Spokane County, Washington

Spokane County is a county located in the U.S. state of Washington. As of the 2010 census the population was 471,221, making it the fourth-most populous county in Washington state. The largest city and county seat is Spokane, the second largest city in the state, behind Seattle.

Spokane County was formed on January 29, 1858. It was annexed by Stevens County on January 19, 1864, and re-created on October 30, 1879. It is named after the Spokane tribe.

Spokane County comprises the Spokane-Spokane Valley, WA Metropolitan Statistical Area.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 1,781 square miles (4,610 km²), of which 1,764 square miles (4,570 km²) is land and 17 square miles (44 km²) (0.9%) is water. The lowest point in the county is the Spokane River behind Long Lake Dam (boundary of Stevens County) at 1538 feet (468 m) above sea level. (There is virtually no change in elevation between the dam and the mouth of the Little Spokane River inside Riverside State Park.) The highest point in the county is the summit of Mount Spokane at 5883 feet (1793 m).

Spokane, Washington

Spokane (pronunciation: ⁱ/spoʊˈkæn/ spoh-KAN) is a city in Washington State, in the northwestern United States. It is the seat of Spokane County. It is located on the Spokane River, west of the Rocky Mountain foothills in eastern Washington, 92 miles (148 km) south of the Canadian border, approximately 20 miles (30 km) from the Washington–Idaho border, and 280 miles (450 km) east of Seattle along Interstate 90. The city and wider Inland Northwest region is served by Spokane International Airport, 5 miles (8 km) west of downtown Spokane. According to the 2010 Census, Spokane had a population of 208,916, making it the second largest city in Washington and the 102nd largest city in the United States.

The first humans to live in the area, the Spokane people (their name meaning "children of the sun" in Salishan), arrived between 13,000 and 8,000 years ago, living off plentiful game. Known as the birthplace of Father's Day, Spokane is officially nicknamed the "Lilac City". David Thompson explored the area with the westward expansion and establishment of the North West Company's Spokane House in 1810. This trading post was the first long-term European settlement in Washington. Completion of the Northern Pacific Railway in 1881 brought settlers to the Spokane area, and that same year it was officially incorporated as a city with the name "Spokan Falls". The "e" was added to Spokane in 1883, and "Falls" was dropped in 1891. In the late 19th century, gold and silver were discovered in the Inland Northwest. The local economy depended on mining, timber, and agriculture until the 1980s. Spokane hosted the first environmentally themed World's Fair at Expo '74.