Temperatures are dropping, icicles are forming and the snow is falling! We’ve been slammed with winter weather in northwest Washington state, so as we snuggle into heated homes and offices and drive on freshly-cleared streets, we wanted to bring you a few reminders of days past when snowfall was a bit more inconvenient.

During Eastern Washington’s severe winter of 1936-37,  trains were buried, men hopelessly plowed snow with wimpy plows, and “the highway between Tekoa and Latah was closed all winter.”

Settlers in Enumclaw recalled some winters with horror. Crowded homes with minimal heating led to terrible disease; freezing conditions made travel nearly impossible, though hot water from a teakettle served to warm up the engines of Ford cars; and warm winter clothing was hard to come by: gunny sacks were the footwear-protector of choice.

Winter wasn’t always dismal, though. Early Washingtonians celebrated Christmas in drifts of white powder, and folks in Ritzville took advantage of freezing temperatures to flood a tennis court for ice-skating.

But perhaps our favorite snowy image is brought to us from Whitman County during the ‘big snow’ of 1937. We’re not sure what they were up to, or who was setting up a camera in such a frosty setting, but Pete and Govenor’s trek through the snow inspire us. What’s a few inches of snow compared to drifts looming over one’s head?

Enumclaw Heritage is live! The Enumclaw Public Library teamed with the Enumclaw Plateau Historical Museum to bring us incredible photos, documents and memorabilia of the area.

Check out a homemade photo album documenting the Boise Creek flood of 1965; read the first issues of Enumclaw High School’s newspaper, published in 1919; and see photographs of White River Lumber Company’s (later, Weyerhaeuser’s) locomotives.

We’re also excited to bring you Washington Rural Heritage’s first collection of oral histories. Listen to tales of early 20th-century life in this rural dairy community: a man recalling how the “federal people” would break up area stills during Prohibition; a telephone operator remembering dances that lasted until dawn; and fascinating stories of settler interactions with local Native tribes.

To access the oral history, click on the audio files at the bottom of the list of links on the left. These will be named “tape1_side1,” etc. Then click the link to “access this item.” If you’d like to read the accompanying text, click through the pages listed on the left side. You can also search these objects by typing words or phrases in the search box in the top left corner.

"Eels Clinging to Rock at Kettle Falls"

This Kettle Falls photo made our skin crawl with anticipation for our upcoming collections. We’re discovering incredible images all the time and are dying to unveil them on-line! Keep your eyeballs peeled for:

• Enumclaw: trace this verdant community’s dairy and logging past through fascinating oral histories, the founding father’s memorandum book and beautiful objects from the Enumclaw Plateau Historical Society.
• Orcas Island: the island’s industry has ranged from farming, logging, brick-making and even lime-kilning, but tourism has been alive and well for many years. Re-discover the beauty of one of the state’s top vacation spots.
• Roslyn: this ethnically diverse community is steeped in mining tradition. Peek into the tumultuous life of the early miners.
• Vashon Island: the history of this artsy community is chronicled by scrapbooks, correspondence, and several books, including a military handbook for students attending the Vashon College and Academy.
• Kettle Falls: the falls are restored to their former splendor through riveting images. See how this community uprooted everything to make way for development.

We’re currently scouting for our next project participants! Don’t be frightened… contact us right away for more information.

You may have noticed that browsing the collections of Washington Rural Heritage has gotten easier, and a lot more fun!  We recently unveiled a map on our home page that allows users to browse items according to geographic location.  San Juan, Ritzville, and Columbia County have all added coordinates to many of their items.  Now users can virtually explore an area from the past; and with one click, they can have immediate access to an item’s photo and description.

We hope to get all WRH participants on board with this robust and interactive feature–and all it takes it an address or cross-street.  Contact Evan or Kirsten if you need help getting started.