Valleyford 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 ...

Spokane County Spokane County is a county located in the U.S. state of Washington. As of the 2020 census, its population was 539,339, making it the fourth-most populous county in Washington. The largest city and county seat is Spokane, the second largest c ...

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. Valleyford has a

post office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letter (message), letters and parcel (package), parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post o ...

with ZIP code 99036. Valleyford was listed to have a population of 2,913 according to the 2010 United States census.

History

Prior to the arrival of Europeans, the

Coeur d'Alene people The Coeur d'Alene Tribe ( ; also Skitswish; ) are a Native American tribe and one of five federally recognized tribes in the state of Idaho. The Coeur d'Alene have sovereign control of their Coeur d'Alene Reservation, which includes a significa ...

knew the Valleyford area for its bountiful camas harvests. European settlement began in the second half of the 1800s when the

Mullan Road Mullan Road was the first covered wagon, wagon road to cross the Rocky Mountains to the Inland Empire (Pacific Northwest), Inland of the Pacific Northwest. It was built by United States Army, U.S. Army troops under the command of Lt. John Mullan ( ...

began bringing settlers into the Inland Northwest. The road split into two branches at

Cataldo Mission Coeur d'Alene's Old Mission State Park is a heritage-oriented state park in northern Idaho in the western United States, preserving the Mission of the Sacred Heart, or Cataldo Mission, a national historic landmark. The park contains the churc ...

in present day Idaho, with one branch taking a northern route around

Lake Coeur d'Alene Coeur d'Alene Lake ( ), is a natural dam-controlled lake in North Idaho, located in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. At its northern end is the city of Coeur d'Alene. It spans in length and ranges from 1 to wide with over ...

and the other taking a southern route. Valleyford was located near where the two branches came back together. Another transportation breakthrough for the region provided a boon for settlement in Valleyford when the

Spokane and Inland Empire Railroad The Spokane and Inland Empire Railroad Company (S.&I.E.R.R.Co.) was an Interurban, electrified interurban railway operating in Spokane, Washington and vicinity, extending into northern and central Idaho. The system originated in several predecess ...

, an electrified,

interurban The interurban (or radial railway in Canada) is a type of electric railway, with tram-like electric self-propelled railcars which run within and between cities or towns. The term "interurban" is usually used in North America, with other terms u ...

railway, came through the community in 1908. The arrival of the railway connected the community with the region's center of population in Spokane, as well as other small towns around the Palouse. It also brought electricity to the community. Soon after the arrival of the railroad, Valleyford began to grow and community officials expected that growth to continue. The town was platted for more growth than would end up occurring, however, as the community's fortunes took a big hit during the

Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

and never recovered. A post office called Valleyford has been in operation since 1907. The origin of the name Valleyford is obscure.

Geography

Valleyford is southeast of downtown

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 ...

on the Palouse Highway, a two lane road connecting Spokane with State Route 27 about a mile east of Valleyford. The community is surrounded by farmland and forests on the northern edge of the

Palouse The Palouse ( ) is a geographic region of the northwestern United States, encompassing parts of North Central Idaho, north central Idaho, southeastern Washington (part of eastern Washington), and by some definitions, parts of northeast Oregon. ...

, a wheat and legume growing region extending across southeastern Washington. California Creek, a tributary of

Latah Creek Latah Creek ( ), also known as Hangman Creek, is a large stream in eastern Washington and north central Idaho in the United States. The creek flows northwest from the Rocky Mountains to Spokane, where it empties into the Spokane River. It dr ...

, cuts a valley along the north and eastern edges of the community. Spokane County Fire District 8 has a station in Valleyford. There is a county park along California Creek in the lower, valley portion of Valleyford. Other structures include a church, storage facilities, houses and a number of abandoned buildings. Nearby communities include

Mica Micas ( ) are a group of silicate minerals whose outstanding physical characteristic is that individual mica crystals can easily be split into fragile elastic plates. This characteristic is described as ''perfect basal cleavage''. Mica is co ...

a few miles to the northeast up California Creek, and

Freeman Freeman, free men, Freeman's or Freemans may refer to: Places United States * Freeman, Georgia, an unincorporated community * Freeman, Illinois, an unincorporated community * Freeman, Indiana, an unincorporated community * Freeman, South Dako ...

, a few miles to the southeast where a market and the region's schools are located. Valleyford is located adjacent to the junction of three

ecoregions An ecoregion (ecological region) is an ecology, ecological and Geography, geographic area that exists on multiple different levels, defined by type, quality, and quantity of environmental resources. Ecoregions cover relatively large areas of la ...

as defined by the

World Wildlife Fund The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) is a Swiss-based international non-governmental organization founded in 1961 that works in the field of wilderness preservation and the reduction of human impact on the environment. It was formerly named the ...

, giving the area traits from all three. The

Okanagan dry forests Okanagan dry forests is a temperate coniferous forest ecoregion in the Pacific Northwest of North America, as defined by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) categorization system. It is closely associated with the Okanagan region of British Columbia an ...

ecoregion's southeasternmost reach is just beyond Valleyford, and stretches northwest through

, the

Okanagan The Okanagan ( ), also called the Okanagan Valley and sometimes the Okanagan Country, is a region in the Canadian province of British Columbia defined by the basin of Okanagan Lake and the Canadian portion of the Okanagan River. It is part of ...

, and into the

Thompson Plateau The Thompson Plateau forms the southern portion of the Interior Plateau of British Columbia, Canada, lying to the west of Okanagan Lake, south of the Thompson River and east of (although never adjoining it) the Fraser River. At its most southern ...

British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...

. Tall

ponderosa pine ''Pinus ponderosa'', commonly known as the ponderosa pine, bull pine, blackjack pine, western yellow-pine, or filipinus pine, is a very large pine tree species of variable habitat native to mountainous regions of western North America. It is t ...

trees are a remnant of the nature of the ecoregion prior to development of the community and agriculture. In the immediate vicinity of Valleyford, the Okanagan dry forests transition into the rolling, grassy hills of Palouse grasslands ecoregion to the south. The Palouse grasslands and Okanagan dry forests transition into the

North Central Rockies forests The North Central Rockies forests is a temperate coniferous forest ecoregion of Canada and the United States. This region overlaps in large part with the North American inland temperate rainforest and gets more rain on average than the South Ce ...

as the land climbs up the slopes of the Selkirk Mountains to the east just beyond State Route 27.

Gallery

Valleyfordhwy.png, Exit to Valleyford from Washington State Route 27 with the TV towers on

Krell Hill Krell Hill, also known as Tower Mountain, is a peak at the southern end of the Selkirk Mountains in Spokane County, Washington. It rises abruptly to the southeast of the relatively flat South Hill area of the city of Spokane. An area of high ...

visible in the background. Valleyford_intersection.png, Looking towards the main intersection in Valleyford where Madison Road, foreground, meets the Palouse Highway. Valleyford_abandoned_building.png, An abandoned market near the center of Valleyford.

References

External links

{{authority control Unincorporated communities in Spokane County, Washington Unincorporated communities in Washington (state)