A Ghost Town in Capital Forest

Bordeaux, Washington was an old logging town in Capital State Forest in the early 20th century. It was abandoned 70 years ago and has since been reclaimed by the forest. I visited this site with a friend on a rainy Sunday afternoon recently, and can't stop thinking about the beauty and irony of this ghost town.

Windows of the old sawmill

Crumbling red brick walls

The basement has been flooded, but there seems to be a bunch of tunnels underneath (and, sadly, a lot of garbage)

Smokestack

Rusted machinery

Coils embedded in the dirt

Someone left graffiti on the inside wall 

Lone ladder

This tree grew up and around the old machinery

If you're as eager to dork out about this as I was, then check out the links below:

• A historian piecing together the story of Bordeaux
• Old newspaper article from September 1941, announcing the mill's closure.
• Historic Property Inventory Form
• Old town photo and photos of Mumby workers
• A forum for families of Bordeaux-dwelling descendants and the historical records they've collected
• More about Bordeaux, and its connection to Kurt Cobain