Brief History of East Wenatchee
East Wenatchee is the "landing spot" of the first non-stop, trans-Pacific flight. On October 3, 1931, Clyde Pangborn and Hugh Herndon took off took off from Sabishiro Beach, Misawa, Aomori, Japan. They were flying a red Bellance Skyrocket named the Miss Veedol. To save fuel, Pangborn knocked off the landing gear after take off. After a 41 hour flight, Pangbron belly-laned the Miss Veedol in East Wenatchee, Washington.
Timeline of East Wenatchee Circa 10,000 B.C.
Earliest known residents in the East Wenatchee area
1893
Great Northern Railroad builds first steel railroad bridge across Columbia River
1908
First wagon bridge across Columbia carried irrigation water to east side
1931
Trans-Pacific flight of the "Miss Veedol" belly-lands at Fancher Field
1935
48 to 46 vote incorporates East Wenatchee as a Fourth Class City
1936
Douglas County voters approve formation of Douglas County PUD
1951
Four-lane Columbia River Bridge built (later renamed in honor of senator George Sellar), East Wenatchee city population approximately 389
1969
East Wenatchee becomes a Non-charter Code City
1976
Olds Station Bridge (later renamed Odabashian Bridge) built entirely of reinforced concrete
1987
Clovis Point artifacts found in East Wenatchee orchard, East Wenatchee city population approximately 2,700
2004
East Wenatchee city population approximately 8,255 and growing!
A Look Back
(Bridging the Gap) The days of the early pioneers who settled here, their wagons coated in sagebrush, and the hardships they endured have been nearly forgotten. Yet, in today’s bustling community of East Wenatchee, all one has to do is drive down Sunset Highway or up Grant Road to see that those pioneering dreams have become a reality. The sandy scabland along the east side of the river, once considered uninhabitable, has flourished through a combined vision for East Wenatchee that has led to years of prosperity for families, orchardists, and businessmen alike.
Today, many pedestrians and athletic enthusiasts take advantage of the “walking bridge,” as part of their journey along the extensive Apple Capital Riverfront Loop Trail. The bridge, however, has historically served as much more. Completed in 1908, the bridge was the first form of reliable transportation between the Wenatchee area and the then sparsely-inhabited lands to the east. Before the bridge was finished, those wishing to travel across the river relied on ferries, which were sometimes powered by oars, sails, or horses. Even dugout canoes were sometimes lashed together to carry a wagon to the other side. Disaster was not uncommon.
Along with the ease of transporting people and goods, the bridge brought hope to the East Wenatchee area in the form of irrigation water. The pipeline system that was built across the bridge came from the High Line Canal, which is now called the Wenatchee Reclamation District canal. Irrigation waters were directly responsible in prompting the planting of orchards and turning the East Wenatchee area into a thriving agricultural hub.
Early images of the modern “Walking Bridge”
On such untamed land, the early settlers were only able to thrive by harnessing all that nature offered them. They drank from the Columbia and ate animals that were nourished by its presence. It was only a matter of time before the true power of the Columbia River would be fully harnessed and distributed equally. In 1930, an initiative was passed authorizing county citizens to form their own public utility district. Since the 1936 county vote to form Public Utility District No. 1 of Douglas County, citizens have been offered reliable, low-cost hydroelectric power from the Bonneville Power Administration in the beginning and later from the Wells Hydroelectric Project and Rocky Reach Dam. With the beautiful terrain, quality schools and other social services, it is no wonder so many past and modern settlers have traveled from around the world and chosen East Wenatchee as their home.
The Trans-Pacific Miss Veedol Flight: The men that first put East Wenatchee on the maps would not come by horse, wagon, car, or even train, however. On a cold foggy October night in 1931, two men, Hugh Herndon and Clyde Edward Pangborn, flew eastward over the Cascade Mountains with no landing gear. Exhausted from piloting the first non-stop flight across the Pacific Ocean, the two would decide to belly land near Fancher Field, a small airfield near the current site of the Fancher Heights subdivision. Pangborn had grown up in Douglas County and wished to see his mother and brother, who lived in East Wenatchee.
Life-size replicas of Herndon and Pangborn as well as other historical information can be seen in the Wenatchee Valley Museum and Culture Center on Mission street in Wenatchee
News of their trans-Pacific flight crossed the world in record time and made the pilots stars. Though they themselves would never break records circling the globe, their most memorable flight would take them from Misawa, Japan to East Wenatchee, Washington, and effectively put those city names next to each other in the history books. Nearly eighty years later, it is clear as you drive the streets of East Wenatchee that the historic flight of the “Miss Veedol” has not been forgotten. Adopted as the East Wenatchee city theme around 2001, signs of the historic flight as well as the city’s connection to Misawa are visible everywhere you turn.
