Paha, WA

Paha, this once boisterous, lively, little town of an estimated population of 600, now lies quietly, about half way between Ritzville and Lind.

Paha is situated on the main line of the Northern Pacific Railroad, which was completed through there about the latter part of 1881. The first settle­ment in the area was made by George A. Miller in the early 1880's when he purchased the NE¹/4 & SE¹/4 of Section 26, in Township 18, and Range 34. He engaged in promoting immigration and locating people on government land and selling railroad lands.

The town site of Paha was laid out on Section 25, in Township 18, and Range 34, by the Northern Pacific Railroad and platted on the 8th day of December 1880, at which time Adams County was still a part of Whitman County Washington Territory. This plat was later vacated in 1887 and re-platted July 2, 1887, by the railroad.

In 1889, Clark Long, a pioneer Indian fighter, farmer, stock raiser, business man, first Adams County Probate Judge, and U.S. Commissioner, purchased the town site of Paha from the railroad and located there. He then became the town site proprietor and real estate dealer of Paha and he also owned and operated a large general merchan­dise establishment.

In 1900 the Cummin brothers built the Cummin Brother Flour Mill Company and Paha started to boom. The mill employed about twenty workers and Paha could boast of having one of the three largest flour mills in the county. The mill ground approximately 400 barrels of flour daily. This con­sumed the larger part of the grain produced in the prosperous growing agricultural district. Prior to 1911, all grain grown in the southeast area of the county was hauled to Paha by wagon. In 1906-7, in addition to flour output, over 75,000 bushels of grain was shipped from Paha by rail. With four mammoth warehouses, a fine flour mill and already a conspicuous shipping point for flour and grain and located very near the center of the county, Paha was headed for an era of prosperity.

The first post office was established December 4,1886 by William J. Winslow. The first store was opened by Lem W. Jones in 1888. He later moved his store to another building which he operated along with the post office, until his death October 26, 1931. Mr. Jones was a kindly man who loved children and he always had a treat for the little ones who came into his store. After his death the establishment was operated by his daughter Una Gleich, for two years. Then Mr. and Mrs. John Timm, a sister and brother-in-law of Mrs. Jones, took over the store and post office in 1933. The post office was transferred to Ritzville in 1943 and at that time Mr. and Mrs. Timm sold the store and moved to Ritzville. The store was never reopened, it was torn down by the new owner.

In earlier years Paha was populated by enterprising, progressive citizens who had high hope of Paha being the important shipping and trading center of Eastern Washington.

In 1903 Rufus L. Parker organized a private bank which grew and prospered with the town and in 1907 had $25,000 deposits on hand. There were two general stores, a hardware store, a lum­ber yard, owned by H.J. Miller, hotel, barber shop, meat market, two grain buying agencies, flouring mill, two saloons, a dance hall. Bertha Hallin a new brick school house built in 1902. There was also a weekly newspaper, "The Paha Hub," oper­ated by the H.&H. Publishing Company, with A.J. Harder as its editor.

The little town was doing so well that its citizens were planning to incorporate it and then the ax fell. The mill closed down about 1909. Families and businesses moved out, their migration hastened by the arrival of the automobile, which made the larg­er trading centers more accessible to the farmers. The first unusual activity since that time was the construction of a steel grain elevator by Union Ele­vator and Warehouse, in June of 1971.

Today only a small portion of the once beautiful large grove of trees remain. Many pioneer picnics, private picnics, birthday parties, and baseball games were held in the grove. Only a trickle of water remains of the once excellent spring water supply. Used in early days as a camping site by the Indians. This is how Paha got its Indian name, Paha, meaning, "hills."

Only one of the original houses is still inhabited by Bob Timm. This home was built by his father, John Timm, for his mother-in-law, Mary Dibble Westover, a widow, when she came to live in Paha. There are now four dwellings, altogether, with inhabitants in this little town that was once built on  "High Hopes."

By LaVerne Kautz as published in "The History of Adams County Vol I"