Welcome to Ellensburg, Washington, where "it's a pleasure to host you"! The town was founded in 1871 along the Yakima River in the Kittitas Valley. The town grew rapidly in the 1880s after the Northern Pacific Railway arrived. In 1889, the town made a bid to be the capital of the newly formed state of Washington. The bid was stymied when a major fire destroyed the downtown area on July 4th that year. The town was never able to recover it's footing in the race, and Olympia became the state capital. Ellensburg hosts a number of different festivals including Dachsunds on Parade, which includes a parade, races, pet tricks and a costume contest. We hope you enjoy our first double episode of a town. We will wrap up our visit to Ellensburg with next week's episode.
Small Town News--whose headline is it, anyway? @SmallTownNewsImprov
