If you were asked about the town of Govan Washington, you would likely have no idea that it was a place that once existed. It has been long forgotten and the few standing testaments of its existence are quickly being taken back by time. Soon all that will remain will be fading memories of previous generations and a few stories in books collecting dust that will likely never be opened again. Like many things, people and places that once meant the world to one person has no meaning or significance to another. This is the case for Govan. It was once a thriving town that hundreds called home. Now, the town is just empty scablands littered with a few structures that are beyond repair and even fewer people.
The town of Govan is located about 6 miles to the west of the town of Wilbur Washington which is
about an hour’s drive west of Spokane. It is along the south side of U.S. Highway 2 and is easily missed when driving by. You can see what’s left of the 1905 schoolhouse and the grain elevators from the main highway, but not much more is eye-catching than that. We found out about the town while doing some quick research about ghost towns in Eastern Washington. Govan was one of the only towns with very little information online about it. We drove out to the town around 10:00 P.M. in early February of 2023. There were still patches of snow on the ground, but the air was fairly warm for February. The First thing that caught our attention was the dark silhouette of the schoolhouse against the already dark winter sky. It was almost as if the old building was swallowing the darkness itself.
We approached the building cautiously, seeing that it was in disrepair. The steeple-like structure on the top of the building that had once held the school bell had already given way and collapsed. Standing under it was unnerving as it seemed that the pole that once stood upright was dangling over the entrance. The steps to the front door were long removed, and the foundation was crumbling leaving big gaps to peer into the crawl space. We climbed up the foundation onto the porch that was missing many floor planks and carefully walked through the entryway. The entire ceiling was missing, and the night sky could be seen through the shingle-less trusses. The old building gave off an eerie vibe, with graffiti on the walls and beer cans littering the floors.
Not much can be found on the internet about the town. A handful of articles state relatively the same thing, with a vague history and description with little in the way of sources. Not all of them are consistent with their descriptions either. For example, one of the articles stated that the town's name originated from a man named R.B. Govan who was a railroad engineer for The Central Washington Railway. Others stated that the man’s name was just “Van” but was called Go-Van because he liked to run his trains quickly. In our limited research we have not found any indication for this to be true. What we did find was that based on the book titled “Postmarked Washington,” by Guy Ramsey, the town got its name by the suggestion of a railroad official whose home village was Govan, Scotland. Postmarked Washington had a lot of good information on the town, but mostly focused on the history of the mailing service. Like many towns of the Old West, Govan became a town that was centered around the railway. According to Ghost Towns of the Pacific Northwest Govan, before it was Govan, started out as a sheep and cattle ranching community sometime in the mid to late 1800s. We have not found much on the ranching community itself, but as can be imagined it was more than likely not much of a designated place until 1889 when the Central Washington Railway put it down as a place on the map.
In the fall of 1890, a large sandbank was discovered near the town which jump-started the town’s growth. The significance of the sandbank was recognized as a valuable resource in the construction of the Central Washington Railway. Because of this, a steam shovel and crew of workmen were brought in to extract the gravel and sand. Supposedly, the 1890 Census records indicate that the town’s population was up to 33 people that year. We have been unable to find the records to confirm if this is the case. Within the first few years of being established, 1889-1890, Govan became headquarters for the Contractors Wood and Larsen Company. Not much has been found on the Wood and Larsen Company other than that they played a role in the construction of the Central Washington Railway, our guess is that they manufactured railroad ties but that’s just a guess.
In 1889 the post office of Govan was established in the railroad depot which makes sense since mail was brought into the town by train until 1954. 1898 seems to be another big year for this community. That year the post office moved from the railroad depot to the merchandise store of businessman Almon J. Smith who was the town’s first appointed postmaster. In that 9-year span, from 1889-1898, the town’s industry of providing resources for the construction of the railroad integrated into the agricultural production of grain and fruit, becoming the life blood of the town. It’s not clear what years the town’s population and economy grew, but by 1898 the town had a population of 76 citizens, this is in accordance with Lincoln County a Lasting Legacy. The book also stated that Govan grew to have 2 large general stores one of which we believe to be Mr. Smith’s, a hotel, bank, a drug store, a couple lumber yards, a grain rolling mill, two restaurants, three grain elevators, and even a candy store. The town also had two churches as well as several warehouses. There were other structures and businesses as well.
Between 1900 and 1901 the post office moved locations again. The book Postmarked Washington says that by 1907 the town’s population grew to 200 conflicting with the 1909 Directory of Lincoln County that stated the population was around 115. We are unsure which one is accurate due to the original records not being obtained.
