Ainsworth, Washington, was a

Franklin County, Washington Franklin County is a County (United States), county located in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, its population was 96,749. The county seat and most populous city is Pasco, Washi ...

town located on the northern bank of the mouth of the

Snake River The Snake River is a major river in the interior Pacific Northwest region of the United States. About long, it is the largest tributary of the Columbia River, which is the largest North American river that empties into the Pacific Ocean. Begin ...

, in what is now

Pasco, Washington Pasco ( ) is a city in, and the county seat of, Franklin County, Washington, United States. The population was 77,108 at the 2020 census, and estimated at 80,038 in 2023. Pasco is one of three cities (the others being Kennewick and Richland) t ...

History

Ainsworth was built as a depot on the

Northern Pacific Railroad The Northern Pacific Railway was an important American transcontinental railroad that operated across the northern tier of the Western United States, from Minnesota to the Pacific Northwest between 1864 and 1970. It was approved and chartered b ...

, and named after

John C. Ainsworth John Commingers Ainsworth (June 6, 1822 – December 30, 1893) was an American pioneer businessman and steamboat owner in Oregon. A native of Ohio, he moved west to mine gold in California before immigrating to Oregon where he piloted steamships ...

, president of the

Oregon Steam Navigation Company The Oregon Steam Navigation Company (O.S.N.) was an American company incorporated in 1860 in Washington with partners J. S. Ruckle, Henry Olmstead, and J. O. Van Bergen. It was incorporated in Washington because of a lack of corporate laws in ...

. The town was platted in 1879. Thomas Symons, the US Army engineer at the site commented at the time, When Franklin County was created from Whitman County in 1883, Ainsworth served as the

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or parish (administrative division), civil parish. The term is in use in five countries: Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, and the United States. An equiva ...

. At the time, a number of Chinese laborers also lived in Ainsworth - many of whom worked for the railroad and operated local businesses. In 1884, a railroad bridge across the Snake River was completed. By 1885, many of the buildings in Ainsworth were either dismantled or moved to Pasco. The Chinese laborers also moved to the new town, and established their own district, but most of them left when the railroad work was completed and the work let up. In 1885, the

State Legislature A state legislature is a Legislature, legislative branch or body of a State (country subdivision), political subdivision in a Federalism, federal system. Two federations literally use the term "state legislature": * The legislative branches of ...

officially moved the county seat to Pasco. Over the years, Pasco increased in size and engulfed the original townsite.

Notes and references

{{reflist Ghost towns in Washington (state)