Curlew

History

In 1896, two traders, Guy S. Helphry and J. Walters, set up a general store at an old ferry crossing near the junction of Curlew Creek and the Kettle River. The site around the store grew into a collection of log buildings and other stores. In 1898, a post office was established and the town was named "Curlew". Miners, railroad workers, natives, and others passed through the region and by 1901, a bridge was built across the Kettle River and the community had grown to a population of 200. Nearby mines such as Drummer, Lancaster and Panama grew. Curlew's population and expansion peaked at this time, and the town contained two general stores, two saloons, a hotel, two livery stables, a dry goods store and several other businesses. The Curlew Air Force Station, part of the network of Air Defense Command radar stations, was near the area and was operational in the 1950s. , the radar site no longer exists, and the base, northwest of Curlew up the Kettle River valley, is in use by Job Corps. In fall 1901, the Republic and Kettle Valley Railway, and Spokane Falls and Northern Railway, a subsidiary of the Great Northern Railway, were building competing Grand Forks, British Columbia to Republic, Washington lines. About a mile north of Curlew, the Republic and Kettle Valley grade passed over the Great Northern one. In January 1902, Great Northern construction crews were unsuccessful in pulling down the Republic and Kettle Valley trestlework that crossed the Great Northern track. Law enforcement officers diffused a series of subsequent confrontations. Republic and Kettle Valley Railway, which began the Grand Forks to St. Peter's Creek passenger service in March 1902, extended the line to five or six miles north of Republic in April, and held a symbolic last spike ceremony.…

Geography

Curlew is located at the confluence of Long Alec Creek and the Kettle River. Its elevation is above sea level. Via State Route 21, it is north of Republic, the Ferry County seat, and south of the Canadian border. One of the most popular sites on the Kettle River in summer is "the Old Swimming Hole" near the center of town. Curlew was a pick-up point for moonshine that was dropped in the Kettle River. The tradition is still celebrated on the first Sunday in June each year during the Curlew Barrel Derby Days. A barrel is set adrift in the Kettle River at the Job Corps Bridge, and local citizens bet on when it will reach town.

Race & ethnicity

Largest nearby schools

• Curlew Elem & High School
  Other · Curlew · 216 students · 14.4:1 ratio
• Ferry County Open Doors - Youth Reengagement
  High · Curlew · 33 students