The saddest words of tongue or pen, are these, the words, "It might have been" - Emerson

A Little History of the City of George, Washington

by Debby Kooy

The following narrative is an attempt to recount the founding and history of the town of George in Eastern Washington State, researched in several hours of conversation and written correspondence with Mrs. Virginia Sheldon, daughter of Charlie & Edith Brown, as well as with other George, WA pioneers.

     Charles E. Brown, an entrepreneur/businessman (a pharmacist by trade), was a fellow who, by his daughter's account, "had a new idea every morning!" Charlie first conceived the idea for the town in the early 1950's.  He purchased the 339-acre property and worked with Mr. M.R. Wolf, a City Planning Instructor from the University of Washington. Charlie and Mr. Wolf planned the layout of zoning as well as the placement for streets in the town. They planned for each street in George to bear the name of a particular variety of cherry tree; this is still reflected in the town’s map today, with names like "Bing", "Royal Anne", and the aristocratic sounding "Montmorency Boulevard". 

     More important than the city's streets, were the highways just outside the city limits: That 339-acres of real estate was located smack dab at the confluence of what would become Interstate Highway 90 (almost exactly between Seattle to the west and Spokane to the east), State Route 281 leading north to Quincy with Wenatchee beyond, and State Route 283 leading north-east toward Ephrata and Soap Lake. 

     It was Charlie’s idea to make the town of George an early-American/ colonial-theme town that would be attractive to tourists and highway travelers.  At that time, rural highway 10 ran nearby, but construction on I-90 had not yet begun! Charlie Brown enjoyed being ahead of the game in every aspect of his planning.

     Perhaps Charlie’s biggest idea for the town of George was to host a celebration on the Fourth of July, with a parade, live music, contests, games and activities, and especially, the Giant Cherry Pie.

     Charlie instituted the initial July 4 celebration in George in 1957, with the first giant 8'X8' July 4 Cherry Pie, baked outdoors in the park, in a specially constructed wood-fired Pie Oven. Charlie served as the town’s first mayor, presiding over its official incorporation as a City on July 4,1961. His wife, Edith, and daughter, Virginia, were charter members of the Georgettes, a woman’s service group in town, responsible for making and baking that giant cherry pie. 

     The George Community Hall was another of Charlie’s big ideas. He donated the land for the project and told the community that he wanted a community center built that would be for events, meetings and rentals. Funds were raised, materials were supplied, and farmers with hammers, saws and backhoes went to work on its construction.  The George Community Hall was completed in 1964.  A board of directors had formed as early as 1962, and they soon found themselves managing a very busy event calendar as soon as the Hall's construction was complete. Over the years the Hall became the locus of George’s healthy social activities, hosting monthly square dances, Town Hall meetings, annual community dinners, children’s Christmas and Halloween parties, Easter Egg Hunt, classes, weekly Bingo, annual Hunter’s Breakfasts, Christmas Bazaars, and the New Year’s Eve Fireman’s Ball.   

     Charlie spent the rest of his life promoting his ideas for the town, and after he died in 1975, Edith served as the City's second mayor.

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     During his lifetime, Charlie and Edith owned several businesses. Among this collection of business enterprises were pharmacies, gift shops, shoe stores, and a fireworks importing and packaging business. Some of the businesses were located in Oregon and Washington State, and some of them were located in Hawaii.

     One particular Hawaiian gift store which Charlie owned, sold grass skirts. One such skirt was purchased by a woman tourist, who loaned the skirt to her niece, who wore the skirt to a costume party in Canada. It is unknown whether she danced too close to a tiki torch, or some errant cigarette was flicked in her direction, but because she had used a safety pin to make the skirt fit higher on her waist, she was unable to remove the skirt quickly when it caught fire. The girl was badly burned in the incident, and her aunt soon determined to sue the owner of the store that had sold her the skirt. One of her attorneys was John Erlichman, later of Watergate fame. 

     The gift shop had been sold by the time the lawsuit went to court. Prior to the sale, the business had carried product liability insurance, but when the business sold, the insurance had been canceled, and of course was not in effect when the lawsuit happened. The lawsuit was successful, and it ruined the Browns financially. Charlie and Edith were forced to sell their businesses and real estate holdings, including the still-undeveloped properties of George, Washington due to that very costly lawsuit. 

     After Charlie's death in 1975, a group of investors known as Colonial Farms entered the picture. Colonial Farms was a collective of several professional men, mostly doctors and lawyers from the west side of the state, as well as the Wenatchee area. Colonial Farms purchased all of the vacant property in George, along with the Martha Inn Cafe and George Shopping Mall which Charlie had built in 1957. In the course of time (this being the Vietnam War era), the early enthusiasm for developing George as a colonial theme town waned, and the George properties simply became a tax write-off for Colonial Farms, and nothing more. 

     By the mid 1990’s, restive community leaders convinced Colonial Farms that they should either find a way to develop the town or sell their holdings. Seemingly, the ideal solution materialized: two developers from western Washington came on the scene with fresh ideas and great enthusiasm for developing the town. Unfortunately, they did not have sufficient working capital to fund their development ideas, so they went looking for local investors to purchase all of the George real estate held by Colonial Farms.

