Tieton, Washington’s reinvigoration (PHOTOS).

Placemakers: Photo Gallery

When Ed Marquand stumbled across a little eastern Washington hamlet called Tieton back in 2005, he was struck by the number of empty and abandoned buildings he saw clustered around the town square. But where others might have seen decay, Marquand saw potential. He started hatching a plan that would jumpstart his own creative business while also, hopefully, injecting new life into the town. Here’s what Tieton looks like today.

The Mighty Tieton warehouse used to be cold storage for apples. Now it's been converted into an incubator of sorts for various creative enterprises. Inside you'll find a mosaic studio, a print shop, production space for a Seattle-based lamp building company, artist's studios, event space, and more.

160811_PLACEMAKERS_3_IMG_4824 — Cyclekart racers and fans gather around the town square to begin Tieton’s fourth annual Grand Prix. The cars are handmade replicas of 1920s racing machines.

160811_PLACEMAKERS_3_IMG_4850 — Onlookers gather to watch the race. Across the street, Ed Marquand’s print shop, Paper Hammer, is open for business. It occupies a building that had previously been shuttered for years.

160811_PLACEMAKERS_3_IMG_4952 — Tieton Made sits next to Paper Hammer on the town square. The windows showcase locally made goods and products, but the rooms behind still sit empty. Ed Marquand says there’s still plenty of space for new producers and businesses to move into Tieton, and he hopes to attract more creative entrepreneurs in the coming years.

Lucas Spivey — Pat Biggers runs Tieton’s local antique shop, Time and Again, and she remembers what the town was like in its heyday. Now she’s in the process of collecting stories and photographs to compile a typewritten history of the area. Ed Marquand thinks she should take that history digital, but Biggers is skeptical of technology and would rather stick to ink and paper. She didn’t want her portrait taken, so these are her hands.

Tieton's local library and city hall share a single building in Tieton, no bigger than a double-wide. — Tieton’s local library and City Hall share a single building in Tieton, no bigger than a double-wide.

Tieton's town square is slowly coming back to life, but some buildings, like what used to be the hardware store, still sit empty. — Tieton’s town square is slowly coming back to life, but some buildings, like what used to be the hardware store, still sit empty.

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