Ephrata

The first permanent settlers near what is now Ephrata were the Egbert brothers, who arrived in 1882. In 1886, they sold their deeded land to horseman Frank Beezley, who developed the land around the spring into a large ranch with lush hay fields, orchards, and gardens. The area became known as Beezley Springs, and the hills west of town are still called Beezley Hills. When a new county, Grant, was sliced off of the formerly vast Douglas County in 1909, Ephrata was named the new seat, which ...