Connell: Art, History, and Ways to Explore the Town

Connell combines railroad history with public art and a variety of experiences. The town was founded in 1883 as a railroad stop called Palouse Junction. Today, when planning your trip, you can combine historical insights with outdoor activity and discoveries in public spaces. For families and other travel groups with different interests, accommodation that allows you to plan each day around your scheduled activities is therefore a good choice.

Bike and Walking Paths with Art Along the Way

The Connell community bike path runs parallel to U.S. Highway 395 and is just under one mile long. The Connell Community Bike Path has four entrances and exits. Along Connell’s approximately one-mile walking and biking path are six steel flower sculptures titled “Prairie Flowers, Potato & Wheat.” A brochure for the walk to the murals and sculptures also includes a walking map. This allows you to prepare specifically for your tour without viewing the artworks merely as individual stops.

Additional artworks are distributed throughout the town. The “Wild Life” series consists of playful bronze sculptures by Tom Otterness along Columbia Avenue; benches and tables complement the ensemble there. The “Harvest History Mural” was created as a project of the Downtown Development Group and was inspired by a photograph provided by Feathers Thompson in 1928. It shows a large team of draft horses in front of an early combine harvester. The “Stalk of Wheat” sculpture is located on the walking path beside Highway 395 near Pioneer Park and East Elm Street.

Local History at the Museum

The North Franklin Heritage Museum is open Saturdays from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.; appointments are possible at other times. The collection includes historical artifacts, pictures, costumes, tools, furniture, DVDs with eyewitness accounts, books on local history, maps, brochures, obituaries, and school photographs. The museum also includes a restored 1904 Gothic Revival church. If you are interested in Connell’s development and the region’s way of life, you can make this visit a separate focus of your trip planning.

Parks and Active Breaks

The historic Old Town Park at 350 W. Adams Street was Connell’s first community park. It has public restrooms, a half-court basketball court, a volleyball court, swings, and climbing bars. Connell’s skate park is located in Pioneer Park at 341 E. Birch Street. Another park at the intersection of East Clark Street and North Chelan has a large soccer field with a goal and ball rebound net.

Connell as a Starting Point for Your Planning

The Wheat Line intercity bus service connects Connell with Pasco, Eltopia, Othello, Moses Lake, Ritzville, and Spokane. This provides a specific connection to several places for planning your journey. In the Coulee Corridor, important branch and loop routes run on intersecting roads through Connell, Ephrata, Wilson Creek, Marlin, Almira, Hartline, Stratford, and Warden, as well as intervening towns; these include sections of State Routes 28, 260, 262, 282, and 395.

The Connell Fall Festival is also part of the town’s character: The annual community event has been celebrated for more than 100 years. When choosing a vacation rental or vacation home in Connell, you can therefore first decide whether your stay should focus primarily on the museum and local history, the murals and sculptures, the biking and walking paths, or the parks and sports. For further trip planning, continue separately to the linked destinations Pasco and West Pasco.

For the overarching travel overview: Franklin County.