An earlier pandemic: A look at 1918 Spanish flu in Ephrata
The bandstand on Ephrata’s Division Street in 1917, with L.R. Nelson on the tractor in the foreground. In about a year, the town would be struck by the Spanish influenza, which would claim more than 6,500 lives in Washington state.
Courtesy photo
A view of C Street in Ephrata in 1909. The building at the far left is the old courthouse that was pressed into service as a hospital during the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic.
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This Model T was the first ambulance in Grant County, about 1923. T.E. Jenkins, Ephrata mortician, is shown with the ambulance.
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T.E. Jenkins, Ephrata, in the first auto hearse in Grant County, about 1921. This was a Chalmers. Notice the right-hand drive.
Courtesy photo
When World War I ended across the ocean, Americans at home – including these men in Ephrata – found themselves in a different battle that would shut down most of their public activities.
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EPHRATA — A little over 100 years ago, a different kind of illness swept through the nation, closing down life as residents knew it. The illness was the flu epidemic known as Spanish Influenza.
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