The History of the Yakima Valley, Washington, Comprising Yakima, Kittitas and
Benton Counties, The S.J. Clarke Publishing Co., 1919, Volume II, page 130
A portrait of Julius T. Harrah appears in this publication.

JULIUS T. HARRAH.

Actuated by a spirit of enterprise in all that he has undertaken, quick to
recognize and utilize opportunities, Julius T. Harrah has become one of the
capitalists of the northwest. His investments in this section of the country are
large and prominent among his holdings is the Commercial Hotel in Yakima. The
story of his life is the story of earnest endeavor intelligently directed and
the steps in his orderly progression are easily discernible. Mr. Harrah is of
South American birth, He was born in Sao Paulo, Brazil. on the 8th of June,
1884, a son of George and Thamazinha (Messiter) Harrah, the latter a daughter of
the British ambassador to Brazil. The former was a civil engineer who went to
Brazil at the age of nineteen years. He was born in Philadelphia, in 1840 and
was a son of Charles J. Harrah, a prominent banker, who was the organizer of the
Midvale Steel Company, was president of the Philadelphia Rapid Transit Company,
controlling the street car system of that city, and otherwise prominently
connected with the business interests and development of Philadelphia. The
Metropolitan Opera House of that city now stands on the site of the old family
homestead. His son, George Harrah, made the trip from Philadelphia to South
America on a sailing vessel. He became a civil engineer and built the first
tunnel in Brazil. He was also the builder of several railroads and erected
depots at various large towns of that country. In later life he went to Havana,
Cuba, where he erected a palatial residence containing fifty-seven rooms and
there his remaining days were passed, his death occurring in 1908. He became the
second largest stockholder of the two leading railways of Brazil and was
otherwise prominently identified with the development and upbuilding of that
country. His family numbered four children who are yet living, two sons and two
daughters.

Mr. Harrah, whose name introduces this review, acquired his education largely
through twelve years' study in Europe-in London, Paris, Heidelberg and other
points of the old world. On coming to the United States it was with the
expectation of settling at Detroit, but in 1909 he made his way westward to
visit the Seattle exposition. He became interested in the northwest and decided
it was the best place in the world. He then began investing in this section of
the country, purchasing orchard land, and he built a beautiful summer home with
swimming pools and everything necessary for the promotion of comfort and
happiness. In fact this is one of the finest summer homes of the United States.
In familiarizing himself with conditions in the northwest, Mr. Harrah recognized
the fact that Yakima needed better hotels. He was charged five dollars for a
beefsteak at one of the hotels and he decided that this section of the country
needed a better deal in hotel management and conduct if visitors were to be
drawn to the city. He therefore purchased a half interest in the Commercial
Hotel in 1911, the year in which it was started, and he later bought out the
interest of the others and is now sole proprietor. The building was completed in
that year and contains one hundred and sixty rooms, of which sixty-five are with
bath. The dining room will seat five hundred and thirty-five people at one time.
There is a large banquet room and fine ballroom which will accommodate
seventy-five couples, and there are seven excellent sample rooms. One of the
interesting features of the hotel is the handsome bridal chamber. Moreover, the
hotel is noted for its splendid cuisine, which makes it very popular with
traveling men and automobile parties. Mr. Harrah is now remodeling and
refurnishing this splendid hotel. In connection therewith is operated the best
equipped laundry of the city and the hotel furnishes employment to about
seventy-five people.

Mr. Harrah's investments in the northwest amount to over five hundred thousand
dollars and he has extensive interests elsewhere. The town of Harrah was named
in his honor and its growth as a market place is indicated in the fact that in
the past year it shipped more freight than Kennewick. Mr. Harrah has developed
over two hundred acres of fine land in the vicinity of Yakima and is also
prominently known as a breeder of fine Holstein cattle and fine Morgan horses.
The fruit produced in his orchards is unsurpassed throughout the valley,
seventy-six per cent of it being of extra fancy variety. His orchards are
largely devoted to the raising of winesap apples.

On the 7th of June, 1906, Mr. Harrah was married to Miss Constance Raymond, of
New Jersey, who was born in Massachusetts and is a daughter of Charles Henry
Raymond, of New York. The children of this marriage are: George, who was born in
Havana, Cuba, February 27, 1907; June, born December 9, 1910, on the ranch in
Yakima county, and Jule, born June 22, 1915.

Mr. Harrah is a member of Yakima Lodge, No. 24, A. F. & A. M., and has attained
the thirty-second degree of the Scottish Rite in Tacoma Consistory. NO. 3. He is
also a Shriner of Afifi Temple. He is a life member of the Benevolent Protective
Order of Elks and is one of the largest stockholders in the Masonic Temple
Association Building. He is the president of the Automobile Club and president
of the Country Club and is one of the trustees of the Commercial Club. He also
belongs to The Willows, a hunting club with grounds twenty miles south of
Yakima. His political allegiance is given to the republican party. He is an
enthusiastic motorist and has driven his cars over eight hundred thousand
miles. During the period of his residence in the northwest he has become
thoroughly familiar with every phase of the development of the Yakima valley and
has made valuable contribution to the work that has been done.

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Submitted to the Washington Bios Project in December 2007 by Jeffrey L. Elmer.
Submitter has no additional information about the subject of this article.