A Review of the Resources and Industries of the State of Washington, 1909 Part 14

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LINCOLN COUNTY

Lincoln county, adjoining Spokane county on the west, is one of eastern Was.h.i.+ngton's great granaries. Its northern boundary is defined by the Columbia and Spokane rivers. The bulk of its lands are rolling prairies of great fertility. It has about 2,300 square miles of territory and about 25,000 people.

TOPOGRAPHY.

The bulk of the county consists of the rolling prairie land characteristic of the great wheat belt of the state. There are some mineral lands in the northern part of the county and here and there will be found considerable stretches of timber. In its northern portion the county is well watered by the Columbia and Spokane rivers, while in the southwestern section and elsewhere numerous small creeks and lakes occur.

RESOURCES.

The great resource of Lincoln county is its wheat fields, which in 1907 produced to exceed 8,000,000 bushels. Other cereals and hay are important crops. Along its northern part, particularly on the bottom lands of the rivers, much fruit is grown, including peaches and all the small fruits. Diversified farming is growing in favor among the farmers. Compared with other counties of the state, Lincoln county ranks as follows in the number of its stock: Horses, second place; hogs, second place; cattle, sixth place.

The county also stands fourth in the number of its school houses and spends annually $100,000 for school support.

In wealth per capita, Lincoln county leads the state, showing for a.s.sessment purposes an average holding of real estate of $1,163 and $226 in personalty.

TRANSPORTATION.

The county is traversed from west to east its entire length by the Great Northern and the central Was.h.i.+ngton branch of the Northern Pacific railroads, some distance from its side lines, so that very little of the county is more than 12 miles from a railroad s.h.i.+pping point. There are 170 miles of railroad tracks in the county.

CITIES AND TOWNS.

DAVENPORT, the county seat and largest town in the county, is situated on the central Was.h.i.+ngton branch of the Northern Pacific railway near the middle eastern portion of the county, and has a population of about 2,800 people. Its business blocks are chiefly built of brick. It owns its own water system, is lighted with electricity, has fine school buildings and churches. Its court house cost about $80,000. It is surrounded by splendid farms and annually s.h.i.+ps out about 1,250,000 bushels of wheat.

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WILBUR, a town of 1,500 people, on the Northern Pacific railway, is a very important s.h.i.+pping and distributing center. It has large flour mills, warehouses, five churches, and schools, electric lights, and water system, bank, newspaper, parks, and important commercial inst.i.tutions.

ALMIRA, in the western part of the county, on the Northern Pacific railway, is another prosperous and growing grain center with about 600 people.

HARRINGTON, on the Great Northern railway, is a town of some 1,200 people. It has a beautiful location, commands the trade of a large farming county, s.h.i.+ps grain and livestock, and is a prosperous and growing town.

CRESTON, EGYPT, and BLUESTEM are smaller growing commercial centers.

MASON COUNTY

Mason county lies on the upper reaches of Puget sound, having the Olympic mountains at its north, where about one-fourth of the county is in the Olympic forest reserve. Its total area is about 900 square miles, and it has a population of about 6,000. Hood's ca.n.a.l penetrates well into the center of the county in its great bend, giving it a very long salt-water sh.o.r.e line. From the Olympic mountains numerous streams flow into the Puget sound, while others empty their waters into Gray's harbor.

The county is a great forest of splendid timber, which has been only to a limited degree cut out. The soil of the foothills and valleys Is composed chiefly of shot clays and alluvial deposits, making good farming, stock-raising and fruit-growing lands.

RESOURCES.

Logging and its allied industries const.i.tute the main industries of the county, Much of the logs are s.h.i.+pped out of the county to feed sawmills in other parts of the Sound.

Raising and marketing oysters is an important source of wealth to the county.

There is already considerable acreage for farming and stock-raising, stock finding pasturage the year round. This industry will grow as the land is cleared.

The county affords splendid hunting and fis.h.i.+ng in season.

TRANSPORTATION.

The county is so cut into by the inlets and bays of the sound that it has splendid transportation facilities by steamer to all the sound ports. The Northern Pacific railway reaches its southern boundary. No other railroads traverse the county but its logging railroads, which can give only a limited service.

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PRINc.i.p.aL TOWNS.

SHELTON is the county seat, situated on an arm of the sound at the terminus of the logging railroad, and has about 1,200 inhabitants.

Steamers from its wharves reach all the parts of the sound directly or by connection with others.

The logging industry, manufacturing lumber, cultivating oysters, fis.h.i.+ng and farming are the chief industries of its people. It has four churches, good schools, a newspaper, good stocks of goods, volunteer fire department, electric lights, gravity water system.

The logging industry, which centers here, employs 2,000 men and pays out $120,000 a month.

LAKE CUSHMAN is a summer resort in the mountains famous for its big trout catches.

ALLYN, on an arm of the sound, is central to much oyster lands, logging camps and fruit orchards.

ARCADIA, also on the sound, is central to considerable stock-raising and lumbering.

DETROIT is a prosperous village, proud of the grapes grown on some of its logged-off lands.

MATLOCK is a town on the logging railroad and central to large logging operations.

OKANOGAN COUNTY.

Okanogan, the largest county in the state, lies on the northern boundary just east of the Cascade peaks. It has an area of 4,500 square miles and a population estimated at 13,000.

About one-fourth of the county, a district of great latent resources, is still within the Colville Indian reservation, but is soon to be thrown open to settlement.

RESOURCES.

This county is endowed with great natural resources and a delightful climate, and is destined to become thickly populated.

The mountains and their foothills have large and numerous veins of metals and are covered also with extensive forests. The rolling hills of the south and center are rich in agricultural possibilities, suitable for stock, and great crops of cereals and fruits. The Okanogan river and its branches drain the greater portion of the county, rising in British Columbia and flowing south through the center of the county and joining the Columbia river on the south boundary. The Methow river drains a large portion of the western part and makes a paradise for the frontiersman along its sloping sides.

TRANSPORTATION.

Until now the rivers and wagon roads are the only paths of commerce.

But into this blossoming empire the railroads are looking with longing eyes. The Great Northern, however, has already tapped the [Page 72]

northern boundary and projected a line down the Okanogan and Columbia rivers to Wenatchee. Other railroads will follow, as the prize is too great not to be divided.

PRINc.i.p.aL TOWNS.

CONCONULLY, the county seat, is situated among the foothills and mines west of the Okanogan river. In addition to the mining industry, the raising of sheep and cattle is followed by the citizens. The town has a population of about 500 people.

OROVILLE is the chief town on the railroad, near the northern border, and is the terminus of the road. It has about 500 people and is growing. It is an important ore-s.h.i.+pping point, surrounded also by good fruit-raising and agricultural lands, yet unirrigated.