Lamoine, Washington

Lamoine, Washington
Unincorporated community
2016 aerial photo of Lamoine. White square in bottom right corner represents original town site of Arup. Lamoine schoolhouse is visible in upper right corner of square.
Lamoine, Washington
Coordinates: 47°43′44″N 119°53′58″W / 47.72889°N 119.89944°WCoordinates: 47°43′44″N 119°53′58″W / 47.72889°N 119.89944°W
Country	United States
State	Washington
County	Douglas
Elevation	2,665 ft (812 m)
Population
• Estimate (2016)	8
Time zone	Pacific (PST)
ZIP code	98858
Area code(s)	509

Lamoine is an unincorporated community in Douglas County, in the U.S. state of Washington.^[1] Lamoine is located 13 miles (21 km) northeast of Waterville on Road 8 NW. Today it consists of a few dryland wheat farms with about 8 or so residents.

History

Before Lamoine received its name, the town of Arup, Washington, was platted and filed on Nov. 20, 1905, by the immigrant farmer Nels P. Nelson (1861–1935).^[2] Arup was named after Aarup (spelled with two a's), a town near Skydebjerg, Denmark, where he was born. Nelson was anticipating the railroad's running through the newly formed Arup, but in 1909 the Great Northern Railway bypassed it and went through Withrow instead. That sealed the town’s fate, and like many upstart towns during the early 1900s, Arup was never around long enough to build a future. Sometime between 1906 and 1909, the name of Arup disappears from records, and the name Lamoine starts being used. Why the name Arup was not kept is unclear.

The story of Lamoine's receiving its name was written and posted in the Withrow Banner by the paper’s publisher, W. H. Murray:

It was originally called "Arupp." When a postoffice was being secured, a permanent name was under discussion in a small store. A man named Bragg [Leonard Nathan Bragg, who ran the store at the time] reached to the shelf and took down a can of sardines labelled "Lamoine," asking: "What is the matter with that as a name for the town?" The suggestion was approved.^[3]

Lamoine once featured a school, a church, a post office, a dance hall, a hardware store, a blacksmith shop, feed store, and even a baseball team. The post office of Lamoine was established in 1906 and remained in operation until 1910.^[4]

Some of the original family names that homestead this area during the late 1800's were Lanphere, Jensen, Cunningham, Preugschat, Nelson, Schmidt, Fletcher, and Moore.

Gallery

1905 plat of Arup, Washington	Town of Arup dedication, dated 1905	1915 map of Lamoine
Lamoine School (1915–1924) in July 2015	Teacher and students at Lamoine School in 1918	Article from the Wenatchee Daily World, September 20, 1910
Lamoine sign in the four seasons	Lamoine in the winter of 2011, looking east down Road 8 NW	Workers moving a house through Lamoine during the 1940's
Buildings at Lamoine in 1918. These buildings were located on the original townsite of Arup.

References

1. U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Lamoine, Washington
2. "Nels Peter Nelson". Find a Grave. October 25, 2009. Retrieved November 22, 2016.
3. Meany, Edmond S. (1923). Origin of Washington Geographic Names. Seattle: University of Washington Press. p. 141.
4. "Post Offices: Washington, Douglas County". Jim Forte Postal History. Retrieved 13 August 2016.