MOLSON, Okanogan Co.,
Washington
By
DURING THE SUMMER OF 2009 we captured a few fascinating old ghost
towns on a roadtrip through central Washington and up
into Canada, thence back down into Idaho.
One of my favorite stops was the old triple ghost of Molson, in the
heart of Okanogan County and just a couple miles south of the Canadian
border. The ghost of Molson is not just
one town, but three separate parts - Old Molson, New Molson and Center
Molson. From the south end of Old Molson
to the main street of New Molson is only about a half mile.
We’ll
start our Molson tour in Old
Molson, now just a cluster of chocolate-brown
buildings that have been restored or relocated to form an outdoor museum. What remains here includes the assay office
(brought in from the Poland China Mine in 1963), the restored bank
building, a lawyer’s office, saloon and cabins. Other buildings include a machine
shed, windmill and lots of relics. The 1906-1980s era Molson
Community Church is across the street from the museum complex, and is
also a museum in its own right. It was
donated to the Molson Historical Society in 1986. All museum buildings are open to the
public. My favorite was the old bank
building with its two-windowed teller
cage and period
furnishings. Other static displays include the assay office with its
collections of mining
relics, a law office, a shingle
mill, a real
estate office covered with greenery, and a couple cabins.
Center
Molson today is only two large, brick buildings. On one side of the street is the two-story
school and on the east side is the huge Molson
Trading Company General Store.
The school operates as a museum.
Although the general store is structurally sound, it is NOT open to visitors.
New
Molson is just a whoop and holler to the north, across a dip that once
served as the railroad bed. New Molson
has several old commercial buildings and a few lived-in houses and other
unidentifiable outbuildings. A former store
and a couple automobile
repair garages are identifiable.
A handful of cabins and dead
cars lie scattered about the tall grass.
The
history of Molson begins with the discovery of gold in 1900. As the mine was only two miles south of the
Canadian border, it attracted Canadian investors, George B. Meachum
and John W. Molson (of the Canadian banking and brewing company family). They developed their town site several miles
west of the Poland China Mine. They
platted, surveyed and laid out lots.
Sales began and a post office opened
July 14, 1900. A year later Molson had a long string of buildings lining its
main street. Some of these businesses
included the wooden, 34-room Tonasket Hotel (burned in June 1924), an assay
office, bank,
blacksmith, creamery, doctor, drug store, general stores, lawyer, livery
stable, newspaper, restaurant and a couple saloons. The population hovered
around 300.
Although
the town looked prosperous, the mines weren’t.
The gold wasn’t as rich as initially thought and as a result, Molson and
Meachum withdrew their financial backing. The mine closed and Molson quickly faded to
13 people.
With
mining dead, a few folks homesteaded the area and agriculture increased in
importance. Rumors of a coming railroad
created interest in 1905, so many folks staked their
homesteads in anticipation of a windfall. One of the applicants was J.H.
McDonald. Unfortunately part of his homestead included a portion of the old townsite. That didn’t daunt him so on April 15, 1909,
McDonald made a decision that cost him any popularity that he might have
had. He posted eviction notices on any
occupied buildings that happened to be on his newly claimed property. Lawsuits were filed almost before the ink was
dry and Molson continued to develop. To
avoid additional legal entanglements, clear-titled land about a half mile
north, near the railroad, drew the boomers. One of the stores relocated and the
rest of the town pretty much followed suit.
The Molson Hotel was built, and New Molson as the new site was called
was on the map. As it had the railroad
and lack of litigation, it was THE place to be. An automobile dealership was
established (which sold 125 cars in 1917), as were a barber, beauty shop, five
churches, a confectionary, a farm implement dealer, several fraternal
organizations, a grain elevator company, movie theater, pool hall and other
businesses.
Old
Molson, as the original site was called, still had a few businesses, including
the bank,
which was placed on skids and dragged around the old site as litigation continued.
The lawsuits were eventually resolved, but it was too late. Through the 1910s and 1920s, the residents of
Old and New Molson bickered constantly.
Each claimed its site was the best, and anytime a new business opened at
one site, a competing one popped up in the other. In 1910, the Molson Hotel burned and was
replaced by a larger two-story, 23-room hotel called the New Imperial in 1911.
In 1913, it was renamed the New Wallace, and again in 1916, the name again
changed, to the New Molson Hotel. In 1923 it burned to the ground.
In 1914, the two communities somehow
compromised and built a school dead center between the two sites. Across the street a large general store was
also built of brick. This seemed to
serve as a catalyst for growth and on February 13, 1920, Molson
incorporated. For some reason the courts
invalidated the incorporation, so on October 6, 1921, Molson disincorporated.
Then in the 1930s, the railroad was removed and Molson began to fade
along with the national economy. The school
remained active, pulling students from all over the area. In the mid-1950s, it still averaged 110-120
students a day. But the town was on a downward spiral from which recovery would
not happen. In 1955, the last store
closed, and on August 11, 1967, the Molson Post Office closed. The school followed suit in 1969. Molson’s fate was sealed. Today it is nothing much more than a lot of interesting
buildings parked in the midst of an undulating
sea of grass.
What remains is scattered, but
WELL WORTH a visit. Please remember that most of the land here is privately
owned, and to view all remaining
buildings from the roads (public right-of-way) except those designated as
museums and in OLD MOLSON. Just don’t spit
on the sidewalks!
Molson is one of the towns featured in my new book, GHOST
TOWNS: Yesterday & TodayTM
Become a fan of the book on Facebook.
This was our Ghost
Town of the Month for September 2010.
SITE NAME |
ELEV. |
LATITUDE |
LONGITUDE |
TOWNSHIP/RANGE |
Molson Cemetery |
3737’ |
48.965681 |
-119.211359 |
E-Ctr, Sec 18, T40N, R29E, WM* (*Willamette
Base Line & Meridian) |
Molson (Center) |
3724’ |
48.9787931 / 48° 58’ 44” N |
-119.2008799 / 119° 12’ 03” W |
Ctr Sec 18, T40N,
R29E, WM |
Molson (New) |
3707’ |
48.9810156 / 48° 58’ 52” N |
-119.2006021 / 119° 12’ 02” W |
Ctr Sec 18, T40N,
R29E, WM |
Molson (Old) |
3724’ |
48.9779597 / 48° 58’ 41” N |
-119.2000466 / 119° 12’ 00” W |
Ctr Sec 18, T40N,
R29E, WM |
Molson Junction |
3737’ |
48.915929 |
-119.252853 |
NW
corner Sec 1, T39N, R28E, WM / SW
corner Sec 36, T40N, R28E, WM |
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FIRST
POSTED: September 01, 2010
LAST UPDATED:
October 10, 2010
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