90mi 2h5m; 0.5 mile walk.
King county
Only a house or two, the old schoolhouse, (which might be gone by now),and several foundations. If you look hard, you can find remains of the Northern Pacific RR's station here.
Rail station picture http://content.lib.washington.edu/u?/imlswrvm,196
Directions
From highway I-90, take exit 62. You will be on a paved road for awhile and will pass some sort of strange commune-type place with trailers and such, but the road will quickly become a dirt road and you may not see a single soul. Keeping driving down road 5400. It may seem like forever, but just keep going. You will be descending into the valley. It’s at least 15 miles from the highway to the Lester gate. When you get to the gate, you can park and then walk across the bridge and down the road to the former town site
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lester,_Washington
http://www.ghosttowns.com/states/wa/lester.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RPYbaZN9uM0&feature=related
http://digitum.washingtonhistory.org/u?/genphotos,18
http://digitum.washingtonhistory.org/u?/genphotos,21
http://digitum.washingtonhistory.org/u?/genphotos,20
http://digitum.washingtonhistory.org/u?/genphotos,30
http://1travelchick.wordpress.com/2010/04/02/lesters-last-word/
1927 only 12 years after it had been renamed from Deans to Lester
http://forums.ghosttowns.com/showthread.php?13770-Lester-Washington
http://www.ghosttownsofwashington.com/Lester.html
I believe there may still be a house or two left in Lester, along with some foundations. I believe the railroad through the town is currently active, and there is a landing strip just east of the town. Other than that, not much is left.
topo quad http://www.topozone.com/map.asp?z=10&n=5229290&e=614051&s=50&size=l&datum=nad83&layer=DRG25
Mt Baker Snoqualmie National Forest.
pictures http://web.archive.org/web/20070208071447/www.discoveryforyoureyes.com/lester/index.html
The hot springs are within the City of Tacoma watershed limits, you can not get to them legally, and if they catch you trespassing,good luck. At the very least,a monetary fine. The Hot springs were west of Lester.Do yourself a favor, and obey ALL watershed postings.
Also, I believe that the "One-way"distance to Lester from the locked gate is more like 2 miles, not one mile.
2008 pics
http://forums.ghosttowns.com/showthread.php?13770-Lester-Washington/page7
More pics
http://forums.ghosttowns.com/showthread.php?13770-Lester-Washington/page10
More info
http://forums.ghosttowns.com/showthread.php?4646-Grisdale-and-Lester-Washington
I was in Lester in the mid 80's cutting Christmas trees on Railroad lands. We had contracts on both sides of the river and passed back and forth by Lester as we were coming and going over Stampede Pass. There were quite a few buildings there then including the school. The BN forester told us that the name "Lester" was the first telegrapher at the station..."Calling Lester...Calling Lester..." probably pretty common in those days when building the Railroads, and it stuck. Never heard his last name...probably lost to history.
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I knew Gertrude Murphy very well. Gert was my great-aunt. Lester is an old logging/railroad town. It is located just over Hwy 90 heading east. It is at the Stampede Pass exit. You go up and over the mountains and down into a very beautiful valley. Lester is located there. So was a little town called Nagrom, Little Italy and others. I spent my summers there as a child. It is difficult to find history on Lester due to the City of Tacoma's intent to wipe it from history. Quite literally by dynamiting houses and blocking the roads so that none could enter. But at one time it was a booming logging town. It had a depot, store, school, tavern, library etc. Gert and her husband, Frank, had their own little home there until Gert (after Frank's passing) moved into the "school house". Gert's home was dynamited. The "school house" was approximately 100 years old when it burned to the ground. It had previously been used to house teachers for the school. It was kind of like a boarding house. Gertrude had taught at the school for many years. We had many family reunions at that house as well as Gert's first house and the cabin she was relocated to. She absolutely loved the visitors that would pass through over the years. She particularly enjoyed feeding the passing hunters and hikers. She refused to cash in on her 100 year contract with the City of Tacoma. Her family was allowed into Lester to visit her whenever she desired. And that is a very brief overview. If there is a ghost wandering through Lester, Nagrom, Little Italy etc., it would be Gertrude Murphy watching over her home and her town and cursing the City of Tacoma. She was the last survivor of Lester, WA.
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http://wildwests.com/Reference%20Material/Time%20passes%20quickly.doc
Lester, WA
Lester is located at 47°12′55″N, 121°29′64″W, east of Enumclaw, Washington along the Green River and BNSF Railway line. Its elevation is 1634 feet (498m) above sea level3.
The town of Lester sprang up when the Northern Pacific Railroad laid track over Stampede Pass in the 1880's-1890's. Nearby were many logging camps, and a railroad station, water tank, and section house. Logs from the area were brought to a mill. Because of the railroad, the town prospered. In the 1950's, when steam engines and passenger service declined on the RR, the station was demolished along with the water tank. By the 1970's, the NP automated some operations, and the need for a section house vanished, causing more residents to leave. The final blow to the town was in the early 1980's, when the Burlington Northern RR stopped all trains across Stampede Pass. Up until a few months ago, there was one resident, who died then. Now, with the railroad line being re-opened, the BNSF RR occasionally has office trailers stored there. Oddly, the large sign by the RR right-of-way, saying "Lester" still remains. A Forest Service road over Stampede Pass is now the only way to Lester.
Gertrude Murphy, 99, last resident of Lester, passes away on September 29. 2002.
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