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I’m an avid world traveler, photographer, software developer, and digital storyteller.

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Olmstead Place Historical State Park

east of Ellensburg, Washington

visited 22 May 2021

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This park reflects an early chapter of European settlement in Washington: The Olmstead family started this farm in the late 1800s to raise beef and then dairy cattle for sale into the emerging Seattle market.

This park, despite its location immediately next to today’s major east-west interstate highway (I-90), preserves the buildings and farming equipment from a century or more ago.

I visited one evening and then returned the next morning for sunrise pictures.

A weathered wooden log cabin with a peaked roof sits among tall leafy trees on a bright green lawn, with the low evening sun flaring through the branches at right and long tree shadows stretching across the grass. A rustic wooden fence, distant hills, and a pale blue sky with wispy clouds frame the historic farmstead scene.

An old red clapboard farmhouse with white trim and a dark hipped roof sits amid tall evergreen and leafy trees, with a lush green lawn and an overgrown garden of blooming purple irises in the foreground under a deep blue sky in evening light.

A weathered wooden barn with a shingled roof shelters two antique horse-drawn wagons under an open bay, set on a bright green mowed meadow at Olmstead Place Historical State Park. Evening light casts long shadows across the grass, with a split-rail fence, trees, and distant hills under a blue sky scattered with wispy clouds.

Large leafy willow trees cast long shadows across a sunlit green lawn with a shallow irrigation ditch running through the grass, a rustic wooden split-rail fence on the left, and distant hills under a clear blue sky in the evening light.

A rustic farmstead in evening light, with a weathered red barn and white plank door on the left, a small red outbuilding with a white door set among tall green trees in the background, and a lush green lawn in the foreground. A blooming white lilac bush anchors the center while purple irises grow in a flower bed beside the barn.

A red barn with a gambrel roof and a cupola stands in a grassy field, its gable end decorated with a painted quilt block pattern. Antique farm implements and wagons with iron wheels are arranged on the lawn beside a dirt road, framed by overhanging tree branches under a blue evening sky with low hills in the distance.

A gravel farm lane curves past large leafy trees and a green lawn at Olmstead Place Historical State Park near Ellensburg, Washington, with early morning sun filtering through the branches and distant hazy hills and fields beyond.

A dark red barn with a gambrel roof stands against a deep blue sky at Olmstead Place Historical State Park, its gable end bearing a colorful quilt-block design and a sign reading “Olmstead Place 1875.” In front of the barn sits a weathered green antique threshing machine, with old wooden wagons and rusted farm implements on the green grass to either side.

A large Russian olive tree with pale silvery-green foliage stands against a deep blue morning sky, flanked by dark green conifers and a flowering shrub, beside a paved drive with a low wooden rail fence.

A weathered wooden barn with a cedar-shingle roof and an open lean-to shelter holding old farm wagons, set in a grassy field under a clear blue sky, with a split-rail fence and distant hills in the background on a sunny morning at Olmstead Place Historical State Park near Ellensburg, Washington.

A dried teasel seed head with its spiky brown cone and curved, wispy bracts stands atop a thorny stem against a soft, blurred green background.

A short hiking trail follows an irrigation canal on the west edge of the farmstead:

A grassy mown path winds through a lush green meadow bordered by willow trees and tall golden reeds, with open fields and a clear blue sky in the morning light.

A rustic handmade wooden bench sits in tall green grass dotted with small yellow wildflowers beside a narrow stream, framed by overhanging willow branches and dense leafy trees in warm early morning light.

Birds greet the new day.

A grassy mown path winds through tall green vegetation and dense leafy willow trees under a clear deep-blue morning sky at Olmstead Place Historical State Park near Ellensburg, Washington.

Alas, the trail was flooded, so I couldn’t complete the loop.

A flooded, waterlogged footpath winding through lush green grass and leafy willow trees in early morning light, with the trees and sky reflected in the standing water.

A weathered gray wooden barn with a peaked roof stands in a grassy field under a deep blue morning sky at a historic farmstead, with an old wooden wagon and spoked wheels in the tall grass to the right. Behind it, mature trees, a split-rail fence, and smaller outbuildings including a small red structure and a log cabin dot the pastoral grounds, with distant hills on the horizon.

A panoramic view of a historic farmstead with a red gabled barn on the left and several red wooden outbuildings and houses on the right, surrounded by large leafy trees, green lawn, and a gravel driveway under a clear purple-blue morning sky.

A grassy yard at a historic farmstead in early morning light, with weathered red-painted wooden outbuildings and a red farmhouse with a dark hipped roof and brick chimneys nestled among tall green trees under a clear deep-blue sky.

🎵 He’s got an interstate runnin’ through his front yard, You know he thinks he’s got it so good …

I couldn’t help but think of this song kept running through my head as I was touring this park. Anyone else?

A weathered wooden cabin with a metal roof sits beside a large flowering lilac bush under tall willow and shade trees, lit by warm evening light. Beyond a split-rail fence, a green pasture stretches toward low hills on the horizon, with a box truck visible in the distance.

Because I was visiting the park at the edges of the day (or maybe because of COVID precautions), I wasn’t able to enter any of the historic buildings. But I could press my camera up against the glass and capture a few glimpses:

The weathered interior of a historic farmhouse with worn wooden plank floors, a low timber-beamed ceiling, and walls with peeling paint, furnished with an old wooden table surrounded by mismatched antique chairs, a black cast-iron stove, and an organ with a red velvet stool. A doorway in the back opens to a warmly lit room painted orange with a small window.

The dim interior of a rustic log cabin with weathered wooden plank walls and floors, featuring an antique treadle sewing machine with a cast-iron base against a wall of peeling paint. A framed picture hangs above, and warm late-day sunlight streams across the worn wood near a doorway leading to a darker room.

The interior of a rustic log cabin bedroom with chinked log walls, a hand-hewn wooden bed frame holding a rumpled striped mattress, a brown wooden wardrobe, and framed landscape paintings on the wall. The exposed log ceiling and worn wood floor add to the pioneer-era feel.

That mattress doesn’t look so comfortable!

The dusty interior of a historic log cabin with a plank ceiling and chinked log walls, featuring a wooden table with turned-leg chairs, an antique green-trimmed steamer trunk, and shelves holding old jars, lanterns and crocks beside a weathered wooden door, with daylight streaming through a multi-pane window.

For more information:

State Parks web site

Cutts Island Marine State Park

Yakima Sportsman State Park

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Olmstead Place Historical State Park

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