Roslyn - Washington Ghost Town

ROSLYN

NAME: Roslyn
COUNTY: Kittitas
ROADS: 2WD
GRID: 4
CLIMATE: Cool winter and summer.
BEST TIME TO VISIT: Anytime.

COMMENTS: Semi-ghost. Roslyn was where ALL the TV episodes of Northern Exposure were filmed and Roslyn was portrayed as the fictional town of Cisily Alaska. - Dave Porterfield
REMAINS: Many original buildings and remnants.

A rather dainty name for a coal mining town but Roslyn was the name chosen by a Logan M. Gullitt who platted it and named it after a sweetheart in a Delaware town of that name. That was in 1886. The Northern Pacific Railroad owned the property and needed the coal for its steam locomotives. The company set about hiring miners for the mines and the first train load consisted mostly of immigrants from Italy, Austria and Slavic countries. The first winter saw some four hundred men living in the town. Being a company town, there were restrictions not too pleasing to the population. Saloons were prohibited, brothels not permitted, gambling not allowed along with other rules and regulations all of which forced such activities underground and beyond control. All this forced the town bosses to allow legitimate activities within town limits where they could be regulated. Roslyn had other problems, too. It was beset by fires, strikes, explosions and competition from a neighboring town, Ronald. In 1904, the population was some 4,000. By 1930, the population was down to 2,300 and declining rapidly. Today the town displays many examples of Victorian elegance in its surviving buildings. Submitted by Henry Chenoweth.	Rosyln Washington Courtesy Dave Porterfield Rosyln Washington Courtesy Dave Porterfield Roslyn Courtesy Tom McCurnin Roslyn Courtesy Tom McCurnin Roslyn Courtesy Tom McCurnin Roslyn General Store Courtesy Tom McCurnin Roslyn Courtesy Tom McCurnin Roslyn Courtesy Tom McCurnin

A rather dainty name for a coal mining town but Roslyn was the name chosen by a Logan M. Gullitt who platted it and named it after a sweetheart in a Delaware town of that name. That was in 1886. The Northern Pacific Railroad owned the property and needed the coal for its steam locomotives. The company set about hiring miners for the mines and the first train load consisted mostly of immigrants from Italy, Austria and Slavic countries. The first winter saw some four hundred men living in the town. Being a company town, there were restrictions not too pleasing to the population. Saloons were prohibited, brothels not permitted, gambling not allowed along with other rules and regulations all of which forced such activities underground and beyond control. All this forced the town bosses to allow legitimate activities within town limits where they could be regulated. Roslyn had other problems, too. It was beset by fires, strikes, explosions and competition from a neighboring town, Ronald. In 1904, the population was some 4,000. By 1930, the population was down to 2,300 and declining rapidly. Today the town displays many examples of Victorian elegance in its surviving buildings. Submitted by Henry Chenoweth.

Rosyln Washington
Courtesy Dave Porterfield

Roslyn
Courtesy Tom McCurnin

Roslyn General Store
Courtesy Tom McCurnin

Roslyn
Courtesy Tom McCurnin

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