Little Washington: A Nostalgic Look at the Evergreen State's Smallest Towns (Tiny Towns)

Little Washington looks at 100 different towns with populations of less than 3500. Some of these are smack dab in the middle of urban areas. However, many are well off the beaten bath. A common theme is fire. It seems most of the towns have been burned down at least once. I guess that is a risk when building with wood in the middle of forests. 

Many of the towns date from the late 1800s. For all that was known at the time, one of them could have become what Seattle is today. Alas, that did not happen. A number of towns did have boom periods that increased the population into the thousands before falling down to their present levels. Transportation played a key role. Some riverboat towns fell off as trains came. Rail interest then ceded to highways. Road travel has resulted in a loss of services in many small towns as residents can travel to other towns for schools or shopping. 

For each town there is an attempt at a narrative history. This often has a mixture of historical facts with interesting things presently in the town. (There are a few that come across as fairly negative.) Some of these towns look like they would be great to visit. I do wish there were better maps in the book.