Editing Thorp, Washington (section)

===Mill town and railroad era===
In 1878, James L. Mills traversed the trail over the [[Cascade Mountains]] from [[Puget Sound]] by foot, and saw great possibilities in the Kittitas Valley.<ref name="preservation1"/> He built a [[sawmill]] west of the current town site in 1879,<ref name="eugene">Eugene J. Brain, "Thorp, Washington," The Coast Magazine, Vol. XV, May 1908 (from ''The Coast,'' Honor L. Wilhelm, pp. 366-67).</ref> diverting water from the Yakima River to turn its wheels.<ref name="preservation1"/><ref>''An Illustrated History of Klickitat, Yakima and Kittitas Counties with an Outline of the Early History of the State of Washington'', Chicago: Chicago Interstate Publishing Co. (1904) pp. 211.</ref> The sawmill had a capacity of 7,000&nbsp;feet daily.<ref name="eugene"/>

Not content with the sawmill, Mills devised a way for the same wheels to power the North Star Mill, a gristmill that Oren Hutchinson had built at the town of Thorp in 1883, to provide feed for [[livestock]] and [[flour]] for the local residents.<ref name="preservation1"/> The mill was best known for its leading brand "Tip Top".<ref name="eugene"/>

The Pleasant Grove [[post office]] was moved in 1880 to a site near the mills and changed its name to Milton post office to reflect the name of the small settlement that had sprung up at that location, which was named for Milton Young.<ref name="daily19530706"/><ref name="dickfields"/> It was housed in several farm houses northwest of the current town site of Thorp until 1884, when it was re-established at the Thorp gristmill through the instrumentality of James L. Mills, who named it "Oren" after Oren Hutchinson. In 1889, the name of the post office was changed to "Thorp" to conform with the name used for the settlement by the Northern Pacific Railroad, and, in 1895, the post office was moved just down the road to the location of the depot that was built there and the town site that had been platted around it.<ref name="daily19530706"/><ref name="eugene"/>

It was the system of water delivery that made the mills at Thorp possible, and the farming lands around Thorp are the oldest [[irrigation|irrigated]] section in Kittitas County.<ref name="eugene"/> The Manastash Canal was completed in 1875, followed later in the same year by the Taneum Ditch Company.<ref name="daily19811027"/> The Westside irrigating canal that runs just south of the town of Thorp was begun in June 1889, and water was first used in 1890. Utilizing water diverted from the Yakima River, it is about 14&nbsp;miles long and averages 12&nbsp;feet wide. The original cost for building the Westside Canal was $30,000.<ref>Frederick Haynes Newell, ''Nature'', "Report on agriculture for irrigation in the western part of the United States," Washington DC: United States Census Office (1894) pp. 273.</ref>

To a great extent, the town of Thorp owes its existence to the arrival of the [[Northern Pacific Railroad]]. While some of the initial settlement was undoubtedly influenced by the convergence of [[wagon train|wagon trails]] which would eventually cross Snoqualmie Pass, it was the location of the Cascade [[branch line|spur]] that ultimately determined the location of the town.<ref name="preservation1"/> In 1887, the Northern Pacific Railroad reached the town of Thorp,<ref name="daily19890818">''Daily Record'' (Ellensburg, Washington), "Thorp settlers watched Indians", 1989-08-18, pp. 14-D.</ref><ref>''National Geographic Guide to Scenic Highways & Byways'', Washington DC: National Geographic (1997) pp. 378.</ref> when the railroad’s management built a sidetrack out one mile west of the current town site and named it after the intrepid pioneer F. M. Thorp and his family.<ref name="eugene"/>

It took two years to build the Northern Pacific line from Old Town, now [[Union Gap, Washington|Union Gap]],<ref>''Daily Record'' (Ellensburg, Washington), "Bits of Thorp history recalled," 1974-02-18, pp. 2</ref> to Thorp. [[Chinese people|Chinese]] laborers or "[[coolies]]" were brought in first to build the Northern Pacific spur, and again to extend the [[Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul & Pacific Railroad|Milwaukee Road]] through the Kittitas Valley. A Northern Pacific [[Section house (railway)|section house]] was located at Thorp where men of the regular crew boarded, while Chinese laborers and other members of the work gang had their own [[sleeping cars]].<ref name="daily19890818"/>

[[File:ThorpHaywagon.jpg|left|thumb|Horse drawn wagon loaded with hay near Thorp. (Photo ca. 1900)]]
In 1895, with the extension of the main line to the site of the current town, the railroad station was moved and the town was laid out.<ref name="eugene"/> The town of Thorp developed around this [[train station|depot]], with the first developments including the construction of maintenance facilities, shipping facilities and warehouses.<ref name="preservation1"/>

The current town site was settled by the Newman family in 1878. On July 9, 1895, a three-block town site was [[plat]]ted around the site of the Northern Pacific depot by John M. and Sarah Isabel Newman.<ref name="lyman"/> In May 1900, Milford A. Thorp, a son of F. M. Thorp,<ref name="eugene"/> added Thorp's Addition, incorporating into the town site the land he had purchased in 1885 from James McMurray.<ref name="kcplaces"/> Houses and businesses quickly sprang up, and small farms appeared around the edges.

