Mighty Tieton

History

Ed Marquand first rode in to Tieton in April 2005 while exploring the Yakima area on his bike. Behind what is now the Tieton Lofts, he ran into a patch of goat head thorns that flattened his tires. He spent the afternoon in Tieton Park in the center of town repairing them. The town sparked his imagination.

Marquand is owner of Marquand Books in Seattle, a high quality art book publisher. His ties to the area go back fifteen years when he built a cabin about 15 miles from Tieton.

His initial research revealed that Tieton’s economic base was depressed; that the real estate in the town was declining in value, and that the area itself was safe and pleasant but lacking in economic opportunity. The traditional orchard industry was still strong but no longer structured to support single families as it had earlier in the twentieth century.

Since then, Marquand and his associates have invested heavily in Tieton real estate and the development of buildings close to the town’s center.

Kerry Quint is the Mighty Tieton Projects Manager. He and Marquand were art students together in the early 1970s. Quint ran a shipyard in Seattle, for many years. When he retired, Marquand asked him to manage the Mighty Tieton projects.