Kettle Falls has a mayor and five city council members as their form of government and is located in Stevens County.
Kettle Falls is known for being a small town with a big heart. Kettle Falls is located on the edge of the Eastern Washington frontier, just 40 miles south of the Canadian border.
Kettle Falls has a current poplulation of 1640 residents and one grouch.
The Kettle Falls "Grouch": A Tradition with a Twist
Kettle Falls appreciates their small town roots, including appointing the Town Grouch!
Every year the Town "Grouch" is selected as the results of a fundraising competition. Every Grouch candidate campaigns for quarters donated by the community. The candidate with the most quarters is declared "The Grouch" at their summer festival: Town and Country Days.
There is a lot to see in this small town and in front of the high school is a school bell and a plaque which reads as follows:
Kettle Falls: The first public school in Kettle Falls opened in 1891. This bell was removed from that building when the structure was razed in 1939.
As you go through town you will not miss the old apple warehouse home of a great antique shop, local market that has a huge selection of organic produce and health food products, large bulk section and a taco and snack shop with other small businesses close by.
We found this article in the antique shop and have included the text here: Condensed. (Full text can be read from the photo gallery.)
Kettle Falls HISTORY OF THE OLD APPLE WAREHOUSE
This building begins and continues with apples. The area along the Columbia River was perfect for producing fruit of all kinds, having a warming effect from the river, and a lower elevation than surrounding communities.
The first orchard belonged to John Rickey in 1874, and by the early 1900s the Columbia River Valley, from the town of Marcus south along the river for 100 miles, was home to hundreds of successful orchards. The packing of this fruit was to be a main industry in Meyers Fails (now Kettle Falls), from the turn of the century until 1939 when the lake created by the building of Grand Coulee Dam put most of these orchards under water.
This warehouse was built in 1906 by a co-op of orchardists, on land owned by the railroad, right next to the tracks. The building was setup so that horses with wagonloads of their fruit could drive into the basement from the west end of the building, drop off their loads, and exit through the East end of the building. In 1910, an addition was built on the east end, which effectively doubled the size of the warehouse. Porches were added, and large doors were installed on both sides of the building for loading and unloading (since the basement didn't extend to the new addition).
As an example of quantities of fruit processed here, in 1906 reported 40 railcars of fruit (were processed). After the flooding of 1939, quantities of fruit dramatically decreased, but the warehouse was still used as the main processing and shipping point.
Apples are still sold here today from orchards that began in 1874.
Also in Kettle Falls is the site of the old Substation at Meyers Falls. The Power Plant is now a historic site which overlooks the beautiful Meyers Falls. Also at this site is a replica of the old grist mill and there is an interpretive center opened during the summer months: (
visit link)
City Hall Hours:
Monday to Friday 8:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.
Closed Holidays
City Council Meeting Times:
1st & 3rd Tuesdays, 7:00 p.m. at City Hall