     The local investors they found were a family from Quincy whose successful farming and produce operations put them in position to be able to invest in the community. This family contracted with the two west-side developers to become the money behind the development of George, WA.

     All was well...for a time. Both developers were often found attending city council meetings and Growth Management Comprehensive Planning meetings. Both were well versed in their ability as planners as well as in media promotion. Excitement began to build, and there was much interest and hopefulness within the community once more.

     The city council, with Mayor Elliot Kooy at the helm, responded by stepping up the municipal infrastructure improvements, and by 1997, the city had a brand-new municipal sewer system, an updated water system, and paved streets that were in reasonably good condition. George appeared to be ripe for development.

     Development did indeed begin to happen: the old Chevron station on the corner of Frontage Road and Washington Way was demolished, and in its stead, was “George’s Country Place”, a gas station/mini-mart/restaurant with handsome colonial-style architecture. Added to the property was a large bronze bust of George Washington himself, right there on the corner, welcoming everyone to town. The Martha Inn underwent a good bit of remodeling and redecorating, and with a new chef and an updated menu, the restaurant was once again pulling in traffic off of the highway. It seemed like a great foretaste of things to come.

     But a series of factors then arose, which combined to wreck the hopes for any immediate development in town.

     First, the construction of the municipal sewer did not proceed as rapidly as the developers had hoped, and this resulted in delay for their plans to build a motel. Second, this delay in constructing the motel meant no income for the developers, and they could not fulfill their part of the contract with the underwriters of their efforts. Third, and perhaps most destructive, was a disagreement which arose between the two developers: one felt that a NASCAR - style racetrack would be something that would really put George, WA on the map. The other (along with city leaders) disagreed, believing that a racetrack did not fit the intention and theme of the town’s founders.

     The two developers eventually went their separate ways over the issue, and as time went on, the Quincy family who were underwriting the development realized that their only option was to sue for direct ownership of the George properties. This lawsuit was not settled until 2005.

     Meanwhile, the Martha Inn restaurant was allowed to deteriorate, and equipment failure forced its closure in 2006. The dilapidated building remained, on Frontage Road and visible from the highway - an eyesore and a fire hazard until 2010. The iconic Martha Inn sign is all that remains, inviting highway travelers to a restaurant that no longer exists. Locals know that people still come off the highway, looking for the Martha Inn that they remember from childhood.

     Over time, local folks found it astonishing that a full sixty years after the founding of George, Washington, it was still true that on the 70-mile stretch of highway between Ellensburg and Moses Lake there was not one visible motel, bank, or pharmacy: no Urgent Care facility, not even a MacDonald's or a Starbucks in view. 

     A long-awaited change began in 2020 when, to the delighted surprise of George residents, a 66-room Microtel by Wyndham was built, along with a Fatburgers restaurant, and the oddly named Wicked G.O.A.T. Coffee stand.  A new, extended stay complex of mini-apartments was built in 2024 to accommodate the need for the many contractors coming into the area.

     While it may appear doubtful that George will ever fulfill Charlie's Dream as an Early American themed tourist town, new hope for the little city is emerging. A number of new houses have been built and quickly occupied, with plans for more housing in the works. The City’s recently developed industrial park houses the largest outdoor winery storage facility north of the Napa Valley, and a Kubota Tractor dealership.  Plans are in the works by the Quincy Port District to greatly enhance and increase the industrial park, with new industrial tenants waiting in the wings.

      Charlie's Shopping Center, or "Mini-Mall", as it is known, was once the largest building in Grant County.  A faulty roof has sent many tenants packing, over the years. Currently it houses a long-time mom-and-pop bodega known as the Colonial Market, the George Post Office, a thriving Mexican restaurant and a second-hand store. The mini-mall itself, having been up for sale for several years, now has a new owner. 

    George residents hope for viability, sustainability, ample housing stock and reliable employment.  Still, residents enjoy the small-town feel that George is unlikely to lose any time soon.

     The George Community Hall, built in 1964, underwent a major remodel in 2009 thanks to a half-million-dollar Community Development Block grant. Another upgrade to the roof structure occurred in 2021, which will allow the Hall to continue to serve the community of George, WA for many years to come. 

     Members of the George Community Hall Board of Directors have kept George, WA alive, upholding Charlie Brown's original ideas for the little city.  The 67th annual July 4 in George celebration is being planned for 2024, with upwards of 2500 visitors expected.  Everyone anticipates the re-appearance of the iconic "World's Largest Cherry Pie". George's 2024 Independence Day will include the Cherry Bomb fun run, grand parade, live entertainment on stage, market and food vendors, and of course, fireworks at dusk. Other community events, concerts and celebrations (notably, the George, WA Bluegrass Festival each September) are anticipated as well. 

     More info about the town of George can be found at:

http://www.cityofgeorge.org/

https://www.georgecommunityhall.com/

https://www.facebook.com/GeorgeCommunityHall/