Was enjoying a browse through an 1876 Monitor Guide to Post Offices & Railroad Stations in the United States and Canada. It was fun to search and find four Washington cities listed: Seattle, Tacoma, Olympia and Spokane Bridge in Stevens County. That raised my eyebrows because I remembered that Spokane County was formed from Stevens County in 1858. Humm. And that was the only listing for Spokane. How come the inaccuracy, I wonder?

Walla Walla onions. Everybody knows and admires Walla Walla Sweet Onions. My sister-in-law in Missouri once hauled home a #30 bag of them! Did you know they were developed by an Italian family? Immigrants from the Lombardian village of Lonate Pozzolo in Italy (now a suburb of Milan), came to the Walla Walla area in 1857. By 1900 there were two thriving colonies of Italians living near Walla Walla. The iconic Walla Walla Sweet Onion emerged in the 1920s but the name wasn’t coined until 1960. They are unique because they have the highest moisture content and they are now a gourmet export onion. (Thanks to Columbia magazine for this.)

Do you think these toothache drops helped? Date was 1885…… think any of your ancestors had access to these?