Govan, Wash: A railroad put this Lincoln County community on the map, but a 1927 fire set its demise in motion

click to enlarge Govan, Wash: A railroad put this Lincoln County community on the map, but a 1927 
fire set its demise in motion
Erick Doxey photo
Based on its current state, the Govan Schoolhouse probably doesn't have many more years left.

I've driven past many dilapidated buildings in my life. Houses wilting from weather wear. Barns bursting at the seams. Garages that are one blow from caving in.

Though I've noticed them often, I've never taken the time to think of the history of these run-down places. That will likely change after visiting Govan, a tiny ghost town in northeast Lincoln County.

The most recognizable and only remaining evidence that a town ever existed there is a schoolhouse skeleton, easily spotted while driving along North Govan Road between School House Road and East Bruce Road.

The small building is entirely made of wood that's slowly rotting from decades of rain and wind, transforming its once-tiled roof into an "open-concept" ceiling. Rust-colored splotches are all that's left of the once bright red exterior. The steeple bell tower topping the entranceway collapsed sometime in the last decade, making me wonder how much longer before the deteriorating building crumples into a pile of wood.

After visiting Govan, I now think back to all those buildings I've seen and wonder what history they represent, too.

Like many towns throughout the Pacific Northwest, Govan sprung to life as a railroad stopover between what's now Wilbur and Almira. After the Central Washington Railway was built in 1889, the depot was named for railroad construction engineer R. B. Govan. A post office was established at Govan that same year, however, the town wouldn't see any significant action for another year until the construction business Wood, Larsen & Company chose to build its headquarters there due to the area's natural resources.

According to Lincoln County: A Lasting Legacy, a 1988 history written by Donald E. Walter, "The discovery of a large sandbank in the area in the autumn of 1890 created a boomtown atmosphere as a crew of workmen, complete with steam shovel, extracted sand for the railroad construction."

Shortly before the turn of the century, Govan experienced plenty of change. The post office moved in 1898 into a general merchandise store owned by Almon J. Smith, also the town's first postmaster. That year Govan also grew from just a railroad depot to a small town with a handful of merchants and 76 residents, Walter reports. For the next decade it continued to expand thanks to its role as a railroad grain shipping hub. By 1909, its population hit 115.

"Listed as part of the community were the Methodist and Presbyterian churches, one grain elevator and several warehouses, two general stores, two hardware stores, a drug store, saloon, hotel and public school," Walter writes.

Area children began to attend the two-teacher Govan School after it was built in 1905. The school closed in 1942, however, when Govan was consolidated with the Wilbur School District.

Though much of the ghost town's history revolves around its rapid growth and decline, Govan is also infamous for multiple unsolved murders. In 1902, the town's judge J.A. Lewis and his wife, Penelope, were slain with an ax. At the time, The Wilbur Register called it the "most brutal crime ever committed in this county."

click to enlarge Govan, Wash: A railroad put this Lincoln County community on the map, but a 1927 
fire set its demise in motion
Erick Doxey photo
Not much remains inside the Govan Schoolhouse, either.

Then in 1903, less than four months later, a masked gunman entered the Govan Saloon and killed a man. Though a suspect was arrested and tried for the crime but never convicted, according to Lincoln County: A Lasting Legacy.

Four decades later, a former mail carrier, Lillie L. Lesnett was murdered at her farm in 1941. Lesnett's son also disappeared around the time of the murder, and in 1948 his skeleton was identified a mile south of the farm.

Govan's population decline began in the late 1920s after a large fire ripped through the town, leaving behind only the school, two warehouses, a garage and a handful of homes.

"Fires in 1904 and 1909 had destroyed individual Govan homes and businesses, but a major blaze in 1927 nearly wiped out the town's business district," Walter writes. "Four warehouses, one grain elevator, the Northern Pacific depot, stores, the post office, the hotel, a church, homes, and three freight cars loaded with wheat were burned."


Established: 1889
Decline: Govan's school closed in 1942, about 15 years after fire destroyed much of the town's business district and began its decline. As of 2019, it had three residents.
Location: Lincoln County, Washington
Distance from Spokane: 65 miles; 1.5 hours
Original structures remaining: The dilapidated Govan Schoolhouse

In total, the damage was estimated at about $100,000 (about $1.81 million today). The grain elevator and warehouses were rebuilt, but many businesses that burned down did not reopen.

After the construction of U.S. Route 2 in 1933 bypassed the town, the Govan General Store, which housed the post office, was the only retail business left in town by 1940. It shuttered in 1967 when mail service was transferred to Wilbur. By 1987, only six homes in Govan were occupied.

Today, all that's left of the Lincoln County ghost town are a few inhabited and uninhabited buildings, the dilapidated, yet picturesque schoolhouse, and a history of grisly, unsolved murders. ♦

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Colton Rasanen

Colton Rasanen is a staff writer for the Inlander covering education, LGBTQ+ affairs, and most recently, arts and culture. He joined the staff in 2023 after working as the managing editor of the Wahpeton Daily News and News Monitor in rural North Dakota.