This handsome birds-eye view map of eastern Washington State comes from the Pullman Primer, a prospectus put together by the Pullman Chamber of Commerce in 1911 to attract business to the city. It shows the city nestled in the foreground, surrounded by the fertile lands of the Palouse, with Seattle and Portland in the far distance. All across the plains stretch the lines of the many and varied railroad companies of the day, connecting Pullman with the wider world.

Upon further inspection, it can be seen that one of the lines into Pullman – that of the Spokane & Inland Empire Electric Railway from Colfax – is only proposed at this point in time (and was never actually ever constructed). You really can’t blame the Chamber of Commerce for attempting to leverage that potential connection for all it’s worth, though!

The S&IE is a fascinating railway, however: an electric interurban system that carried both passengers and freight from Spokane to far-flung Colfax; Moscow, Idaho; and Coeur d’Alene from 1904–1929. I’ve previously mapped out the network as it existed at its apogee in 1920: click here to see the map.

Source: Washington State Archives