Week 8: Harrington, Washington: Public History in Rural America

Courtesy of Robertson Arts & More.

            Richard F. Steele’s “History of Lincoln County, Washington” looks at what makes Lincoln County such a great place to live.  There are ten profitable industries in Lincoln County: grain, hay, dairying, fruit, horses, cattle, hogs, poultry, gardening, and bee culture.  The soil in Lincoln County is very fertile and the amount of wheat grown in this area exceeds what most other areas grow.  Those who do not grow wheat successfully grow fruits, vegetables, or hay.  Raising cattle and poultry as well as dairying are also lucrative businesses.  Everyone who lives in Lincoln County benefit from the advantages of city life: free mail delivery, electric lights, telephones, and great schools.  Steele looks at the towns that make up Lincoln County, gives some background information on them, and explains what make these towns great. 

Courtesy of CONTENTdm Collection. Harrington, Washington

           Harrington 100 Years looks at the history of Harrington from the very first settlers until 1980.  In 1882, the town of Harrington was established and the next year the town gained its first inhabitants and started to grow.  The first store was built and operated by Edward Willis and Charles Billings, and all of their goods sold in the store were freighted from Sprague.  As the years progressed, Harrington continued to grow; a blacksmith shop, hotel, and a saloon were established in 1884.  During the construction of the Great Northern Railroad starting in 1892, Harrington “enjoyed one of its most exciting and prosperous times.” (7) Starting in 1901, Harrington began the steps to incorporate the town and in 1902 they elected their first city officials.  As the 1900’s progressed, Harrington continued to progress with the rest of the town’s in Lincoln County.  Harrington was a farming and cattle community, with wheat as the primary crop. 

Courtesy of Seattle Times. Wheat Farming.

            HistoryLink’s Thumbnail History of Lincoln County looks at the history of Lincoln County and the towns that make up the county.  In 1883, Lincoln County was formed from Spokane County.  One of the region’s first permanent settlers was Russell M. Bacon and was appointed Crab Creek postmaster.  The region’s first industry was cattle and later on wheat became dominant.  The towns Davenport, Sprague, Harrington, Wilbur, Odessa, and Almira make up Lincoln County.  Aloysius Harry Harker was the first permanent settler the area that would become Davenport, but the town was named after John C. Davenport.  Sprague started out as a sheep camp in the 1870’s and was originally called Hoodooville after the early settler William Burrows, also known as Hoodoo Billy.  Sprague boomed during the 1880s when the Northern Pacific Railroad was built.  Harrington became a town in 1883, and was named after W.P. Harrington.  The town was sparsely populated until 1892 when the Great Northern Railway built a station in the town.  Wilbur was named for Samuel Wilbur Condon, who was one of the area’s earliest settlers, and Condon started a ferry service across the Columbia River.  The construction of the Grand Coulee Dam greatly benefited Wilbur.  A cattle rancher from Portugal, a sheep rancher, and a Russian German wheat farmer settled Odessa.  The town was named Odessa to attracting Russian-German wheat farming immigrants.  The town of Almira grew with the arrival of the Northern Pacific Railroad and during the construction of the Grand Coulee Dam, but after its completion the population declined.  Although the number of farms has decreased in Lincoln County, wheat is still the dominant crop and the beef cattle industry is still significant.  

Courtesy of HistoryLink.org.
Northern Pacific Railroad promotional brochure, 1897.

            “Illustrated History of the Big Bend County” looks at the history of Harrington from the beginning.  In 1882, Furth and Robinson bought 1,500 acres of land, which was then deeded in 1892 to the California Land & Stock Company.  Most of the early residents were from Yolo or Calusa counties in California.  These settlers began to grow wheat and began to develop the town by opening a few businesses.  During the construction of the Great Northern Railroad, Harrington prospered and the population greatly grew and in 1904 Harrington built a city hall.

The Spokesman-Review article “Pretty Girl Fights for Home” is about Miss Maude E Green’s fight to keep her land.  A Mr. Joseph Drazan claimed that Miss Green failed to establish her claim on the land and that he had the right to claim it as his own.  Miss Green had only slept on the land for four nights but has worked the land and had raised two crops of wheat already.  She is fighting Drazan’s claim court and Register Ludden and Receiver Wells would decide the case from the testimony from both Miss Green and Mr. Drazan.