Keller, Washington

Keller, Washington
Census-designated place
Keller Show map of Washington (state) Keller Show map of the United States
Coordinates: 48°04′44″N 118°41′06″W
Country	United States
State	Washington
County	Ferry
Area
• Total	9.5 sq mi (24.6 km^2)
• Land	9.5 sq mi (24.6 km^2)
• Water	0.0 sq mi (0.0 km^2)
Elevation	1,499 ft (457 m)
Population  (2010)
• Total	234
• Density	25/sq mi (9.5/km^2)
Time zone	UTC-8 (Pacific (PST))
• Summer (DST)	UTC-7 (PDT)
ZIP code	99140
Area code	509
GNIS feature ID	1518417[1]
FIPS code	53-34960

Keller is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in southwestern Ferry County in the northeastern part of the U.S. state of Washington. As of the 2010 census, the population was 234.^[2]

History

The town is located in the valley of the Sanpoil River, and was founded in 1898^[3] by Baby Ray Peone, a local fisherman. The town was located in the area known as "God's Country" (or "Old Keller" to the locals). At its height the town had an estimated population of 3,500 and even featured a minor league baseball team and red light district. The town was moved several times beginning in 1940 due to backwatering from the Grand Coulee Dam which flooded its previous locations,^[3] and is now located 18 miles (29 km) north of the Columbia River. The series of moves seriously reduced its population over time.

The town is encompassed by the Colville Indian Reservation, which has an estimated population of roughly 1,200 people mostly of Native American descent and primarily members of the Sanpoil tribe, one of the Twelve Tribes that make up the Colville Confederated Tribes and one of the few Indian Nations that was never relocated by order of the U.S. government.

2024 Swawilla Fire

Main article: Swawilla Fire

Dry lightning on July 17, 2024, ignited a wildfire in the Swawilla Canyon area southwest of Keller. Initial efforts to contain the Swawilla Fire were not effective and by July 20, WSDOT, operator of the Keller Ferry, made the decision to keep the ferry route closed after completion of scheduled maintenance that started July 16. The area surrounding the ferry's northern landing was by that point subject to a level 3 "go now" evacuation order by the fire command.^[4] By the evening of July 23, both fire progression and changes in weather prompted the fire command to issue a level 2 "get ready" notice for the area northeast of fire lines along highway 21 and including Keller.^[5] On the evening of July 24 a level 3 notice was issued for the greater Keller area as the winds shifted westerly and pushed flames northeasterly. The fire command stated it was very likely that the fire would impact the Keller area.^[6]

To assist with the increased level 3 evacuations, the Keller Ferry resumed service from the northern launch only, but is running overnight, contrary to regular scheduling which stops at dusk.^[7] The ferry was not performing any non-evacuation runs during that time.^[8]

References

1. U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Keller, Washington
2. "Geographic Identifiers: 2010 Demographic Profile Data (G001): Keller CDP, Washington". U.S. Census Bureau, American Factfinder. Retrieved October 24, 2016.^{[dead link‍]}
3. HistoryLink Essay: Original Keller Ferry site floods as the Columbia River rises behind the newly constructed Grand Coulee Dam in the winter of 1939/1940
4. Miller, J. (July 20, 2024). "Swawilla Fire forces Keller Ferry to remain closed". Fox28. Spokane, WA.
5. Hanlon, J. (July 24, 2024). "Evacuation level raised for growing Swawilla Fire on Colville Reservation". The Spokesman-Review. Retrieved July 25, 2024.
6. NCLife staff (July 25, 2024). "Residents of Keller told to get out as Swawilla Fire approaches". NCLife. Retrieved July 25, 2024.
7. Iverson, F. "Keller Ferry resumes operations for evacuation support in Swawilla fire". KHQ. Retrieved July 25, 2024.
8. "Keller Ferry". Washington State Department of Transportation. Retrieved July 25, 2024.