Beginning in 1875 and through the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the community was one of the premier fruit-growing regions in Washington state. Before that the area was inhabited by bands of Palouse and Nez Perce.
The new Lower Granite Lake inundated the site of the town beginning in February 1975, when the first phase of the Lower Granite Dam was completed. The area became home to the Wawawai County Park.