Ballard Park Bridge of Friendship “Miss Veedol” Memorial
Across from PUD Japanese Garden on 9th and Eastmont In Fancher Heights subdivision
In 1951, with the construction of the Columbia River bridge, now dedicated to Senator George Sellar, business traffic has been directed up Grant Road. Valley Mall Parkway, formerly known as Main Street, was once the hub of the town. To restore consumer interest in the businesses located in some of the oldest buildings in East Wenatchee, a major renovation project of Valley Mall Parkway was undertaken in 1996.
Prehistoric Clovis Points: In addition to being a concentrated business area, Grant Road is the site of the most impressive archeological find in the history of East Wenatchee to date. On May 27, 1987, in an orchard along Grant Road, Moises Aguirre and Mark Mickles had no idea that tools of the ancient past would surface and make them locally famous. During the routine installation of an irrigation line, the men uncovered fluted “Clovis” points These prehistoric tools would later be dated back nearly 12,000 years, making their owners the first recorded people in America. During the excavations in 1988 and 1990, nearly 70 stone and bone artifacts were collected from various dig sites. The monumental discovery prompted debate over the rights of the state, land owners, native Americans and archaeologists. In late 1990, the excavation site was filled in and covered with trees. (More information can be found about “Clovis” points and the “Miss Veedol” at the Wenatchee Valley Museum and Culture Center on Mission Street in Wenatchee)
Prehistoric “Clovis” Points from Grant Road dig site
East Wenatchee’s school district, Eastmont, has an annual budget of approximately $38 million and offers education at ten separate locations. The elementary schools in the district are Cascade, Grant, Kenroy, Lee, and Rock Island. The elementary schools offer classes K-5. Students are then divided between Sterling Middle School and the newer Clovis Point Middle School for grades 6 and 7. Grades 8 and 9 are provided in the Eastmont Junior High building, built in 2003. Paw-prints painted on surrounding streets lead students to Eastmont High School, the domain of the Wildcats.
Since the population boom following the building of the “walking bridge” nearly a century ago, East Wenatchee has not yet looked back. The humble community remains a peacefully rural backdrop to the modern shopping and residential living areas that have flourished recently. But as you catch a glimpse between homes and businesses¾beyond the tall trees to the surrounding barren hills¾it’s not hard to imagine yourself back in a time when dirt roads and water would have been luxuries. Early surveyists declared the land unfit for habitation, yet because of the work of proud East Wenatchee pioneers, over 13,000 current residents could not imagine life any other way.
Earliest known residents in the East Wenatchee area
1893
Great Northern Railroad builds first steel railroad bridge across Columbia River
1908
First wagon bridge across Columbia carried irrigation water to east side
1931
Trans-Pacific flight of the "Miss Veedol" belly-lands at Fancher Field
1935
48 to 46 vote incorporates East Wenatchee as a Fourth Class City
1936
Douglas County voters approve formation of Douglas County PUD
1951
Four-lane Columbia River Bridge built (later renamed in honor of senator George Sellar), East Wenatchee city population approximately 389
1969
East Wenatchee becomes a Non-charter Code City
1976
Olds Station Bridge (later renamed Odabashian Bridge) built entirely of reinforced concrete
1987
Clovis Point artifacts found in East Wenatchee orchard, East Wenatchee city population approximately 2,700
2004
East Wenatchee city population approximately 8,255 and growing!
A Look Back
(Bridging the Gap) The days of the early pioneers who settled here, their wagons coated in sagebrush, and the hardships they endured have been nearly forgotten. Yet, in today’s bustling community of East Wenatchee, all one has to do is drive down Sunset Highway or up Grant Road to see that those pioneering dreams have become a reality. The sandy scabland along the east side of the river, once considered uninhabitable, has flourished through a combined vision for East Wenatchee that has led to years of prosperity for families, orchardists, and businessmen alike.
Today, many pedestrians and athletic enthusiasts take advantage of the “walking bridge,” as part of their journey along the extensive Apple Capital Riverfront Loop Trail. The bridge, however, has historically served as much more. Completed in 1908, the bridge was the first form of reliable transportation between the Wenatchee area and the then sparsely-inhabited lands to the east. Before the bridge was finished, those wishing to travel across the river relied on ferries, which were sometimes powered by oars, sails, or horses. Even dugout canoes were sometimes lashed together to carry a wagon to the other side. Disaster was not uncommon.
