Editing East Wenatchee, Washington (section)

===Founding and early years===

At the turn of the 20th century irrigation projects, including the Columbia Basin Project east of the region, fostered the development of intensive agriculture in the shrub-steppe native to the region. Fruit orchards become one of the area's leading industries.

In 1908, the [[Columbia River Bridge (Wenatchee, Washington)|first highway bridge]] to span the [[Columbia River]] opened.  The privately owned bridge carried people, horses, wagons, and automobiles; it also supported two large water pipelines along its sides.  It connected Chelan County on the west (Wenatchee) shore with Douglas County on the East Wenatchee shore.  The bridge opened East Wenatchee and the rest of Douglas County to apple orchard development.  Still standing today, the bridge is a {{convert|1060|ft|m|adj=on}} pin-connected steel cantilever bridge and cost $177,000 to build. It once carried the [[Sunset Highway (Washington)|Sunset Highway]] (State Highway 2) across the river.

The bridge was the brainchild of W. T. Clark, one of the builders of the Highline Canal, a major irrigation project to water the apple orchards in the valley. It was financed in part by James J. Hill (1838–1916), of the Great Northern Railway (which arrived in Wenatchee in 1892). In its second year of operation the canal firm that owned it decided to start charging tolls.

This prompted local leaders to hasten to the state legislature to persuade the state to purchase the bridge as part of the state highway system. The state purchased the bridge despite the state-employed consultant's opinion "that the ugliness of the structure is very apparent" (Dorpat), despite defects in the timber floor and concrete piers, and despite leaks in the waterpipes.

The structure remained in full use until 1950 when the [[Senator George Sellar Bridge]] was built. Today, it remains as a footbridge on the [[Apple Capital Recreation Loop Trail]] and still has the old pipeline running across it.