W S R H S Railroad Historical Society

Support this website by joining the Silver Rails TrainWeb Club for as little as $1 per month. Click here for info.

This website has been archived from TrainWeb.org/wsrhs to TrainWeb.US/wsrhs.

THE WASHINGTON STATE
RAILROADS HISTORICAL
SOCIETY!
Founded In 1990

   W e are located in Pasco, Washington where the Columbia and Snake Rivers merge.

   T he history of Pasco begins with the establishment of the Northern Pacific Railway settlement of Ainsworth in 1879.

   A insworth was named for J. C. Ainsworth, President of the Oregon Steam & Navigation Company. It was located near the mouth of the Snake River and constructed by the Northern Pacific for it's workers on the Snake River Bridge Project.

   I n 1883, Franklin County was created by separating it from Whitman County, and Ainsworth became the county seat.

   T he Snake River Bridge was completed in 1884, and with the bridge completed Ainsworth quickly declined when the Northern Pacific moved it's round-house & shops a few miles up the Columbia River.

   T he townsite of Pasco was established as a Northern Pacific station on November 28, 1884, and construction on the Columbia River Bridge was begun at Pasco in July of 1887.

   The Franklin County Courthouse was then moved from Ainsworth to Pasco in 1887.

   P asco owes it's name to V. C. Bogue, a construction engineer for the Northern Pacific Railroad, who had successfully constructed a railway across the Andes Mountains in South America. The highest point on that railway was a mining town named Cerro de Pasco, noted for being a windy and dusty place. Mr. Bogue was reminded of that place in the Andes so much that he named the new Northern Pacific townsite "Pasco".

   W ith the completion of the Columbia River Bridge the Northern Pacific Railroad built its first depot at Pasco in the 1890s.

   A second depot was built nearer the river on 4th Ave. in 1905, and the first depot became the freight depot.

   I n the mid 1930s a third depot was built near the site of the first depot and both the first and second depots were torn down.

   I n May of 1997 The Washington State Railroads Historical Society opened its first Museum to the public at 122 N. Tacoma Ave. in Pasco, Washington.

   I n 1998 a new and forth depot was built at the North end of Tacoma Ave. The third depot was abandon by Amtrak 1998, and Burlington Northern Santa Fe Co. still owns it.

   T he Washington State Railroads Historical Society has been trying to obtain and restore the third depot building for a museum.

   P asco served as a major rail hub for the Northern Pacific & SP&S Railways, and on June 21, 1955 Pasco became Northern Pacific's first "pushbutton" rail-yard, and to this day remains a major hub for the BNSF.

    The WSRHS is dedicated to preserving the history of "All" the railroads that helped build the State of Washington. From the Great Northern Railway, Milwaukee Road,to the
Northern Pacific, Union Pacific, SP&S Railway and all the railroads in between.
To this end the WSRHS is:

"Dedicated To Preserving The History Of Railroads
And Railroading In The State Of Washington."

Support this website by joining the Silver Rails TrainWeb Club for as little as $1 per month. Click here for info.