Just to give you a sense of things, I'll give you a personal summary of how I think the history of Bordeaux went down.
It started as a logging operation around 1900. Over time it became a company town, a place where men worked and lived, but the town itself was unable to support a thriving community of women and children. As time progressed around 1910, the town was lucrative enough to become a small satellite town, women started living and eating because there was housing and work for women in the mess halls. However, it was short lived because in 1941, the mill was shut down. The lucrative timber had already been exhausted, and since timber was the only industry in Bordeaux, the town was quickly abandoned. In 1942, the Post Office left, and that was essentially the end of the little town of Bordeaux.
Below, I listed a long list of sources and hope that you will pursue them all, so the weaknesses of my historical re-telling can be revealed.
The other book is the Capital Forest: the Forest the Came Back by Margaret Elley Felt, and if you click on the link, it will take you to a PDF of the book. I have not read this book, but I can say without a doubt, it looks highly interesting. I found this book from a wonderful blog called Capital Forest History.
The above image was obtained from a website called Exploring History in Your Hiking Books by Julie Stonefelt, Kevin Mack and Minecraft Steve. If you go to this website, you can see several interesting pictures of the town. I posted this photo because, if you actually go to the town, you'll see the remains of the old smokestack in the photo and thus, it will give you a sense of orientation as you navigate the place.
The two newspaper clippings came from a terrific site called iPentimento: Genealogy and History. Essentially, this website had the most information on Bordeaux that I could find. I posted these newspaper clippings because they give you a intimate sense of the real characters, who had inhabited this place. I loved iPentimento because there are several posts from people, who talk about relatives, who actually lived in Bordeaux, WA.
Apparently, the above picture was obtained from USGS Earth Explorer: earthexplorer.usgs.gov, and it is a picture of how Bordeaux was in 1941. I tried playing with this site myself and could not get this image. However, I do believe that it is possible. The author of this picture came from the blog Olympia Time, a personal blog authored by Emmett about Olympia. Frankly, I was impressed with this picture and am very grateful that the author complied this image.
When I played with USGS Earth Explorer, I was struck by how environmentally devastated the region had been, and was delighted how thick the vegetation had grown back, given that the whole region had been logged extensively.
Also, if you find Ghost Towns in Washington State to be interesting, then you definitely should have a sneak peak at these two websites. One called Ghost Towns of Washington and the other just called Ghost Towns.
But last but not least, I will tell you how I found this place.
''The hike is hike is in the SE corner of Capitol Forest (in the Mima Falls area, and about
2 miles before you get to the Bob Brammert hiking trail)
To get to it, go down Bourdeaux Rd, you will see an old mossy building on the left and a
small turnout for two cars on the left. (And this is before you get to the entrance to
small turnout for two cars on the left. (And this is before you get to the entrance to
Capitol Forest.) Park there and follow the trail into the woods (there's two small openings
going into the woods, choose the one closest to Capitol Forest and you will be able to get
to a bridge that takes you to the ruins) It's approx 1/4-1/2 mile walk it's very close to the
road, but hidden enough you won't see it when driving." (WTA Website-Bordeaux Ghost Town Trip Report)
So, use this information well and as always, happy trails!
