Lester is a

ghost town A ghost town, deserted city, extinct town, or abandoned city is an abandoned settlement, usually one that contains substantial visible remaining buildings and infrastructure such as roads. A town often becomes a ghost town because the economi ...

near Stampede Pass, just south of Snoqualmie Pass in King County, founded in 1892 by the

Northern Pacific Railway 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 ...

(now the

BNSF Railway BNSF Railway is the largest freight railroad in the United States. One of six North American Class I railroads, BNSF has 36,000 employees, of track in 28 states, and over 8,000 locomotives. It has three Transcontinental railroad, transcontine ...

). Lester is located along what is currently National Forest Development Road 54, on land now owned by Tacoma Water, a division of Tacoma Public Utilities. Although most remaining freestanding buildings were demolished in 2017, numerous foundations from the settlement remain.

History

Lester was founded in 1891 as the logging camp of "Deans", named after the owner of Dean's Lumber Company. In 1886, the

constructed a large depot, roundhouse, coal dock and other

steam locomotive A steam locomotive is a locomotive that provides the force to move itself and other vehicles by means of the expansion of steam. It is fuelled by burning combustible material (usually coal, Fuel oil, oil or, rarely, Wood fuel, wood) to heat ...

support facilities for the Stampede Pass railway; Lester was at the foot of the railroad's maximum grade. The town was also renamed "Lester" in honor of Northern Pacific

telegraph Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages where the sender uses symbolic codes, known to the recipient, rather than a physical exchange of an object bearing the message. Thus flag semaphore is a method of telegraphy, whereas ...

operator Lester Hansaker. In 1902, a series of forest fires devastated the local logging industry, but Lester continued to thrive as a

company town A company town is a place where all or most of the stores and housing in the town are owned by the same company that is also the main employer. Company towns are often planned with a suite of amenities such as stores, houses of worship, schoo ...

for

. In the 1920s, the town's population peaked at approximately 1,000, and most of the modern structures in Lester were built during the decade. During the 1940s and 1950s, the town transitioned away from railroading and towards logging, with new camps established at Lester by Soundview Pulp Company, later acquired by

Scott Paper Company The Scott Paper Company was a manufacturer and marketer of sanitary tissue products with operations in 22 countries. Its products were sold under a variety of well-known brand names, including ''Scott Tissue'', ''Cottonelle'', ''Baby Fresh'', ''S ...

. The city of Tacoma began purchasing property in Lester in 1963, seeking to protect the Green River watershed where the city sources its drinking water. Tacoma attempted to block access to the town and the state trust land in the Green river basin, leading to protests and the destruction of gates on the only all-weather road leading to Lester, in an incident known as the "Battle of the Lester Gate". King County sued the city of Tacoma over blocking access to Lester, arguing that the road was owned by the county. In July 1962, the King County Superior Court ruled in Tacoma's favor to temporarily keep locks on its Lester gates. In 1965, the court determined that the county's failure to include other landowners in the suit hampered the court's abilities to adjudicate the case. In April 1978, the Scott camp at Lester, one of the last in King County, was closed; by March 1979, the population of the town had dropped to 22. The mothballing of the Stampede Pass rail line by Burlington Northern in 1984 led to further abandonment of Lester, with the city of Tacoma and

United States Forest Service The United States Forest Service (USFS) is an agency within the United States Department of Agriculture, U.S. Department of Agriculture. It administers the nation's 154 United States National Forest, national forests and 20 United States Natio ...

restricting access to residents and their guests. Lester residents and railroad buffs attempted to designate the town's railroad depot as a historic landmark in 1983, when it was threatened with possible demolition, and was nearly moved to North Bend to preserve it. The depot was eventually destroyed by an

arson Arson is the act of willfully and deliberately setting fire to or charring property. Although the act of arson typically involves buildings, the term can also refer to the intentional burning of other things, such as motor vehicles, watercr ...

fire. In 1985, the

Washington State Legislature The Washington State Legislature is the state legislature of the State of Washington. It is a bicameral body, composed of the lower Washington House of Representatives, composed of 98 representatives, and the upper Washington State Senate, w ...

passed a law that dissolved

school district A school district is a special-purpose district that operates local public Primary school, primary or Secondary school, secondary schools or both in various countries. It is not to be confused with an attendance zone, which is within a school dis ...

s with fewer than five students, leading to the disbandment of the Lester school district. A mock funeral was held for the town by residents in response to the closure of the school. Lester's last resident, Gertrude Murphy, died in September 2002 at the age of 99. Telephone numbers in the town began with the prefix 657. The switch that served the town, a North Electric CX-100, is preserved at the Museum of Communications in Seattle. A small switching building, with (now defunct) US West painted on its door, still exists in Lester. For public safety and watershed security, the remaining buildings in Lester (consisting of the guard house, gas and oil shack, and warehouse) were demolished by Tacoma Water in 2017. Some smaller traces of the town still exist. Tacoma water continues to block access to state trust lands within the Green river watershed.

Geography

Lester is located, east of Enumclaw, Washington along the Green River and

line. Its elevation is 1,634 feet (498 m) above sea level.

Gallery

File:Lester GuardStationLookingSW.jpg, Lester, WA: c. 1984 File:LesterGasandOil.jpg, File:LesterGuardHouse.jpg, File:LesterBackHouse1.jpg, File:LesterBackHouseWindow.jpg File:LesterWarehouseRoof.jpg File:LesterTracks.jpg

References

External links

N.P. Ry. A Short History of Lester and Stampede Pass
Article on the history of Lester and the area around Stampede Pass, and the relationship with the

and

.
N.P. Ry. Spelled in Reverse: E.G. Morgan and a Town called Nagrom
Article on the history of Nagrom, Washington and other areas around Stampede Pass including Lester.
N.P. Ry. Stampede Pass: A Virtual Tour, Auburn to Ellensburg
Milepost listing of the

line which goes through Lester and Stampede Pass. * Lester, Washington is at coordinates .
White River Valley Museum Journal: Lester - In the Shadow of Stampede Pass
An excellent article on the history of Lester and Stampede Pass. {{King County, Washington Ghost towns in King County, Washington Ghost towns in Washington (state) Railway towns in Washington (state)