Starbuck, Washington

c. 1903-4 bank, now City Hall, Starbuck Washington

© Diane B. Reed

There are a number of  intriguing small towns in eastern Washington that appear in the Washington Atlas and Gazeteer (Delorme). Some of them exist in name only, some are little more than a grain elevator, and some remnants of towns are found along long-abandoned railroads.  Stll, some have managed to manage to hold on.

 A peek into the City Hall © Diane B. Reed

One of my favorite of these towns is Starbuck, north of the Walla Walla Valley in neighboring Garfield County. it was named after W.H. Starbuck, an official of the Oregon Railroad and Navigation Company. The railroad was abandoned in 1982. There are a number of old buildings in town including the original bank (now the City Hall) and a large  old school building, circa 1904).

Starbuck's survival is due in part to its proximity to Little Goose Lock and Dam on the Snake River constructed between 1963-70, one of the series of dams and locks maintained by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineeers. The Vantage Bridge over the Snake at Lyon's Ferry was added in 1968.  Still, the town has declined from its population of 710 in 1910 to today's residents which number about 130.

The old Starbuck School c. 1904                             © Diane B. Reed

I wouldn't count this town out, however. The setting is beautiful, it's near Palouse Falls State Park, Lyon's Ferry, and it's just down the roads from Walla Walla and Dayton.