Metaline Falls, Washington

Metaline Falls derived its name from the mineral-rich landscape and cascading water that surrounds it, features that were also extremely influential in the town’s development. A third, but equally powerful, force in the town’s history is the person who worked to develop those natural resources, Lewis P. Larsen.

Under Larsen’s guidance, Metaline Falls developed in such dramatic fashion that a 1910 edition of Opportunity magazine featured striking before and after photographs of the town that had been taken mere months apart. The images’ depiction of the town’s transformation from forestlands to upstart community with graded streets, five commercial buildings, and the prominent Washington Hotel welcoming guests is dramatic. A year later, Larsen Realty Company offered lots for sale with “Terms to suit anybody.”

Larsen not only worked to build the town but also sought to build a community. In designing its layout, he set aside 30 of the town’s 121 acres as parks and playgrounds. The large dining room at the Washington Hotel became a community gathering place and, before long, the community built a school. While the town had many promising features, air quality was not one of them. Each new resident’s property deed required a waiver against pollution-related lawsuits—a provision undoubtedly stemming from the cement plant’s ever-present dust.

Although the town prospered, it always remained small. At one point in the 1930s, when both cement production and hard rock mining brought an influx of workers, the town’s population reached nearly 400 individuals. But it never exceeded that population level, and eventually the cement plant and most of the mines closed. Over a century after Larsen founded Metaline Falls, the cement industry and its lingering dust have faded into memory, but the mountains, river, and influence of Larsen live on, leaving a scenic town rich in history.