Leavenworth: a railroad town that rebuilt itself as a Bavarian village

By Isla Quinn

Over half a million lights. That is the Leavenworth Chamber of Commerce’s count, and the lights stay on every day from Thanksgiving through the end of February. They hang on steep roofs, carved balconies and painted shutters in a town in the Cascade Mountains that was, for most of its life, a place where trains and logs came through.

A town the railroad left

The University of Washington Libraries tell the first half of the story. Pioneers built a trading post on the Wenatchee River, and by 1890 there was a settlement called Icicle Flats. In 1893 the Great Northern Railway line arrived and the town became a commercial hub for logging. HistoryLink, the state’s online encyclopedia, says the Lamb-Davis Lumber Company built a sawmill there in 1904 and that Leavenworth was incorporated in 1906. It also notes the source’s own doubt about the exact day.

Then the railroad changed its mind. In the 1920s, the university’s account says, the Great Northern moved its yards to Wenatchee and rerouted its tracks to bypass the town. The sawmills closed. The Depression made it worse, and the account says Leavenworth did not recover for 30 years.

The rescue plan

In 1962, HistoryLink says, the local Chamber of Commerce contacted the University of Washington’s Bureau of Community Development. The result was an umbrella group called Project LIFE, short for Leavenworth Improvement for Everyone. The Seattle Times says it had 16 citizen committees.

The Bavarian idea had an earlier seed. Two restaurant owners had redone their roadside cafe on the highway in a Bavarian style in 1960, according to the university’s collection, and later pushed for tourism as the town’s future. The Seattle Times adds that in the 1950s the town had about 1,500 people and roughly 30 businesses downtown. HistoryLink says the Bavarian plan followed a 1965 trip to Solvang, California.

Rules you can see

The look is not an accident. HistoryLink says a design review board became official on July 16, 1970, to enforce the Bavarian style. The Seattle Times says approval was needed for details down to how opaque a light fixture was and the color and style of a doorknob. It reports that even a kettle-corn tent had to stand within a building of Bavarian design. Bavarian guidelines for downtown buildings followed in 1976, it says.

There was a practical reason for the roofs. HistoryLink explains that the heavily beamed, gently sloping roofs with wide overhangs suit the town’s heavy snow. The Seattle Times adds that wooden roofs raised fire worries, so organizers met with insurance agents in Seattle.

The lights

The Leavenworth Chamber of Commerce runs Christmastown festivities in the weeks before Christmas, with Santa and free live music at the downtown gazebo on weekends. Dates and times change every year, so check the Chamber’s official events page.

How old are the lights? The university’s account says the Christmas Lighting Festival began as a single weekend in December and grew into something that lasts almost the whole winter, and that its roots go back to the decorating of that 1960 cafe. The Chamber says the lights run through the end of February. The University of Washington Libraries’ account gives Valentine’s Day weekend as the end.

Numbers that do not agree

\- Visitors a year: about three million (university), about 2.5 million (Seattle Times).
\- Residents: about 2,500 (university), about 2,000 (Seattle Times), 2,300 in 2010 (HistoryLink).
\- The first Bavarian building: the Seattle Times says scaffolding went up on the first downtown building on September 14, 1965.

A prize along the way

The university’s account says that on March 21, 1968, Leavenworth was one of 11 cities to receive an All America City Award from Look magazine and the National Municipal League. The local paper called it honored for pulling itself out of a serious economic slump.

What kind of sources these are

A university library’s exhibit, a state online encyclopedia, a newspaper’s magazine feature and a chamber of commerce page. The chamber is describing its own town’s event.

What we left out

Hours, fares, lodging, shop and restaurant names, the names of living people, and anything about beer. We have also left out the town’s earlier history before the railroad.

Quick answers

When are the Leavenworth lights on? The Chamber says the lights run from Thanksgiving through the end of February. Festival dates change each year, so check the Chamber’s events page.

Why is Leavenworth Bavarian? According to the University of Washington Libraries, a depressed former logging and railroad town reinvented itself as a Bavarian-themed tourist attraction.

How many lights are there? Over half a million, according to the Leavenworth Chamber of Commerce.

Roam first. Shop later.

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