Leavenworth is located about 100 miles east of Seattle, in the Cascade Mountains. It sprang up thanks to the Great Northern Railway, completed in 1893. In 1903, the Lamb-Davis Lumber mill - the second largest in the state - was built and made a $2 million fortune in the first two years. In 1925 the railroad relocated its headquarters and tracks away Leavenworth due to avalanches. The sawmill closed a year later and Leavenworth declined.
In the early 1960s a group of residents came up with the Bavarian theme attract tourists and turn the town's fortunes around. By 1968, 14 buildings had been remodeled.
During my trip to Seattle I visited on what happened to be Maifest parade day.
Driving through Gold Bar on US-2:
Even Starbucks gets into the spirit of things in Leavenworth:
Maifest parade:
The line in front of the yellow building is for lunch at the München Haus. My kids weren't happy about waiting but I had been waiting several years to visit this place, so what was an extra 15 minutes? .
It was worth the wait!
The beautiful Nutcracker Museum:
__________________ Laid by Monty: Celebrating the architectural heritage of Montague Burton's Art Deco shops in the UK & Ireland
Unlike Frankemuth, which was actually settled by German immigrants, Leavenworth's German-ness is entirely manufactured. But it turned out good anyway, in a kind of cheesy-but-quaint way.
I agree about Leavenworth turning out good. The guys who came up with the idea all those years ago are to be applauded; they saved their town. I'd never heard of Frankenmuth before but it looks like a lot of modern buildings just go with the theme in the same way they do in Leavenworth. Still beautiful though and I've just added it to my list... should I ever find myself in MI!
__________________ Laid by Monty: Celebrating the architectural heritage of Montague Burton's Art Deco shops in the UK & Ireland
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