The town of Chewelah started during the 1880s, after the Old Dominion Mine had been discovered east of nearby Colville. The gold flowing from it started a stampede of prospectors who swarmed into the region.

In 1883, silver and lead deposits were discovered at Embry Camp. In a short span of time over twenty strikes were made in this area alone. But these strikes also soon petered out and Embry Camp soon vanished and Chewelah became its own community. By 1910 Chewelah had a population of nearly 1,500 with a wide main street bordered by handsome buildings. Unlike other mining boom towns, the mines around Chewelah kept producing ore, well into the 1950s.

Today those mines of yesteryear are nothing more than holes in the ground which lie silent with only their stories of the past that remain. But today, Chewelah, with its old yesteryear look and bonanza history is still there today to be seen in its unique way.

Now the Chewelah Valley is a beautiful place to live and to visit. There are several recreational activities such as skiing or snowmobiling, swimming, golfing, or just walking around the town. There are also many opportunities to get involved in the school district, chamber of commerce and the things that they help provide for the community or other social groups or organizations. There is a lot of history on the town of Chewelah and there is still plenty to learn about the town and all that is going on inside of it.

About Addy

Surrounded by pine tree covered mountains and next to the Colville River lies a historic little town named Addy. Just 60 miles North of Spokane, Washington on State Highway 395, it’s half way between the towns of Chewelah and Colville.

Addy became a town in 1890, a year after the S. F. & N. Railroad was completed. George W. Seal and his partner, Elias S. Dudrey, opened a general store and in November of that year a post office was established with Mr. Dudrey as postmaster. The town was named after George Seal’s sister and Elias Dudrey’s wife, Addy .

The town of Addy was platted in January of 1893 by Gottlieb Fatzer, owner of the Addy gristmill. At this time, John and Ena Seal started the Addy hotel next door to the store owned by their son George. The little town grew from there.

The Addy area is rich in many minerals. In 1899 there were three marble quarries in the area and Addy became a shipping point for these mines along with shipping goods to the mines in British Columbia. A number of gold, silver and lead mines also operated in the Addy area.

Approximately 185 billion tons of Dolomite was discovered in 1944, at Dunn Mountain, six miles west of Addy. The dolomite is mixed with limestone to make fertilizer, used for cement and in putty, paint, rubber and many other uses.

The largest magnesite plant in the world, and the first magnesium and silicon plant of its kind in the United States operated in Addy for over 25 years. Northwest Alloys, owned by the Alcoa Corporation, employed many of the area’s residents until it ceased operations in 2001, due to high overhead.