Program

Hometown Heritage®

Subject

House, Site

Location

234 1st Ave NW, Ephrata, WA 98823, USA

Lat/Long

47.321704165199, -119.55255313714

Grant Recipient

Spokane Chapter #1 Sons of the American Revolution

Thought to have been built in 1914, this home in Ephrata, Washington, was purchased in 1925 by Nathaniel W. Washington, Sr. At the time, he was the Grant County prosecutor and a prominent local political figure who had helped plan and host the 1920 Democratic National Convention. First elected as prosecutor in 1916, Washington advocated for the construction of the Grand Coulee Dam. The location for the dam was reportedly identified by his father, Bushrod Washington, a late-19th-century pioneer and a great-grandnephew of George Washington. As the first president of the Columbia River Dam and Irrigation Association, Nat Washington, Sr. campaigned for the project and secured the support of Franklin D. Roosevelt after discussing the dam with him during Roosevelt’s 1920 vice-presidential campaign.

In 1926, one year after purchasing the home, Nathaniel Washington, Sr. drowned in the Columbia River alongside two of his siblings. Although Washington did not live to see the project completed, the Grand Coulee Dam was successfully constructed between 1933 and 1942.

His son, Nat W. Washington, Jr., purchased the home from his sisters in 1972. Following his father into politics, the younger Washington represented District 13 in the Washington State House of Representatives from 1949 to 1950 and in the State Senate from 1951 to 1975. Recognized by colleagues as “the conscience of the Senate,” he was also involved in developing the state highway system.

Known as of 2026 as the Nat Washington House, the privately owned residence is open to the public by appointment and contains various Washington family artifacts, including inherited possessions originally belonging to George Washington.