From Ghost Town to Alpine Wonderland, Leavenworth’s Happy Ending
August 2020
Leavenworth, The Living Fairy Tale
Our first glimpse of Leavenworth, Washington, was during a road trip in August 2009. Back then, we only had an hour or two to stroll around before continuing our journey to our next destination. I still remember how surreal it felt to walk into a Bavarian village in the middle of a Pacific Northwest forest.
On this trip, we had enough time to explore and dive into the history of how this quirky town came to be. Historically, this area was a bountiful hunting and salmon fishing ground for local Native American tribes. By the late 19th century, the gold rush lured settlers into the mountains. With the arrival of the Great Northern Railway, the town became a thriving logging hub with 5,500 residents. But this didn’t last. The railway bypassed the valley in the 1920s, the sawmill closed, and the Great Depression hit. Leavenworth spent the next thirty years in quiet survival, almost becoming a ghost town.
Leavenworth, The Living Museum
Almost. Eager to save their community, town leaders began a bold plan for survival in the 1960s. Inspired by the resemblance of the surrounding Cascade Mountains to the German Alps, they decided to transform the entire downtown area into a Bavarian-themed wonderland. This strategy paid off, and sixty years later, Leavenworth is a popular destination, attracting over a million visitors annually.
When we arrived, we immediately noticed the thoroughness of the town’s transformation. Not only was the architecture Bavarian, with ornate facades, hand-painted murals, and vibrant flower boxes, but the theme carried through to restaurants serving European-style beer and German food, such as sauerkraut, as well as locals dressed in traditional clothing and playing traditional music.
I couldn’t help but wonder how visitors would feel when they eventually visit the actual German Bavaria, after being charmed by Leavenworth. The whole village, entirely dedicated and frozen in a 1960s Bavarian charm, simply doesn’t exist anywhere else, not even in Bavaria itself. It is, in fact, a living fairy tale. And that feels entirely appropriate, because Leavenworth’s transformation from the brink of disappearance into a thriving destination is one of those stories with its own happily ever after.