On April 15, 1935, Nespelem is incorporated as a town of the fourth class when a certified copy of the county commissioners' order approving the incorporation is filed with the Washington Secretary of State's Office. The town is located on the Colville Indian Reservation in Okanogan County. Non-Native settlement in the area began by the 1890s and increased through the 1910s. The construction of nearby Grand Coulee Dam on the Columbia River, which began in 1934, brought a new wave of growth, and on March 16, 1935, residents voted 49 to 7 in favor of incorporating the growing community.
The Road to Incorporation
Nespelem is located in North Central Washington in the Nespelem River Valley not far from where that river flows into the Columbia. It is included within the Colville Indian Reservation, which was established in 1872 and became home to twelve tribes that now make up the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation. Non-Natives were allowed to open mines in the area beginning in the 1890s, and to stake homestead claims beginning in 1915, bringing an initial influx of settlers to Nespelem. A post office named Nespelem was opened in November 1899. In 1913 A. F. Dunnington platted a townsite that he called Nespelem.
Construction of Grand Coulee Dam got underway in 1934 on the Columbia River about 15 miles south of Nespelem, bringing boom times to the region. As dam construction workers settled in and around Nespelem and businesses opened to serve them, residents were ready to organize a municipal government and incorporate the town. On February 4, 1935, a petition signed by 63 voters from the community seeking incorporation as a town of the fourth class was presented to the Okanogan County Board of County Commissioners. There were 300 residents within the proposed limits of the town.
The commissioners approved the petition and scheduled an election to be held on March 16 at the local Grange Hall for residents to vote on incorporation. At that election there were 49 votes for incorporation and 7 votes against. The results were returned to the Board of County Commissioners, who, at a meeting on March 25, certified the results and approved an order incorporating the town. County Auditor Lucile S. Burghardt certified the transcript and order for filing with the Secretary of State's office. Nespelem was officially incorporated as a town of the fourth class on April 15, 1935, when the certified documents were filed in the Office of the Secretary of State.
Elected Officials
Nespelem's first elected officials were chosen in the same March 25 election at the Grange Hall. Melvin Silas Parmeter (1881-1947) was elected mayor. Earl DeCamp (1882-1942), Jacob Merle Koontz (1891-1960), James Leslie Davis (1880-1963), Thomas Elmer Linder, and C. A. Rose were elected to the town council, and William Whalen as treasurer.
Minnesota-born Melvin Parmeter married Marietta "Mamie" Grace Parmeter (1882-1978) in 1904. The couple had 2 children: Edith Annetta Parmeter (1906-1976), and Silas Simon Parmeter (1915-2004). Mel Parmeter purchased a land claim of 320 areas in Nespelem. A self-employed dairy farmer, he managed Parmeter & Son Dairy. Parmeter lived the rest of his life in Nespelem. He is buried in the Nespelem City Cemetery.
Nespelem's population increased and decreased slowly over the years, and was estimated at 185 as of 2024.
