Four Lakes is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a parcel of land that is not governed by a local general-purpose municipal corporation. (At p. 178.) They may be governed or serviced by an encompassing unit (such as a county) or another branch of the state (such as th ...

and

census-designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a Place (United States Census Bureau), concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counte ...

in Spokane County,

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

, United States, just southwest of the city of

Spokane Spokane ( ) is the most populous city in eastern Washington and the county seat of Spokane County, Washington, United States. It lies along the Spokane River, adjacent to the Selkirk Mountains, and west of the Rocky Mountain foothills, south ...

, and north of Cheney. As of the 2010 census, its population was 512. Both

Interstate 90 Interstate 90 (I-90) is an east–west transcontinental freeway and the longest Interstate Highway in the United States at . It begins in Seattle, Washington, and travels through the Pacific Northwest, Mountain states, Mountain West, Great Pla ...

and SR 904 run through Four Lakes and the junction of the two is located near the center of town. Four Lakes was founded in 1879 by G.H. Morgan. The community was so named on account of there being four lakes near the original town site. It is speculated the fourth lake, is now a marsh south of Meadow Lake, which was drained by the ditch, blasted through basalt, which Minnie Creek flows through, under SR 904, south of the rodeo grounds.

Economy

Largely because Four Lakes is a bedroom community for its neighbors such as Cheney and Spokane, there are very few businesses . A hair salon, a tavern, a dog grooming business, and a convenience store are among the small handful of businesses that call Four Lakes home. Most of the businesses in Four Lakes have been located there for many years and are firmly rooted. Farms are also plentiful around Four Lakes. The small community has its own post office, water district, and volunteer fire department.

Schools

A school for first through eighth grade students operated in Four Lakes from 1917 to 1959, when it merged into the Cheney School District. Most elementary students in Four Lakes now attend Betz Elementary, while older students attend either Cheney High School or Cheney Middle School. A very small fraction of high school-age students may attend Three Springs High School in Cheney.

The Battle of Four Lakes

Climate

This climatic region is typified by large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers and cold (sometimes severely cold) winters. According to the

Köppen Climate Classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

system, Four Lakes has a

humid continental climate A humid continental climate is a climatic region defined by Russo-German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1900, typified by four distinct seasons and large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers, and cold ...

, abbreviated "Dfb" on climate maps.Climate Summary for Four Lakes, Washington
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References

Heather's Canine Cuts {{authority control Census-designated places in Spokane County, Washington Census-designated places in Washington (state)