With a growing population a school would be a necessity for the town’s future generations. This would lead to the formation of the Govan school district - #126 in 1903. Around 1905 or 1906 the Govan schoolhouse would be completed which would stay in operation for 37-years until it officially closed its doors in 1942 after the Govan and Wilbur schools merged. This is another example of conflicting timelines. Some sources said the schoolhouse was built in 1905 while others say it was built 1906, we hope to find out with further investigation. The building is a 2-room schoolhouse that is said to have been staffed by two teachers, one for each room.
One of the teachers was a lady by the name of Anna (Brown) Evers. It looks like she would have taught at the Govan schoolhouse somewhere in the 1920s. This is just a guess based on the timeline that was provided in The History of Almira 1889-1989. More information is provided about Mrs. Evers and her husband in the previously stated book.
Sadly, like the rest of the town, the schoolhouse would be abandoned and left to rot. The old building never made it onto the historic registry and is now beyond repair. It sits alone in a field slowly being taken back by nature. The Govan schoolhouse seems to be a popular hangout spot for ghost hunters and teenagers who litter the floor with beer cans and graffiti on what’s left of the lath and plaster walls. While doing some research on social media, we came across a few cult themed accounts who also seem to have taken a special interest in the abandoned structure. Shrines have been left inside and previous pictures indicate that pentagrams had been spray painted on some of the building’s surfaces but were removed.
Like many old west towns, fires were all too common with wooden structures that burn quickly. Govan was no exception; a couple of small manageable fires went through in 1904 and 1909 that claimed a few businesses and residences. In 1927 a large fire took out a great amount of Govan’s business district. The fire would destroy four warehouses, one grain elevator, a handful of the town’s merchandise stores, the post office, the hotel, one of the two churches, the northern pacific railroad depot, and three freight cars filled with grain. The destruction would amount to $100,000 in damages which is equivalent to around $1.7 million today. After the fire the town was without a lot of what was needed to supply the daily lives of its citizens. The gas pump and water tower were destroyed, and the town was without a general store. A cistern was built on a nearby hill to provide water for the town, and the Dorse Bagleys (residence of Govan) sold gasoline from their private pump. Unfortunately, after the fire of 1927 many of Govan’s businesses decided not to rebuild.
As can be imagined, the fire of 1927 took a toll on the town. We believe it was one of the big contributions to the downfall of the once thriving town. Govan was doomed to die after U.S. Highway 2 was built in 1933. With increasing usage of cars instead of trains, Govan became more out of reach for people passing through. After being sidestepped by the highway the population started to decrease and in 1942 the Govan schoolhouse was closed after the school had consolidated with the school in Wilbur. With the continual decrease in people, and less of a need for a post office, Govan’s mail was outsourced to Wilbur in 1967 placing the final nail in the coffin of the little railroad town. A King5 News article from 2019 said that the town’s population was only 3 people, two of which lived in the same household. The article was posted in October of that year and was themed around the town’s haunting past. Haunting past?
This brings us around to the thing that makes this little town so intriguing. Govan has seen multiple unsolved murders over its history, and all are odd in their own right. The first murder was that of a local judge and his wife in 1902. Judge J.A. Lewis and his wife Pennelope were murdered by having their heads bashed in with an ax. The motive was said to have been robbery, but we will save most of the details for a future stand-alone article that will be more in-depth on all 3 known murder cases of the town. The second murder took place in April of 1903. A masked gunman shot a man by the name of C.F. Thennes. He did not die immediately but succumbed to his injuries shortly after the incident. The book History of The Big Bend Country stated that the murderer was identified and apprehended. He was even found guilty of the crime in the fall of 1903. No evidence connected him to the murder and in 1904 he was granted a new trial. The third murder is one that is a bit more recent, taking place in 1941. A woman was shot and killed on her farm near Govan, and it was found that her adult son went missing around the same time. The case went cold with people suspecting it was the son. Eight years later his skeleton was found in a field near the town. It appeared he died from the same type of gun his mother was killed with. All three of these cases are still unsolved and like the rest of the town will soon be completely forgotten.
Thank you to everyone that read our first article here on Substack! Most the information that was provided in this article was obtained from the Lincon County Museum in Davenport Washington. All of the book and article sources are provided below.
Sources:
Lincoln County a Lasting Legacy (Lincoln County Museum)
History of Almira 1889-1989 (Lincoln County Museum)
Postmarked Washington (Lincoln County Museum)
Ghost Towns of the Pacific Northwest (Lincoln County Museum)
History of The Big Bend Country (Lincoln County Museum)
Outstanding work in uncovering so much about this almost forgotten town and community. Looking forward to learning more as your team continues to investigate.