Editing Tekoa, Washington (section)

==History==

The area that includes the present-day Town of Tekoa was settled by the [[Coeur d'Alene people]]. In 1886, David A. Huffman and George T. Huffman settled there. The townsite was platted in 1888 and was named after the Biblical town.<ref name=majors>{{Cite book| last = Majors | first = Harry M. | title = Exploring Washington | publisher = Van Winkle Publishing Co | year = 1975 | page = 112 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CoWrPQAACAAJ| isbn = 978-0-918664-00-6}}</ref>

Tekoa was incorporated in 1889 with just under 300 people at the base of Tekoa Mountain (elevation 2,490 feet), on the extreme eastern end of the Palouse, and to the west of the Benewah Range of Idaho. In 1908 the railroad trestle above the town was built. By 1910 the population had grown to 1,694. Over the next 60 years, Tekoa began a population decline as mechanized farming reduced the need for workers, and railway was abandoned. By 1990 the town had fewer than 750 residents, but during the 1990s the population rose to 826 at the [[2000 United States Census|2000 census]].