The Tiger Store is the last remaining building of the ghost town of Tiger. Built at a natural crossroad, it remains at the area's major crossroad, the intersection of Highways 20 and 31. It has become a museum, gift shop, information centre and rest area. It is the Visitor Information Center for the North Pend Oreille Scenic Byway and the surrounding area. Below is a bit of the story of the Tiger Store and the now gone town of Tiger, as told on the
Rootsweb website.
Tiger is/was 3 miles south of the town of Ione, WA. Given that the Tiger post office closed in 1975 we don't know what its 1975 zip code might have been. It appears to be in the 99139 zip code area at present, which is Ione, WA.
History of the Tiger Store
There aren't any true ghost towns in Pend Oreille County. The area was settled too close to the railroad line for that. About the nearest thing to one is that unpretentious frame building called Tiger Store. It is one of the best examples of "Boom Town Architecture," in the State of Washington.
In the fall of 1905, Jennie Wooding circulated a petition for a post office in Tiger. Everyone in the community helped construct a log building near the boat landing, to house the new post office and a general store. When the building was completed in 1906, Emanuel Yoder became the first postmaster and the Woodings ran the store.
In 1910, it was moved half a mile west to be next to the new Idaho & Washington Northern Railroad tracks. Peggi O'Neil bought the store and Flora Cross was the Post Mistress until 1943.
In 1912, a new building was constructed for the store and the post office at its present location. The post office closed in 1975. The owner of the store at that time was Barbara Smith. She was also the Post Mistress.
A grant was received in 1999 and the building was restored and opened as a museum, rest area, highway information center, and gift shop where local artists sell their creations. Original post office fixtures from the log cabin post office and the 1912 post office are on display. The museum items were either in the store or donated by local families.
