Timeline

Garland Mineral Springs is approximately 40 privately owned acres nestled in the heart of the Wild Sky Wilderness in the Cascade Mountains in Snohomish County, Washington. With natural mineral water and soda springs, Garland has a rich history. Originally a mining claim established in the 1880s, it was developed into a full-fledged Hot Springs Resort in the 1930s. After a devastating fire in 1961, Garland became a family-owned private camping property.

Since 1953, the Sharpe/Mooney family has owned the property, and the heirs maintain its rich legacy. Here's what we have collected. If you have additional information, photos, and details to share please contact me at scs@garlandmineralsprings.com.—Stephen

1. 1889 —1925  Dr. J. N. Starr locates the springs and builds the first cabins on the property. Read more about this early era in the 1923 memoir by Carrie Starr Weismann The Healing Power of the Water
   1. 1895 — Carrie T. Starr and Charles M. Hine secure a federal mineral patent for 39.86 acres for the Harriett Nomander Placer and Colton Placer Claims on the 24th of August  1895.
   2. 1896-1925 — Dr. J. N. Starr of Snohomish, Washington and his wife Carrie Starr obtain a land grant signed by President Grover Cleveland in May 1896 establishing the “Starr Hot Springs”. The property is also known locally as the “Starr Soda Springs”. 

    

2. 1926–1932 — Albert Marion “Bert” Garland of Wenatchee is associated in family records with renaming the property “Garland Mineral Springs” and was likely bottling the Garland Mineral Water at Miller’s Bottling Works in Wenatchee.
   1. Albert Marion “Bert” Garland has been referred to as A. H. “Bert” Garland and a “Prospector” in Sharpe family documents.
   2. Albert Marion “Bert” Garland owned The Garland Building at 111 Orondo Avenue in Wenatchee. Built in 1922 it housed the Orondo Recreation Club with a billiard room in the basement, a card room, a tobacco shop, and a lunch counter on the main floor, and apartments/sleeping rooms upstairs. In 1922 the building was later sold to his younger brother Charles C. Garland. 
   3. A. M. “Bert” Garland and Al Roth purchased Miller’s bottling works in Wenatchee. Miller’s Bottling Works originally bottled Olympia Beer and later soft drinks. 

    

3. 

   1932-1942 - Charles C. Garland, Fred Monroe, both of Wenatchee, and Will Jorgenson of Everett - In the article 100 Years of Fascination published in the Monroe Monitor in July 1985 they report that in 1932 the land was purchased by Charles Garland, Fred Monroe, both of Wenatchee, and Will Jorgenson of Everett. Charles Garland is the younger brother of Albert Marion “Bert” Garland.

   Charles Garland is associated with the expansion of the property into a full spa-resort by 1934. During this era the property becomes a destination resort with a 22 room 3-story lodge, 25-40 cabins, a heated pool, and related facilities. The property prospered as a resort after the Depression.

   1. 1935 and 1937 Catholic Northwest Progress ads for Garland Mineral Springs advertised mineral water cures, doctor in attendance. Garland water is promoted as beneficial for diabetes, arthritis, and other ailments.
   2. 1935 advertisements mention Mrs. J. M. Lippert Manager
   3. 1937 advertisements mention W. L. Kaupp Manager and Ted Dash Masseur- Read more in the brochure from this era Garland Famous Mineral Springs
   4. The Wenatchee Chiefs, a minor-league baseball club founded in 1937 says the team was taken over by Charles C. Garland in 1938, and that he began the affiliation agreement with the New York Yankees. The team won its first league pennant in 1939.

    

4. 1942–1950 — C. Guy Evans / World War II Coast Guard Period — During World War II into the 1950s, Garland Mineral Springs was operated by C. Guy Evans of Index, Washington.
   1. Personnel of the Coast Guard were quartered at the Garland Mineral Springs during WWII. In November 1942, Evans allowed the Coast Guard detachment to use a building known as the recreation hall for classroom purposes without charge. The building was not part of the lodging contract, but was operated by the Coast Guard after a stove was installed under Coast Guard supervision. On November 18, 1942, the recreation hall caught fire and was completely destroyed after an enlisted Coast Guard man started a fire in the stove and left it unattended with the drafts open. Senate Report 78-616 concluded that the loss was due to negligence by Coast Guard personnel because the stove pipe had not been properly insulated and the stove had been left unattended. Evans was reimbursed for the loss of the building and personal property.
   2. Cecile Evans Lindquist’s obituary states that she was the daughter of Cecil Guy Evans and Anne Marie Coles Evans and that she “spent her early years at the family’s resort, Garland Mineral Springs.” This confirms that Garland was not only used by the military during the war, but was also remembered by the Evans family as their resort. 

    

5. 1951-1952 - Ralph & Ruth E. Taylor, Wenatchee Wash. - Ralph was listed as the owner of Garland Mineral Springs in Washington State mining/mineral-operation directories mailing address — Box 1135, Wenatchee, Washington. Taylor's operation was described “in current production” under the product category of mineral water. The DNR mining-operation directories treated Garland not just as a resort, but as a mineral-water production operation.
   1. Ralph Taylor was recognized by the state as operating Garland’s mineral water resource commercially or semi-commercially in the early 1950s
   2. After the sale of the resort the Taylors kept a 100 feet by 300 feet tract at the Northwest corner of the property on the North side of the Forest Service Road. This hold-back reduced the size of the property by 0.69 acres. 

    

6. 

   1953-Current - Sharpe/Mooney -  On March 2nd, 1953 the Reverend Cameron A. Sharpe with his wife Medora and her sister Laura Mae Mooney purchased Garland Mineral Springs. The operated the resort until the fire in January 1961 when the resort operations were discontinued. All three owners have passed their shares down to family members who now own 100% of Garland Mineral Springs, LLC the owner of the property.