The town sprawls north and south along the shore of a mile-long lake bearing the same name. Scattered along the main street were once a few stores, garages, a post office, beer parlors, and an undertaking establishment. Once the town was a lively trading and summer resort center. Interurban electric trains carried crowds of people from Spokane to the two dance halls, the salt waters of the lake, and the camps along its shores. On the Fourth of July, thousands flocked to the town, the trains running on 15-minute schedules. With the coming of the automobile, however, and the opening of other recreational centers, the crowds began to dwindle. One dance hall burned to the water’s edge; the other closed up; and the camp grounds were sold to Easter State Hospital.
Andrew Lefévre, gold prospector, named the town and lake in 1859. The waters of the lake, extremely salty, were once thought to possess medicinal properties. Only a few kinds of marine life can survive in it. There are mud turtles and frogs and a species of salamander called axolotye. Although the town is now primarily a residential community, it still acts, in a limited capacity, as a supply center for lake activities.
