Elk, Washington

File:Elk Post Office.png

The community was originally named Peddit's Township of Elk.

{{cite news | url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=qm9OAAAAIBAJ&sjid=7vkDAAAAIBAJ&pg=5680%2C2356401 | title=Architect builds historical interest with trivia | work=Spokane Chronicle | date=March 16, 1989 | accessdate=2 May 2015 | author=Sullivan, Julie | pages=S9}} A post office in Elk has been in operation since 1892.{{cite web|url=http://www.postalhistory.com/postoffices.asp?task=display&state=WA&county=Spokane |title=Spokane County |publisher=Jim Forte Postal History |accessdate=2 May 2015 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20150630192015/http://www.postalhistory.com/postoffices.asp?task=display&state=WA&county=Spokane |archivedate=30 June 2015 }} The current post office sits on the site of the Elk Hotel, which was destroyed by fire in the early 1970s. A one-room schoolhouse was built in 1902.{{Cite web|url=https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2009/feb/19/many-area-schools-now-just-a-memory/|title = Many Elk-Chattaroy schools now just a memory | the Spokesman-Review}} The town is now served by the Riverside School District, which covers most of rural northern Spokane County. In 1906 a train derailed into chain lake after emerging from a tunnel, killing nine people and injuring many others, the Train was raised from the lake a month later. after the wreck another tunnel was bored through the rock to prevent another accident, both lay decommissioned and are now private property.

During the summer Elk holds Elk Days, when it celebrates Fathers' Day and the community's history. The community gathers, usually at Elk Park, to celebrate with various vendors and festivities often including a car show and parade.

In August 2023, the community was placed under evacuation orders due to the Oregon Road Fire which burned more than 10,000 acres near Elk, destroyed 126 residences and led to one fatality. The fire was determined to be human-caused.{{cite news |title=Latest Details {{!}} Gray Fire and Oregon Road Fire |url=https://www.krem.com/article/news/local/wildfire/latest-updates-gray-fire-oregon-road-fire/293-da760d91-83bf-4997-8651-9579189f0c93 |access-date=22 September 2023 |publisher=KREM-TV |date=21 August 2023}}

Elk is located on the upper reaches of the Little Spokane River in northern Spokane County. The community sits in the valley of the Little Spokane, which flows through Elk at approximately 1,840 feet above sea level. The surrounding terrain rises rapidly above the valley floor to elevations of 2,000 feet to the north and west and over 2,200 feet to the east and south within approximately one-fifth of a mile distance from the community.{{cite web |title=Elk Quadrangle |url=https://ngmdb.usgs.gov/ht-bin/tv_browse.pl?id=6720de0dd5199678e965d07ebc0bd5b2 |publisher=United States Geological Survey |access-date=12 June 2024 |date=2023}} The surrounding area consists of forests and farmland with the foothills of the Selkirk Mountains rising a few miles from Elk in almost all directions.

The community is located 3.5 miles east of U.S. Route 2, the major highway and thoroughfare in the region, connecting the Elk area to larger nearby cities with more services like Newport, Washington to the north and Spokane, Washington to the south. Smaller roads like Elk–Chattaroy Road, Milan–Elk Road and Elk–Camden Road connect Elk with other small communities in the area. Elk is located roughly two miles south of the Spokane-Pend Oreille county line.

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{{Spokane County, Washington}}

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Category:Unincorporated communities in Spokane County, Washington

Category:Unincorporated communities in Washington (state)

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