Episode 02: Govan

What is a short drive? Some might say just a few hours and back or maybe a trip anywhere that you can make it back home the same day. Whatever the time or distance, short trips to nowhere seem to be a regular occurrence in our household. Basically, if we took a trip from Seattle to Spokane and came home later that same day it would not be out of the ordinary. So today we packed up our favorite snacks, grabbed some drinks and headed out the door. Three and half hours later we found ourselves in Govan. Located in Eastern Washington, an abandoned schoolhouse, post office and grain elevator are all that remain. It is considered to be a ghost town. The schoolhouse was built in 1905 and shut down in the 1940's. When we arrived in the evening, we only had about 45 minutes of daylight left and by the looks of our surroundings, Govan is not a place you want to be stuck in at night. Also the nearest town is an hour away. At the schoolhouse there is a trail that goes all the way around the building but has no other entry besides the front door. Walking around you immediately get a sense that you are not supposed to be there. Inside is even more eerie. There's 2 large rooms and in the center is a smaller room which may have been an office. The roof is completely gone and the floor is in disrepair. I believe the restrooms were probably outside in an outhouse. Wanting to know more about this strange place I found a news report here that explained of several unsolved murders that took place in the area and some fires that burned much of the town down. After the last fire no one wanted to rebuild and left Govan for good. Some places are just better off left alone I guess. Some places weren't meant for inhabitants and now that 45 minutes of daylight is gone. Now is our time to leave, and leave Govan for good.