Metaline, Washington
Posted by: T0SHEA
N 48° 51.007 W 117° 23.345
11U E 471456 N 5410867
At the south end of the little town/village/hamlet of Metaline along Highway 31 is their welcome sign, well weathered, claiming the town to be the "Oldest Town in Pend Oreille Co.", to have a population of 170 and be at an elevation of 2,000 Feet.
Waymark Code: WMKY88
Location: Washington, United States
Date Posted: 06/13/2014
Views: 1
The sign is obviously many years old. Metaline's population as of 2010 was 173, telling us that Metaline is not a particularly quickly expanding town. Likewise, the elevation has, in all probability, not changed appreciably since the erection of this sign. If one should fail to slow down upon approaching this sign they may well miss the town entirely, as it occupies not a lot of space. Besides residences, the town has a post office, a fire hall, a cemetery, and not much else.
Though they make the claim of being the oldest, they seem not to be forthcoming in divulging the town's actual age. We know that Metaline Falls, across the Pend Oreille River and little more than a mile north, got its start right at the turn of the twentieth century, and by 1900 Newport, about 60 miles to the south, was alive and well.
Both the Metalines grew up around large deposits of Zinc and Lead, and so were exclusively mining town for the first decades of their lives. Though there is much low grade ore left to be harvested in the area, no mining activity of note takes place at present. Metaline, with a present population of about 175 souls, never was much larger, for the most part having been overshadowed by its similarly named neighbour to the north.
Coordinates given are at the Metaline Post Office.