Omak [recto], Jan. 1 1907

Omak [recto], Jan. 1 1907

Omak (Wash.)--Maps, Manuscript<br>Okanogan County--Maps, Manuscript<br>Ross, Ben F.

1 ms. map ; 53 x 38 cm. Manuscript town plat for the city of Omak. Scale 200 feet = 1 inch. See another version of the map on verso: http://kaga.wsulibs.wsu.edu/zoom/zoom.php?map=wsu153 <br>In 1901, Mr Ben F. Ross, an employee of the Great Northern Railroad, settled with his family in the area that became the town of Omak, Washington. By 1906, Ross had helped to organize the first accredited school district east of the Cascade Mountains and named it the Omak School District. Taking twenty acres from his own farm and platting it into a twenty five town lots in 1906, Ross also pointed the town toward the direction of incorporation and was its first and most earnest boosters. He drafted this map for use in its development. The town lay on the bank of the Okanogan River, about thirty miles north from its confluence with the Columbia River and about six miles north of the town of Okanogan. Also incorporated in 1907, Okanogan was Omak's rival, particularly in the fight for County Seat when the position moved from Conconully in 1915. Okanogan won the seat, but both towns profited from the Conconully Dam Irrigation Project. The U.S. Reclamation Project began in 1907 and the dam was completed in 1910. When the irrigation canals were set in place within the next decade, the project watered over 10,000 acres in the vicinity of Okanogan and Omak. It has continued to prosper with the fruit industry.

Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections, WSU Libraries

1907

Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections

Contact Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections, for copyright information 509 335-6691

image/jpeg

English

Maps<br>Town plats

WSU 154

United States--Washington (State)--Okanogan County--Omak