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Thanks to a patch of goathead thorns…

It’s the height of fall in Tieton, a small town in eastern Washington that’s become a big part of the work we do in our Seattle Marquand Books office.

Long story short, Ed Marquand began Marquand Books in 1978 with a vision of producing high-quality, memorable publications for museums and artists around the globe. We’ve since produced hundreds of titles, printing offset in Asia and Europe.

In April 2005, Ed was riding his bike through the Yakima Valley. As the story goes, he got a flat tire running over a patch of goathead thorns and became stranded for the afternoon in Tieton’s town square. While repairing his bike, he decided to explore the town, a collection of mostly abandoned storefronts. It ignited his curiosity, and Mighty Tieton was born.

Pacific Northwest, the Sunday magazine for the Seattle Times, ran a cover story recently on what’s happened in Tieton since that day in April three years ago. It also touches on Marquand Editions | Tieton, our letterpress studio, which offers clients hand-bound and letterpress options to pair with offset printing services. Read the article and see photographs of Tieton here.

Besides providing studio and occasional gallery space to notable artists such as Trimpin, Allan Packer, and Diego Samper, new businesses are already brewing in Tieton. Goathead Press, a fine print studio from Fay and Robert Jones is up and running. The Drachen Foundation has a storage and production facility for producing kite kits that are sold to schools around the world. Margot Arellano has brought over her still from Germany, and she will start producing high-quality fruit brandies in the coming year.

Other ideas are still in their infancy. Some of the creative enterprises include a cidery, a small pub, a goat cheese creamery, a bed and breakfast, and a woodworking shop. Have an idea for a future business or project that would be a good fit in Tieton? Start dreaming and leave us a comment.