Ainsworth

The board's brawls and hangings leave out who built the bridge. Ainsworth's workforce was roughly half Chinese, many housed in a string of railcars by the river, and before the bridge the sternwheeler Frederick Billings carried whole trains across the Snake, up to eleven freight cars and an engine at a time. The first train crossed the finished bridge on April 20, 1884. Within a year the railroad moved its base to Pasco, and the Chinese workers moved with it into a district of their own. HMdb has reported this board missing; the pullout stands empty.

What the plaque says

Ainsworth One of the most colorful of early Northwest railroad towns once existed near junction of the Snake and Columbia Rivers. Ainsworth was founded, 1879, when the railroad bridge was building over the Snake River. In its heyday it was a wild, lusty town, noted for brawls, gun fights and hangings. For a time a vital cog in the Northern Pacific railroad's extension to Puget Sound, it sank slowly into oblivion after opening of the bridge to traffic in 1884. The town was named for John C. Ainsworth, a prominent figure in transportation circles of the early Northwest. Erected by the Washington State Highway Commission in cooperation with the State Parks and Recreation Commission.

Where it stands

More markers nearby

• Sacagawea — steps away
• Fort Walla Walla — 11 mi