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Peach, Washington

A post office opened at Peach in 1898, and residents began growing fruit for market the following year. The town was located in a valley with a mild climate and frost-free winters, and growers planted plums, apricots, pears, apples, cherries, and—of course—peaches. Many of the orchards were family run, although they often employed members of the Spokane Nation to help with the harvest. Peach shipped its fruit to Illinois, North Dakota, and Nebraska and, in the most productive years, farmers filled up to 100 train cars with their sweet, fresh produce. Peach-area farms also grew grain and alfalfa, and inhabitants fished for trout and salmon at nearby Hawk Creek. Because Peach was in the inundation zone for Grand Coulee Dam, the US government bought out inhabitants—who received $5000 per twenty acres of land—in the late 1930s. After the town was evacuated, the Bureau of Reclamation burned the remaining buildings and orchards.