In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, people were lured to Washington’s Yakima Valley to grow apples on orchards that promised to produce wealthy independence in “the home of the prize red apple.” Private and public irrigation projects created hundreds of thousands of acres of fruit, and by 1929, Yakima County had the largest number of bearing apple trees in all of Washington’s 39 counties and had become the statewide leader in apple production. Yakima County has ranked first in national apple production since 1930.

In order to get apples to market, the Yakima Valley Transportation Company (YVT) built a 48-mile-long electric interurban railroad between 1907-1913, stretching west of Yakima and north to Selah. In 1908, the railroad was bought out by the Oregon Railway and Navigation Company (now Union Pacific). Electric freight operations continued nonstop until 1985 when Union Pacific decided to abandon the YVT.

By that time, it was the last authentic turn-of-the-century interurban electric railroad in the United States still operating. After the railroad’s abandonment by Union Pacific, some of the YVT was donated to the City of Yakima, but elsewhere, some rail lines were removed, prompting the Washington Trust to sound the clarion call for its preservation. In 1989, the YVT was listed on the Washington Trust’s “10 Most Wanted” list, a precursor to our Most Endangered Places list. In 1992, the YVT was listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and in 1994, the late Les Tonkin, an architect and former Washington Trust board president, devised a total restoration plan for the YVT. This first Most Endangered list was declared a “save” when the historic belt-operated shop/carbarn, powerhouse substation, and five of the original 48 miles of track were saved, connecting the cities of Yakima and Selah, and the YVT was successfully in operation by the nonprofit Yakima Valley Trolleys.