Washington State Route 25 - History

History

SR 25 began as a series of county roads connecting small communities on the Columbia River that were constructed between 1909 and 1912. In 1913, the Inland Empire Highway was established and included a segment from Meyers Falls, currently known as Kettle Falls, to the Canadian border at Boundary was included. The Inland Empire Highway was shifted west in 1915 and several roads from Meyers Falls to Davenport became State Road 22 (SR 22) and crossed the Spokane River with the Detillion Bridge. SR 22 remained unchanged through a 1923 restructuring of the state road system, but was extended north to the Canadian border at Boundary in 1931. In 1937, SR 22 became Primary State Highway 22 (PSH 22) and the northern terminus was realigned to end northwest of Northport, while the old route became Secondary State Highway 22A (SSH 22A). Washington renumbered its highways in 1964 to correspond to a new sign route, later state route, system. PSH 22 became SR 25 and SSH 22A became SR 251, an auxiliary route of SR 25. SR 251 was later removed from the state highway system in 1983.

The Spokane River Bridge, successor of the Detillion Bridge, was opened in 1941 to replace the span, which was flooded by Franklin D. Roosevelt Lake. A bridge across the Columbia River at Northport began construction in 1949 and was completed as the Columbia River Bridge on June 13, 1951. On March 28, 1995, the Spokane River Bridge at Fort Spokane was listed on the National Register of Historic Places and was joined by the Columbia River Bridge at Northport on May 24, 1995.

A ferry between Inchelium and SR 25 at Gifford on the Columbia River has operated since 1898 under various owners and with various vessels. In 1898, the ferry was first opened to public traffic, a result of a Congressional decision to open up the Colville Indian Reservation to mineral mining. When Franklin D. Roosevelt Lake was created after the Grand Coulee Dam was built in 1941, the ferry was moved to higher ground. Ferry service remained privately owned until 1974, when it was closed due to low traffic. In 1981, the Colville Confederated Tribes and United States Bureau of Indian Affairs began a new ferry service with the MV Columbian Princess and continues to the present.