Pronounced KAWL-vil and located in northeastern Washington, the Stevens County seat was established by the Hudson’s Bay Co. as Fort Colville in 1825 and named for Andrew Colvile (with only one “l”), London governor of the fur-trading company.

A few miles east, the U.S. Army established a post under Maj. Pinkney Lougenbeel, and in his honor the place was known as Pinkney City. When Stevens County was organized in 1863, Pinkney was renamed Colville and designated as the county seat.

To learn more about Colville, go here and here . Information about Colville’s name origin is from “Washington State Place Names,” by James W. Phillips.

(Photo courtesy of Colville Chamber of Commerce.)