Pasco’s Moore Mansion: A Monument to a Love Story Cut Short

My wife and I tied the knot at the Moore Mansion on September 14, 1991, so it will always be a special place for me. It was a magical place to get married, and at the time, it was only around $800 to rent the entire place. 34 years later, it’s nearly ten times that – it’s all relative, though – and today’s rental at the mansion includes services and amenities that didn’t come with our event in 1991.

Who was James A. Moore, and why did he build the Moore Mansion?

James Moore was a Seattle real estate and investment tycoon who founded the Moore Investment Company in the early 1900s. The company was responsible for building multiple structures in the Seattle area and Pasco - all became landmarks, and later ended up on the National Registry of Historical Places: The Moore Theater, The Moore Hotel, The Washington Hotel, and The Moore Mansion.

According to theclio.com, in 1905, James Moore purchased 1000 acres of land in Pasco along the Columbia River. He planned to farm the land and prove that irrigation could be used to grow crops in the desert area. There was another motivation for him to move to Pasco: doctors recommended that his wife, who was very ill, would recover or be more comfortable in a drier climate. Construction of the mansion began in 1907, but sadly, his wife passed away before the project was finished in 1908. Moore was building the dream home for her comfort.

James Moore proved irrigation could assist in farming in Pasco and successfully grew apples, grapes, and peaches over multiple seasons. His example spurred other farmers to emulate his idea, and soon the area was a booming farming community.

In 1911, Moore grew tired of farming, sold the mansion, and moved out of the area to focus on the steel industry. Since then, the Moore Mansion has been a farm, an underground nightclub during prohibition, survived flooding in the 1940s, became a nursing home in the 1950s, was a home for migrant workers in the 1970s and 1980s, a restaurant in the 1990s, and nearly burned to the ground in 2001. It remained empty until 2003, when it was purchased for historical restoration. Now, in 2025, it is completely restored to its original luster and is a stunning wedding venue.