Asotin, population 1,100, is the county seat of Asotin County, Washington. It lies across the Snake River from Hells Gate State Park in Idaho, which is south of Lewiston.
The Asotin County Courthouse is rather unusual. Looking at it from the front, it appears as two old red brick buildings that are about 100 years old. Just a few inches of space separate the walls of the buildings, which is typical of many downtown buildings all across the country. The buildings are both two stories and look like they might have been stores at one time. However, driving around the side of the courthouse, the red bricks give way to fake adobe stucco about halfway back. Then, looking at the courthouse from the back side, it appears to be one building, with no demarcation between them. Evidently the county government bought two abandoned stores and combined them into one to serve as a courthouse.
Just one block away is the Asotin County Courthouse Annex. It occupies a large, landscaped plaza and dominates the town of Asotin. It is just an auxiliary county office building and not the main courthouse but it is unusual because it is quite a bit larger than the courthouse is, it occupies a plaza like courthouses do and it dominates the town like many courthouses do, yet it is not the main courthouse.
Asotin is located in the Palouse Region, a lush and grassy, but emphatically hilly area in eastern Washington that also covers parts of northern Idaho and northeastern Oregon. Asotin is located in the same "hole" that Lewiston and Clarkston are in and, at the south edge of town, State Highway 129 switchbacks precipitiously up the face of a mesa. The drive down this mesa affords spectacular views of the whole area!
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
Saturday, May 21, 2011
Twin Cities On The Border
Lewiston has about 32,000 people and is the second largest town in northern Idaho, after Coeur d'Alene. Directly across the river from Lewiston is Clarkston, Washington, which has about 7,200 people. Both towns are named after famed explorers Meriwether Lewis and William Clark, who passed through this area in 1804. Five miles south of Clarkston is Asotin (pronounced A-SOW-TIN). Asotin has about 1,100 people and it is the county seat of Asotin County. In fact, the are only three towns in Asotin County, the other one is Anatone, a town of about 30 people sixteen miles south of Asotin. There is also an unincorporated area just outside the city limits of Clarkston that has about 10,000 people, which is more population than Clarkston has. Asotin County occupies the southeast corner of Washington. The county borders Idaho on the east and Oregon on the south.
Lewiston, meanwhile, is the county seat of Nez Perce County, while, in a strange twist, Nezperce(spelled as one word) is the county seat of Lewis County. These two counties need to trade names, it will make more sense for Lewiston to be in Lewis County and Nezperce to be in Nez Perce County.
Lewiston has a very old and historic downtown business district, which is just southeast of the confluence of the two rivers. Although I have not found any evidence of it in my research, there must have been another town just south of Lewiston that was later annexed into the city of Lewiston. This area I am wondering about is called Lewiston Orchards or, simply, The Orchards. The street numbering system in Lewiston is repeated in The Orchards area. For example, they both have First Street, Second Street, Third Street, etc. The ones in The Orchards usually have a "South" appendage added onto them because they are on the south side of the city. One of Lewiston's major streets, 17th Street, suddenly becomes 5th Street South at the intersection with Preston Avenue. There are several other numbered streets that suddenyl change numbers at an intersection. for this reason, I am convinced The Orchards used to be a separate town that has since been absorbed by Lewiston.
The location of the old Territorial Capitol Building in Lewiston, near the Clearwater River, is now occupied by the county historical museum. From pictures I have seen, the capitol was a simple, wooden building that was probably intended to be a temporary structure. When Lewiston was the capitol of Idaho, the capitol building was only half a mile from the Washington border.
Lewiston, meanwhile, is the county seat of Nez Perce County, while, in a strange twist, Nezperce(spelled as one word) is the county seat of Lewis County. These two counties need to trade names, it will make more sense for Lewiston to be in Lewis County and Nezperce to be in Nez Perce County.
Lewiston has a very old and historic downtown business district, which is just southeast of the confluence of the two rivers. Although I have not found any evidence of it in my research, there must have been another town just south of Lewiston that was later annexed into the city of Lewiston. This area I am wondering about is called Lewiston Orchards or, simply, The Orchards. The street numbering system in Lewiston is repeated in The Orchards area. For example, they both have First Street, Second Street, Third Street, etc. The ones in The Orchards usually have a "South" appendage added onto them because they are on the south side of the city. One of Lewiston's major streets, 17th Street, suddenly becomes 5th Street South at the intersection with Preston Avenue. There are several other numbered streets that suddenyl change numbers at an intersection. for this reason, I am convinced The Orchards used to be a separate town that has since been absorbed by Lewiston.
The location of the old Territorial Capitol Building in Lewiston, near the Clearwater River, is now occupied by the county historical museum. From pictures I have seen, the capitol was a simple, wooden building that was probably intended to be a temporary structure. When Lewiston was the capitol of Idaho, the capitol building was only half a mile from the Washington border.
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