Elevator photos will be next library exhibit

Photographs by Don Witmer of the grain elevators of Whitman County will be on display in The Center at Colfax Library for the next two months.

For the exhibit, Witmer photographed more than 60 sites and nearly every elevator across Whitman County. His photographs describe the continuing evolution as many small elevators are being replaced by large grain transportation and storage facilities.

One of the larger facilities featured in the exhibit is the new McCoy Grain Terminal. During Witmer’s visit in mid-August, McCoy was handling approximately 400 trucks each day and loading delivery trains at night. The facility was accepting about 300,000 bushels of wheat each day while the outgoing trains carried about 400,000 bushels per train.

Witmer grew up on a small farm in Lancaster County, Pa. He began making photographs in 1977. He moved to Alaska in 1987 and to Spokane in 2012.

"The Grain Elevators of Whitman County" will be at The Center from Sept. 1 to Oct. 31. Exhibit hours are Mondays-Wednesdays, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., Thursdays-Fridays, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Saturdays-Sundays 1-5 p.m. (except Labor Day weekend).