Along with the ease of transporting people and goods, the bridge brought hope to the East Wenatchee area in the form of irrigation water. The pipeline system that was built across the bridge came from the High Line Canal, which is now called the Wenatchee Reclamation District canal. Irrigation waters were directly responsible in prompting the planting of orchards and turning the East Wenatchee area into a thriving agricultural hub.
Early images of the modern “Walking Bridge”
On such untamed land, the early settlers were only able to thrive by harnessing all that nature offered them. They drank from the Columbia and ate animals that were nourished by its presence. It was only a matter of time before the true power of the Columbia River would be fully harnessed and distributed equally. In 1930, an initiative was passed authorizing county citizens to form their own public utility district. Since the 1936 county vote to form Public Utility District No. 1 of Douglas County, citizens have been offered reliable, low-cost hydroelectric power from the Bonneville Power Administration in the beginning and later from the Wells Hydroelectric Project and Rocky Reach Dam. With the beautiful terrain, quality schools and other social services, it is no wonder so many past and modern settlers have traveled from around the world and chosen East Wenatchee as their home.
The Trans-Pacific Miss Veedol Flight: The men that first put East Wenatchee on the maps would not come by horse, wagon, car, or even train, however. On a cold foggy October night in 1931, two men, Hugh Herndon and Clyde Edward Pangborn, flew eastward over the Cascade Mountains with no landing gear. Exhausted from piloting the first non-stop flight across the Pacific Ocean, the two would decide to belly land near Fancher Field, a small airfield near the current site of the Fancher Heights subdivision. Pangborn had grown up in Douglas County and wished to see his mother and brother, who lived in East Wenatchee.
Life-size replicas of Herndon and Pangborn as well as other historical information can be seen in the Wenatchee Valley Museum and Culture Center on Mission street in Wenatchee
News of their trans-Pacific flight crossed the world in record time and made the pilots stars. Though they themselves would never break records circling the globe, their most memorable flight would take them from Misawa, Japan to East Wenatchee, Washington, and effectively put those city names next to each other in the history books. Nearly eighty years later, it is clear as you drive the streets of East Wenatchee that the historic flight of the “Miss Veedol” has not been forgotten. Adopted as the East Wenatchee city theme around 2001, signs of the historic flight as well as the city’s connection to Misawa are visible everywhere you turn.
Ballard Park Bridge of Friendship “Miss Veedol” Memorial
Across from PUD Japanese Garden on 9th and Eastmont In Fancher Heights subdivision
In 1951, with the construction of the Columbia River bridge, now dedicated to Senator George Sellar, business traffic has been directed up Grant Road. Valley Mall Parkway, formerly known as Main Street, was once the hub of the town. To restore consumer interest in the businesses located in some of the oldest buildings in East Wenatchee, a major renovation project of Valley Mall Parkway was undertaken in 1996.
Prehistoric Clovis Points: In addition to being a concentrated business area, Grant Road is the site of the most impressive archeological find in the history of East Wenatchee to date. On May 27, 1987, in an orchard along Grant Road, Moises Aguirre and Mark Mickles had no idea that tools of the ancient past would surface and make them locally famous. During the routine installation of an irrigation line, the men uncovered fluted “Clovis” points These prehistoric tools would later be dated back nearly 12,000 years, making their owners the first recorded people in America. During the excavations in 1988 and 1990, nearly 70 stone and bone artifacts were collected from various dig sites. The monumental discovery prompted debate over the rights of the state, land owners, native Americans and archaeologists. In late 1990, the excavation site was filled in and covered with trees. (More information can be found about “Clovis” points and the “Miss Veedol” at the Wenatchee Valley Museum and Culture Center on Mission Street in Wenatchee)
Prehistoric “Clovis” Points from Grant Road dig site
East Wenatchee’s school district, Eastmont, has an annual budget of approximately $38 million and offers education at ten separate locations. The elementary schools in the district are Cascade, Grant, Kenroy, Lee, and Rock Island. The elementary schools offer classes K-5. Students are then divided between Sterling Middle School and the newer Clovis Point Middle School for grades 6 and 7. Grades 8 and 9 are provided in the Eastmont Junior High building, built in 2003. Paw-prints painted on surrounding streets lead students to Eastmont High School, the domain of the Wildcats.
Since the population boom following the building of the “walking bridge” nearly a century ago, East Wenatchee has not yet looked back. The humble community remains a peacefully rural backdrop to the modern shopping and residential living areas that have flourished recently. But as you catch a glimpse between homes and businesses¾beyond the tall trees to the surrounding barren hills¾it’s not hard to imagine yourself back in a time when dirt roads and water would have been luxuries. Early surveyists declared the land unfit for habitation, yet because of the work of proud East Wenatchee pioneers, over 13,000 current residents could not imagine life any other way.