Since the beginning, we've named our soups after real places throughout Washington and the surrounding Northwest. From small towns and mountain peaks to rivers, canyons, and historic landmarks, each name was chosen because it means something to us and the region we call home. Each soup has a story, and so does the place that gave it its name.
In 1875, a trading post was established to serve a nearby reservation in the Coeur d’Alene region. Daniel Truax, a sawmill operator who learned the railroad was coming through, decided to plat a townsite. His wife suggested the name Tekoa, a biblical term meaning “City of Tents.”
One of the region’s first cold storage and seed pea operations soon followed, creating jobs for about 50 women. These workers sorted and packaged locally grown peas as well as shipments brought in from California.
Located along the main rail line to Spokane, Tekoa grew as a grain and apple shipping center. In 1908, the Milwaukee Railroad extended its transcontinental line through the town, further boosting its prosperity.
In 1888, the Union Pacific Railroad also established major operations in Tekoa, including a roundhouse, machine shop, coal bunker, and district headquarters, creating employment for roughly one in four households. By the mid-20th century, railroad activity began to decline. In 1950, Milwaukee operations ended in Tekoa, and Union Pacific moved its crew to Spokane.
Today, rail lines still move grain and agricultural products through the area, but the old depot now serves as a farm store, and the towering steel trestle remains a reminder of the town’s railroad-centered past.
