Cashmere, in the exact center of Washington State, has centuries of settler and Indian history. The Wenatchi called the area Nt’wt’c’kum, and it was later renamed Mission in honor of the work of Catholic priests Charles Marie Pandosy, Urban Grassi, and Stephen de Rougé. Mission then welcomed its first settler, Alexander Bartholomäus Brender; the future commander of the Civil War’s Army of the Potomac, George McClellan; and the Great Northern Railway. In 1904, Judge James H. Chase led the town’s rechristening as Cashmere. It grew from a frontier train stop into an established community with lush orchards and prominent enterprises like the Cashmere Valley Record, the Cashmere Valley Bank, and the Cashmere Museum. Today, its world-class goods and produce, like Aplets & Cotlets and Crunch Pak sliced apples, sit on store shelves internationally. Come explore this global community and still fiercely independent piece of the Pacific Northwest.