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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.

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An earlier pandemic: A look at 1918 Spanish flu in Ephrata
May 11, 2020 11:35 p.m.

An earlier pandemic: A look at 1918 Spanish flu in Ephrata

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.