washington. The ranch land, encompassing 3,100 acres including the ranch house and structures, was deeded to Washington State Parks in 2003 and merged with the existing Horsethief Lake State Park. 

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​Old Trucks near Chehalis
These are some of the trucks that can be found at the intersection of two country roads near Chehalis. The truck on the left is a Ford Model TT truck. They were manufactured from 1918 to 1927, and featured split front windows, a hand crank in the front, and wheels with spokes made of wood. 

These and more than 30 additional antique and classic cars are owned by Richard Busek, as part of his Galvin Museum.
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Dave's Old Truck Rescue
There is a collection of abandoned trucks owned by Dave Jones in the farming town of Sprague. He is a retired farmer living nearby, who has been collecting old trucks for decades, which amounts to around 60 at the present time. There is a sign posted that encourages onlookers to take pictures. He even has a web site, where he states, "In this country, one of the last areas with nice old trucks, they’re coming through and taking a vast majority of these trucks are ended up going to the crusher. So it’s nice to save a few for nostalgia purposes." Many of the trucks were purchased from retired farmers in Washington. Dave happened to see several of them out in the middle of a field. In one case, he had to dig out the truck that had sunk two feet into the ground. 

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Homestead near Ritzville
The dry climate in eastern Washington is ideal for preserving abandoned wooden structures.

any farmhouses, barns and grain silos can be found that are over 100 years old.
 
This two-room homestead is located near Ritzville in Adams County.

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Abandoned Farm house near Washtucna
This abandoned farmhouse is located on Highway 261 north is the small town of Washtucna in Adams County. 

Very little in known about this house.

Tumbleweed Cafe
Despite the sign painted on the roof, the Tumbleweed Cafe is definitely not open. It is located just off Hwy 14 near Roosevelt in Klickitat County. According to Jennifer, who grew up near Roosevelt and worked at the Tumbleweed Cafe, the reason it closed down was because the owners moved away.
 
“I worked there in the ’90s! I also ate breakfast there with my grandma as a kid. I grew up in the apple orchard nearby.” – Jennifer.

“I’ve been here!!! When I was like twelve. My uncle, a trucker, took me with him on a run, there was a sign that said, ‘Roosevelt population 30.’ They gave us the biggest burgers I had ever seen … ” – Salvador.

Annabelle's Diner
This place is located on Hwy 12 west of Elma. 

One former customer said, “I stopped there a few times and had hamburgers 'n' frys in the late ’50s …”

Another one said, “I would go there with friends when I was in high school and eat breakfast and smoke cigarettes …”

One more local reported, “It’s always been a dive, the owner … has turned the whole area into a giant hoarder dump. We used to call it The Tomaine Palace.” (Tomaine is created by bacterial putrefaction of protein.)