Wishram, Wash., is just one example of the communities along the Columbia River, from Coulee Dam to Astoria, Ore., that originated as company towns in the past two centuries. Wishram’s shifting fortunes as a railroad town is a familiar story for Laurie Mercier, a history professor at WSU Vancouver. She has written extensively about towns built around one company or one industry.

A lot of small company towns have struggled with reinventing themselves: logging towns, mining towns, fishing towns and even agricultural towns.

“One advantage the Pacific Northwest has over places like Pennsylvania or Ohio—the ‘Rust Belt’—is the landscape,” Mercier said. “Leavenworth (a former mining town) re-creates itself as a Bavarian village. White Salmon takes advantage of wind surfing.” In Idaho’s Silver Valley, “Kellogg is trying to become a tourist mecca through skiing.”

Learn more about company towns along the Columbia River