Elberton, Washington
{{Use American English|date=June 2025}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=November 2024}}
{{Infobox settlement
|name = Elberton
|nickname =
|settlement_type = Unincorporated community, Ghost town
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|image_skyline = United Brethren Church in Elberton, Washington.jpg
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|image_caption = Abandoned United Brethren Church building in Elberton
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|pushpin_map = Washington
|pushpin_label_position =
|pushpin_map_caption = Location in Washington
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|subdivision_type = Country
|subdivision_name = United States
|subdivision_type1 = State
|subdivision_name1 = Washington
|subdivision_type2 = County
|subdivision_name2 = Whitman
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|established_title1 = Incorporated
|established_date1 = April 24, 1896
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|extinct_title = Disincorporated
|extinct_date = January 14, 1966
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|unit_pref = Imperial
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|population_est = 15
|pop_est_as_of = as of unknown date
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|timezone1 = PST
|utc_offset1 = -8
|timezone1_DST = PDT
|utc_offset1_DST = -7
|coordinates = {{coord|46|58|53|N|117|13|13|W|region:US-WA|display=inline,title}}
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Elberton is an unincorporated community on the north fork of the Palouse River northeast of Colfax and northwest of Palouse in Whitman County, Washington, United States. Due to the town's disincorporation in the 1960s, and a low-level population, it is also classified as a ghost town.
Geography
The nearest cities to Elberton are Spokane and Pullman in Washington, Moscow in Idaho, and the Lewiston/Clarkston metropolitan area that spans the two states. It is in the middle of the Columbia River Plateau, in a region called the Palouse.
History
Elberton was first settled by C.D. Wilbur. The townsite was platted in 1886, and named by S.M. Wait for his deceased son Elbert.{{Cite book| last = Majors | first = Harry M. | title = Exploring Washington | publisher = Van Winkle Publishing Co | year = 1975 | page = 143 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CoWrPQAACAAJ| isbn = 978-0-918664-00-6}}
Elberton was incorporated as a fourth class town on April 24, 1896. It grew to have a population of 500 and at one time had a sawmill, a flour mill, a railroad (the Oregon-Washington Railroad and Navigation Company) that passed through and the world's largest prune dryer.{{cite web |last1=Benoit |first1=Matt |title=Haunting a Ghost Town |url=https://www.inlander.com/spokane/haunting-a-ghost-town/Content?oid=2194859 |website=Inlander |accessdate=September 16, 2018 |language=en |date=October 2, 2013}}
A major fire started in the town in the 1930s and due to the Great Depression, many of the businesses and homes destroyed by the fire were too costly to rebuild. The fire, along with the Depression hurt the town greatly and it started to decline in population, with people packing up what they could carry and abandoning their homes that they could no longer afford to keep and maintain.
In November 1966, residents of Elberton voted 15–5 in favor of dis-incorporation.{{cite news |title=Prune Town Dries Up |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=9mVQAAAAIBAJ&sjid=RVcDAAAAIBAJ&pg=1205%2C3421574 |work=St. Petersburg Independent |date=November 19, 1966 |page=14-A}} Elberton became part of unincorporated Whitman County, Washington again within four years, when the county acquired the property of the town. {{As of|2005}}, Eleberton is the last instance of a municipality in Washington voting to disincorporate.{{cite news |last1=Cooley |first1=Megan |title=City's demise could mean state control |url=https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2005/mar/05/citys-demise-could-mean-state-control/ |access-date=September 11, 2022 |work=The Spokesman Review |date=March 5, 2005}}
Currently, about 15 people live in the {{convert|200|acre|km2|adj=on}} area that once was Elberton. Many of the original homes and buildings have gone or are partially collapsed. Remaining landmarks include United Brethren Church (built in 1913) and the Elberton Cemetery.{{cite web |last1=Lambeth |first1=Robert M. |title=Ghost Town of Elberton |url=https://spokanehistorical.org/items/show/358 |website=Spokane Historical |access-date=September 11, 2022 |language=en}}
==See also==
- East Redmond, Washington, another Washington town which was dis-incorporated in the 1960s
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{cite book| url= https://archive.org/details/homeseekersguid00gilegoog | page= [https://archive.org/details/homeseekersguid00gilegoog/page/n106 98] | title= Homeseeker's Guide to the State of Washington | year= 1914 | author = Giles, Harry F. (Deputy Commissioner of the Washington Bureau of Statistics and Immigration) | publisher= Frank M. Lamborn Public Printer | location = Olympia, Washington | accessdate=May 27, 2009}}
- {{cite book| title=Exploring Washington's Past | last= Kirk | first= Ruth |author2=Carmela Alexander | url= https://books.google.com/books?id=BNAYPXb22sYC&pg=PA191 | publisher = University of Washington Press | year= 1995 | isbn=0-295-97443-5 | accessdate=May 27, 2009}}
- {{cite book| title=History of the city of Spokane and Spokane County, Washington | url= https://books.google.com/books?id=M4EUAAAAYAAJ&q=Elberton&pg=PA701 | first=Nelson Wayne | last=Durham | year=1912 | publisher=S.J. Clarke Publishing | accessdate=May 27, 2009}}
{{Whitman County, Washington}}
{{authority control}}
Category:Former municipalities in Washington (state)
Category:Ghost towns in Whitman County, Washington
Category:Ghost towns in Washington (state)
Category:Unincorporated communities in Washington (state)