From ghost town to holiday haven: How Leavenworth became the Christmas capital of Washington state

The scent of bratwurst and pretzels filled the air as horses clopped down the main street, hauling a carriage full of tourists. Decades ago, Leavenworth was a near ghost town on the eastern slopes of the Cascade Mountains, one of the region's poorest communities. How Leavenworth transformed into a tourist destination More than half a century later, the result brings tourists from near and far all year long — hikers and skiers, river rafters and fly-fishers, shoppers and day-trippers from Seattle, some 3 million visitors in all last year, according to Matt Cade, president of the Greater Leavenworth Museum. The longstanding practice of switching on the Christmas lights downtown on Saturday and Sunday evenings began to draw such large crowds that organizers eventually decided to just leave them on from Thanksgiving through February. "So that was absolutely magical to me.” They have made it an annual tradition to return to Leavenworth, and every year they pick out a new ornament for their tree at the Kris Kringl shop downtown.