Spokane County Board of Commissioners certifies the incorporation of Medical Lake on June 12, 1890.

  • By Jim Kershner
  • Posted 10/16/2012
  • HistoryLink.org Essay 10230
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On June 12, 1890, the Spokane County Board of commissioners officially certifies the incorporation of the town of Medical Lake. In a town election on June 7, 1890, a "majority of the votes cast were in favor of Incorporation,'' according to the board's official, handwritten declaration. The town, already well-known as a mineral-water spa, is incorporated as a municipal corporation of the fourth class under the laws of the new state. As of its first census, in 1900, the town has 516 residents. The town's days as a health resort last only until about 1920, but the town on the lake's shores continues to grow. By the 2010 census, Medical Lake would have 5,060 residents and be a thriving suburb of Spokane. 

The town had originally organized in December 1888, but after Washington became a state in 1889, it had to incorporate under the state's new laws. In that same June 7, 1890 election, voters also elected Medical Lake's first city officers. Stanley Hallett (1851-1926), one of the city's early settlers and a former English aristocrat, was elected the town's first mayor.

The town elected the following as its first councilmen: Charles Bloomer, John Campbell, A. W. Green, J. H. Lefevre, and Christian Dittmer. The town's first treasurer was J. M. Landis and the first clerk was M. L. Fienberg.

Hallett, after his mayoral stint, would go on to become city treasurer for eight consecutive years. He would also serve as a county commissioner and a state senator. Subsequent early mayors would include Charles Bloomer, G. L. Moss. and Andrew Peat.

Sources: "Order of the Commissioners Incorporating the Town of Medical Lake," June 12, 1890, filed with the Washington Secretary of State on June 18, 1890, Washington State Archives, Secretary of State, Municipal Articles of Incorporation; Rev. Jonathan Edwards,  An Illustrated History of Spokane County (Spokane: W.H. Lever Publishing Co., 1900); N.W. Durham, History of City of Spokane and Spokane County, Washington, Vol. 1 (Spokane, Chicago, Philadelphia: S.J. Clarke Publishing Company, 1912).
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