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Sprague - Small Eastern WA Town

© Jerri Brooker

Often I take a jaunt off a major road and see what's there. Sometimes I just like to look around and see what's endearing about some areas I've not visited before. When I find something interesting I just like to give you a brief view through my eyes of another of Washington's towns - a part of this great America.

Driving between Seattle and Spokane on I-90 we seldom stop but to eat. This time I decided it was time to see Sprague. Traveling by Sprague Lake, viewed from the freeway, made me curious to see the town. Here's my mental picture and some photos.

Sprague, a small town along I-90 in Eastern Washington, is just a whisper of what it once was. The town, named for General John W. Sprague, director of the Northern Pacific Railway, had a population of 641 folks in 1950. I'm not sure the population is much larger today. During its heyday Sprague was the shop headquarters of the Northern Pacific and was a stop on a stage route from the north and west. It was once the county seat.

The town's business section was then and still is a few blocks along First Street. Looking east of town and up the hill the Roman Catholic Church, Mary Queen of Heaven, still stands. The first mass was held in 1882 east of where it was built in 1902. It's on the National Register of Historic Buildings. A Catholic parochial school, built in 1886, was formerly near the church. I didn't see it when we were there.

It always intrigues me when I see an old building in the line of a new one. This espresso stand looked totally out of character in the town. Sure folks enjoy it, though. Washingtonians enjoy their espresso all over the state. You'll even see stands in the least likely places.

The main businesses I noticed on a quick drive down First Street were the Jitterbug Store (sells dolls and antiques) and the Sprague Tavern, a picture of a town time forgot other than a brightly painted espresso stand on the hill below the church (above photo). The railroad tracks run behind the buildings.

A block west of this view grain elevators take over the landscape. They always intrigue me; don't know why!

One block off First Street the roads turn to gravel. At the time I visited it was nearing Halloween, and I did notice a sign for a corn maze, a popular attraction for city folks this fall. We actually pay out here to get lost in them!

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