Usk, Washington

The small northeastern Washington community of Usk is located in the heart of the Calispell Valley, the homeland of the Kalispel Indians. George H. Jones, the area’s first non-Indian settler, obtained a homestead patent in 1895 and founded the town in 1896. He named it after his hometown in Wales. During the next few years, Jones established a steamboat business, the area’s first store, a creamery, and a post office.

At the turn of the twentieth century, there were few businesses in the Usk area. By 1909, however, the once “peaceful meadow on the bank of the Pend Oreille” had become “a bustling town” due to the arrival of Frederick Blackwell’s Idaho & Washington Northern Railroad. Blackwell chose Usk as the temporary headquarters of his railroad and his Panhandle Investment Company purchased Jones’ holdings. In a matter of months, Usk boasted a hotel, pharmacy, realty company, barber shops, and several other businesses.

In 1917, a rural telephone system was established in the Calispell Valley, and five years later, the Calispell Light and Power Company (predecessor to Washington Water Power and now the Pend Oreille County PUD), began providing electricity to Usk, Cusick, and Dalkena. Today, the area draws people for its abundance of recreational opportunities. A number of local employers, including the Ponderay Newsprint Company, provide the valley with a stable economic base. The Kalispel Tribal Headquarters is also located there.