Alpine was a town in the

Cascade Mountains The Cascade Range or Cascades is a major mountain range of western North America, extending from southern British Columbia through Washington and Oregon to Northern California. It includes both non-volcanic mountains, such as the North Cascades, ...

, near

Skykomish Skykomish is a town in King County, Washington, United States. The population was 198 as of the 2010 census, down from an estimated peak of "several thousand" in the 1920s. Located in the Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest, 49 miles east ...

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

. Founded in the late 19th century and originally named Nippon, it was first built to house

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

railway workers. Another nearby

railway town A railway town, or railroad town, is a settlement that originated or was greatly developed because of a railway station or junction at its site. North America During the construction of the First transcontinental railroad in the 1860s, temporar ...

, Corea, housed

Korean Korean may refer to: People and culture * Koreans, ethnic group originating in the Korean Peninsula * Korean cuisine * Korean culture * Korean language **Korean alphabet, known as Hangul or Chosŏn'gŭl **Korean dialects and the Jeju language ** ...

workers. About west of

Stevens Pass Stevens Pass (elevation ) is a mountain pass through the Cascade Range, Cascade Mountains located at the border of King County, Washington, King County and Chelan County, Washington, Chelan County in Washington (state), Washington, United States. ...

, Alpine had only rail access, and was a mile from the nearest road.Gavin Borchert
Local Authorpalooza!: Mary Daheim
''Seattle Weekly'', March 29, 2006. Accessed 3 April 2006. The local lumber baron changed the town's name from ''Nippon'' to ''Alpine'' in 1903. In 1917 it was reported as a station on the Great Northern Railway. Its population peaked at 200–300 people; after the nearby woods were logged out, it was evacuated and intentionally burned, around 1929. Author

Mary Daheim Mary Rene Richardson Daheim (November 7, 1937 — March 30, 2022) was an American writer of romance and mystery novels. Life and career Daheim was born in Seattle, Washington, United States, to Hugh and Monica Richardson. She attended the Univ ...

, whose family, the Dawsons, lived in Alpine approximately 1916–1922 (before she was born) sets her "Emma Lord"

mystery novels Detective fiction is a subgenre of crime fiction and mystery fiction in which an investigator or a detective—whether professional, amateur or retired—investigates a crime, often murder. The detective genre began around the same time as s ...

in a fictional, surviving town of Alpine.

References

Ghost towns in Washington (state) Company towns in Washington (state) Populated places in King County, Washington Japanese-American culture in Washington (state) {{US-ghost-town-stub