Ferry County, Washington State, U.S.A.: Republic Washington

The County Seat of Ferry County...

Republic Washington sits on the western foothills of the Kettle River Range at a base elevation of 2,400 feet above sea level, 30 miles south of the U.S. / Canadian in northeastern Washington State. The small incorporated city is the seat of Ferry County covering 1.59 square miles of landscape. 2014 U.S. Census population is 1,083, another thousand or more people live in the nearby countryside and seasonal visitation add additional people into this area during the fair weather months.

It was gold prospectors who in the late 19th century founded The Mining District of Eureka on mineral rich Eureka Creek. The Great Republic claim, found by Thomas Ryan and Philip Creasor on March 5, 1896, was the highest producer of gold in the region and by 1900 the settlement was booming. A post office was established but postal authorities rejected the name Eureka because there was already a town by that name in Clark County, Washington. The citizens then decided to honor the Great Republic mining claim by proposing the name Republic. This name was accepted and the settlement was incorporated as a city on May 22, 1900.

Ferry County Courthouse, Republic Washington
J. Foster Fanning photography

The city of Republic Washington lays hidden in the valley centered in the foreground of this photograph of the nearby landscape (below). The middle-ground, the round basalt dome of rock is Big Gib, the iconic landmark of Republic. In the background are Sherman Peak (left) at 7,011' and Snow Peak at 7,103' in the center of the Kettle River Range seen from the west. These are two mountain summits near the middle of this north / south range. 5,574’ Sherman Pass, Washington State’s highest year round mountain pass, is down and to the left of Sherman Peak (unseen in this photo).

Sherman Peak (left) at 7,011' and Snow Peak at 7,103' in the center of the Kettle River Range seen from the west.
J. Foster Fanning photography

Geographic Facts

The elevation profile of Republic WA is approximately 725 feet measured from the San Poil River stream-bed to the junction of N. Madison Avenue and Gold Mountain Road. The city lays primarily on a south to southwest facing aspect above the confluence of Granite Creek and the San Poil River. The center altitude of the town, at the meeting of Highway 21 and Clark Street, is 2,561’ above sea level. The incorporated city of Republic, according to the most recent U.S. Census is 1.591 square mile or 1018.24 acres.

DEMOGRAPHICS
If you are in the remote city of Republic you are never far from the mountains that define part of the nature of this unique area of Washington State.