Editing Davenport, Washington (section)

==History==
Prior to European settlement, the area around what would become Davenport was home to the Lower Band of the [[Spokane people|Spokane]].<ref name="STH">{{cite web |title=Spokane Tribal History |url=https://spokanetribe.com/resources/dnr/preservation/history/ |website=spokanetribe.com |publisher=Spokane Tribe of Indians |access-date=1 May 2022}}</ref> The location was also along a popular east-west trade route, and the spring at present day Davenport was seen as an oasis and place for rest and camping along the journey.<ref name="HLC">{{cite web |title=History — Lincoln County, WA |url=https://www.co.lincoln.wa.us/history |website=co.lincoln.wa.us |publisher=Lincoln County, Washington |access-date=1 May 2022}}</ref>

That trail would eventually bring white settlers to the area, with prospectors passing through on their way to goldfields in [[Montana]]. Like the Spokane before them, these settlers used the springs at the present site of Davenport to collect water, rest and camp. The setting of the springs in the otherwise semi-arid region attracted some of these new arrivals to settle at the location, and in 1880 Aloysius Harry Harker became the first non-native permanent settler at the location, with John and Emma Eads Nicholls arriving soon after. The settlement was located at the springs and known as Cottonwood Springs. John C. Davenport founded a separate settlement on higher ground nearby in 1883, which was destroyed by fire the following year. Davenport's settlement relocated to Cottonwood Springs, taking Davenport's name with it.<ref name="Becker2010"/> The city was made the [[county seat]] of Lincoln County on December 15, 1896, after an election that had chosen Davenport over then-seat [[Sprague, Washington|Sprague]], which had been destroyed in a fire, and Harrington.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Steele |first1=Richard F. |last2=Rose |first2=Arthur P. |year=1904 |title=An Illustrated History of the Big Bend Country, Embracing Lincoln, Douglas, Adams and Franklin Counties |pages=[https://archive.org/details/illustratedhisto01stee/page/106 106]–110 |publisher=Western Historical Publishing Company |location=Spokane, Washington |oclc=8990120 |url=https://archive.org/details/illustratedhisto01stee |via=Google Books |accessdate=February 2, 2017}}</ref>

[[File:Grain elevators, Davenport (36248378303).jpg|thumb|left|Grain elevators along the railroad in Davenport]]

Davenport gained early prominence in the north central part of the [[Columbia River Drainage Basin|Columbia Basin]] of eastern Washington with the arrival of the Washington Central branch of the transcontinental [[Northern Pacific Railway]] (NP) railroad line, which reached Davenport in February 1889. The [[Seattle, Lake Shore and Eastern Railway|Seattle Lake Shore & Eastern Railway]] (SLS&E) arrived later that year. A branch line of the [[Great Northern Railway (U.S.)|Great Northern Railway]] (GN) was built to Davenport from Bluestem in the 1920s. Davenport's train depot, built in 1889 with the arrival of the railroads, lasted almost 100 years before being demolished in 1988.<ref name="Becker2010"/>

[[List of Primary State Highways in Washington#Primary State Highway 2|Primary State Highway #2]] (a.k.a. "Sunset Highway") closely followed the CW railroad from [[Coulee City, Washington|Coulee City]] through Davenport to Spokane. The route is now known as [[U.S. Route 2]], but does not follow the original Sunset Highway in many places. [[List of Primary State Highways in Washington#Primary State Highway 7|Primary State Highway #7]] also intersected with [[List of Primary State Highways in Washington#Primary State Highway 2|PSH #2]] in Davenport, and is now part of [[Washington State Route 28|State Route 28]]. [[List of Primary State Highways in Washington#Primary State Highway 22|PSH #22]] ran north from Davenport to the Canada–US border near Northport. This is [[Washington State Route 25|State Route 25]] now.