Lincoln County, Washington

Infobox U.S. County
county = Lincoln County
state = Washington




map size = 225
founded = November 24, 1883
seat = Davenport | area_total_sq_mi =2340
area_land_sq_mi =2311
area_water_sq_mi =29
area percentage = 1.22%
census yr = 2000
pop = 10184
density_km2 =2
web = www.co.lincoln.wa.us
|

Lincoln County is a county located in the U.S. state of Washington. It is named after Abraham Lincoln. As of 2000, the population is 10,184. The county seat is at Davenport, which is also the county's largest city.

Lincoln County was created out of Whitman County on November 24, 1883.cite web |title=Milestones for Washington State History — Part 2: 1851 to 1900|url=http://www.historylink.org/essays/output.cfm?file_id=5380| date=March 6, 2003|publisher=HistoryLink.org]

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 2,340 square miles (6,060 km²), of which, 2,311 square miles (5,986 km²) of it is land and 29 square miles (74 km²) of it (1.22%) is water.

Geographic features

*Columbia River

Major highways

*Interstate 90
*U.S. Route 2
*U.S. Route 395

Adjacent counties

*Ferry County, Washington - north
*Stevens County, Washington - northeast
*Spokane County, Washington - east
*Whitman County, Washington - southeast
*Adams County, Washington - south
*Grant County, Washington - west
*Okanogan County, Washington - northwest

National protected area

* Lake Roosevelt National Recreation Area (part)

Demographics

As of the censusGR|2 of 2000, there were 10,184 people, 4,151 households, and 2,914 families residing in the county. The population density was 4 people per square mile (2/km²). There were 5,298 housing units at an average density of 2 per square mile (1/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 95.64% White, 0.23% Black or African American, 1.63% Native American, 0.25% Asian, 0.07% Pacific Islander, 0.58% from other races, and 1.61% from two or more races. 1.88% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. 36.6% were of German, 10.5% English, 9.3% United States or American and 5.8% Irish ancestry according to Census 2000.

There were 4,151 households out of which 29.30% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 60.90% were married couples living together, 6.40% had a female householder with no husband present, and 29.80% were non-families. 26.00% of all households were made up of individuals and 12.30% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.42 and the average family size was 2.91.

In the county, the population was spread out with 25.30% under the age of 18, 5.20% from 18 to 24, 23.20% from 25 to 44, 27.40% from 45 to 64, and 19.00% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 43 years. For every 100 females there were 98.40 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 94.70 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $35,255, and the median income for a family was $41,269. Males had a median income of $31,086 versus $22,444 for females. The per capita income for the county was $17,888. About 8.40% of families and 12.60% of the population were below the poverty line, including 17.60% of those under age 18 and 7.70% of those age 65 or over.

Economy

The county is completely dependent on agriculture, primarily wheat farming. Lincoln County is generally considered the second-largest producer of wheat in the United States (following Whitman County, Washington), sometimes producing 25 million bushels (680,000 t) a year. [http://usda.mannlib.cornell.edu/data-sets/crops/9X180/97180/3/aw96cerk.txt] Only about 500,000 of 900,000 acres (2,000 of convert|3600|km2|sqmi|0|abbr=on) of farmland in the county are planted in any given year due to the practice of typically harvesting one crop every two years, a necessity in a region with only 12 inches (300 mm) of precipitation annually.

Census-recognized communities

*Almira
*Creston
*Davenport
*Harrington
*Odessa
*Reardan
*Sprague
*Wilbur

Other communities

*Irby
*Lamona
*Lincoln
*Mondovi
*Mohler
*Seven Bays
*Edwall

Further reading

*cite book|title=An illustrated history of the Big Bend country : embracing Lincoln, Douglas, Adams, and Franklin counties, state of Washington|publisher=Western Historical Pub. Co.|year=1904 [http://www.secstate.wa.gov/history/publications_detail.aspx?p=36 Available online through the Washington State Library's Classics in Washington History collection]

References