New state tour inspired by 1941 guide book

Chris Moore went on an extended scavenger hunt last year. Using slow roads — not interstates — he toured Washington, looking for scenic spots and historic landmarks listed in the book "A Guide to Evergreen State."

The guide was published in 1941.

Moore, a field director with Washington Trust for Historic Preservation, was on a quest to see what remained of the state's highlights more than 50 years after Work Projects Administration writers compiled the 700-page book.

The public wins the grand prize for this scavenger hunt: a free compact disc. The CD, "Revisiting Washington: A Guide to the Evergreen State," updates the 1941 tours with field notes, navigational tools such as global-positioning-system coordinates and old photographs, radio and video clips.

The CD was released Tuesday in the restored Hailstone Feed Store and Gasoline Station in Issaquah. Although Hailstone isn't listed in either the original or revised guide, it was picked for the launch because it looks like a 1940s gas station. Adding to the gala atmosphere was the car display — a 1938 Bentley parked next to a 2007 Toyota Prius — illustrating the mode for road trips then versus now.

Moore and other members of the revisiting team found 80 percent to 90 percent of the "then" remains today.

"It was remarkable how many buildings still exist as described — or close to it — in the guide," Moore said. "Most of the memorials and the markers are still there."

For instance, 32 of the 39 counties still have historical county courthouses. State and national parks haven't changed much, and some tour routes are nearly identical to the 1941 version. The closest example, Moore said, is the drive from Anacortes south to the Deception Pass Bridge and down the length of Whidbey Island.

"Slow roads" was the term the project team used to describe the old routes between sites. Some, such as the old highway between Factoria in Bellevue to Issaquah, have been replaced by interstate. Remnants of one slow road, Highway 203, still connect North Bend, Snoqualmie, Fall City and Carnation.

"The amazing thing is these towns, which we think of as quaint, are there despite all the development in the Puget Sound area," Moore said.

Other historic spots didn't fare as well.

He described driving in the Columbia River Gorge, searching for Celilo Falls. According to the map, GPS coordinates and historic photos, the team was in the right spot, but no falls were apparent.

"Then we found the interpretive markers. The falls were gone when the river was dammed," he said. "What a loss for everyone, particularly the Native Americans who lost an important place to forage for food and a religious spot. Until you compare the 1941 guide with what's left, you don't realize how many of our [Native American] cultural resources were literally drowned. It's hard to stomach."

Then there were the treasures he found — directions to hidden hot springs near Lake Crescent, in Olympic National Park, that aren't mentioned in any recent guidebooks.

"You have to trek to get to them, and the locals probably won't appreciate us listing them," he said.

Armchair travelers will enjoy the CD as much as back-road explorers, thanks to the historical photos from the book. A video clip shows Galloping Gertie, the original Tacoma Narrows Bridge, breaking apart. More moving than the action movies are pictures of migrant workers and their families in Eastern Washington, taken by internationally renowned photographer Dorothea Lange.

"Revisiting Washington" cost $230,000 and was funded by a Federal Transportation Enhancement Grant and underwritten by the state Department of Community Trade and Economic Development's Tourism Office, the National Trust for Historic Preservation and the state Parks and Recreation Commission.

Sherry Grindeland: 206-515-5633 or sgrindeland@seattletimes.com