Originally called Icicle Flats, the area was settled around 1885 as a trading post between the first European settlers and the local Indigenous Americans. However, by 1890, Icicle Flats grew as gold, timber, and fur seekers flooded the region, and the town was renamed Leavenworth. The railroad's arrival at the turn of the century fueled rapid growth, transforming it into a bustling logging hub. But the town's fortunes declined sharply when the railroad rerouted its tracks. For over thirty years, Leavenworth hovered on the brink of becoming a ghost town as businesses shuttered and families moved away in search of better opportunities.