The first store in Thorp was opened by J. E. Veach in about 1895. The first hotel was the Thorp House, established by A. St. John in 1893. The hotel was superseded by the Tanum House {{sic}} in 1903, which was built and operated by J. F. Duncan.<ref name="eugene"/>

The ''Ellensburg Dawn'' newspaper wrote in the spring of 1901 of the promising little town:

<blockquote>"The little village of Thorp, nine miles up the road, is one of the nicest little places in Central Washington. It is quiet, no saloons to mar the pleasure of the inhabitants, has a good church, a good public school building, a sawmill and a good flouring mill, both of which are operated by water power, a manufacturing establishment--land roller and box factory, and in fact you can get about all the accommodations in Thorp you can get in many towns of much larger population. We are glad Thorp is in Kittitas County."<ref name="registrationform"/><ref>''Ellensburg Dawn'' (Ellensburg, Washington), "Thorp," 1901-05-10.</ref></blockquote>

In 1907, the energy from the water wheel at the North Star Mill was utilized to power a [[Boiler (steam generator)|steam generator]] having a 40-[[horsepower]] [[dynamo]], which furnished [[electricity]] for laundering clothes two mornings each week, and for lighting homes for a few hours each evening. This gave Thorp the distinction of being among the first towns in Washington to have electricity, and the smallest unincorporated town in the Northwest to have [[light bulb|electric lights]].<ref name="eugene"/><ref name="historylink">[http://www.historylink.org/index.cfm?DisplayPage=output.cfm&File_Id=5073 HistoryLink, "Thorp Mill begins operation in the Kittitas Valley in April 1883," Essay 5073.] Retrieved 2011-09-22.</ref>

The addition of a Milwaukee Road depot in 1909 meant that Thorp was the first rail stop where the [[Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul & Pacific Railroad]] and the Northern Pacific Railroad crossed paths, making it an important shipping point at one time.<ref name="kcplaces"/><ref>''The Ellensburg Capital'' (Ellensburg, Washington), "Brief news of the day," 1909-08-13, pp. 4.</ref> The Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul & Pacific Railroad operated its headquarters for building operations in the Lower Kittitas County, including the shipping in of supplies for the area, out of its Thorp depot. The pay office of employees and the [[commissary]] were also located at Thorp.<ref name="eugene"/>

The [[U.S. Postal Service]] carried mail to and from Thorp by railroad cars of the Northern Pacific. Rather than stopping and losing precious time, [[railway post office|RPO]] (railway post office) cars featured a large hook that would catch the mailbag in its crook on the way past the station.<ref name="daily19730508">''Daily Record'' (Ellensburg, Washington), "Thorp post office--family affair," 1973-05-08, pp. 3.</ref> A daily [[passenger train]] ran east to [[Ellensburg, Washington|Ellensburg]] and points beyond, stopping in Thorp around 11:30&nbsp;a.m. and returning around 4&nbsp;p.m., followed by another westbound train at 11&nbsp;p.m.<ref name="daily19890818"/>

[[File:ThorpTanumHouse.jpg|left|thumb|The Tanum House hotel, later renamed Thorp Hotel, was destroyed by fire in 1938. (Photo ca. 1915)]]
{{multiple image
| direction = vertical
| width = 200
| header = Commercial Buildings<br />in Thorp
| image1 = ThorpWA-2ca1930.jpg
| alt1 = The Red and White Stores of Thorp, Washington.
| caption1 = Red & White Store (Photo ca. 1930)
| image2 = ThorpFCPorterDryGoods.jpg
| alt2 = F. C. Porter Dry Goods of Thorp, Washington. 1915
| caption2 = F. C. Porter Dry Goods (Photo ca. 1915)
| image3 = ThorpWA-3ca1915.jpg
| alt3 = Thorp Mercantile Company and general store in Thorp, Washington. 1915
| caption3 = Thorp Mercantile Company & General Store. (Photo ca. 1915)
| image4 = ThorpWAca1935.jpg
| alt4 = Thorp Garage, Thorp, Washington. 1935
| caption4 = Thorp Garage with Thorp Hotel (formerly Tanum House) in distance. (Photo ca. 1935)
}}