Centennial!

Grant County, Washington turns 100 today.

On February 24, 1909, Douglas County split into two parts, the southern and eastern parts forming Grant County. You can click on the map to see what it looked like then.

Most of the little towns on the map aren't there any more. Moses Lake, which is now the biggest town for about 80 miles any direction, was just a little village. Notice that the Grand Coulee is dry; the dam wouldn't even be proposed for another nine years.

My great-grandmother, Laura Padgett Peterson, was there when the counties split. Her family came out ere and homesteaded in 1908. She almost made it to a century herself, passing away in 1997 at the age of 98. In the meantime, she lived long enough to get to know Wharf Rat and to hold Long Drink when he was born.
I like Grant County. I didn't grow up here myself, but through Grandma Pete and others of her family, I've put down some deep roots here. My kids will always have a place to come back to, where their name means something and they never have to be newcomers, no matter how long they may live somewhere else. It may look like the bleakest country God ever forgot, but it's home. I'm proud to be a part of it.