Lind is a town in Adams County, Washington, United States. The population was 564 at the 2010 census, a 3.1% decrease over the preceding census. Take a look below for 15 fascinating and fun facts about Lind, Washington, United States.
1. Lind was first settled in 1888 on a relatively barren area along the Northern Pacific Railway’s main line by the Neilson Brothers, James and Dugal. The site had previously been selected in 1881 for a station (an old boxcar) and section house and was named Lind by the railroad although the exact origin of that name has been lost.
2. In the autumn of 1888 the Neilson Brothers built the first Lind residence and two years later they built and stocked a store and resumed postal service which until then had been processed in Ritzville and tossed off in town by passing trains.
3. James Neilson became the first postmaster.
4. The first school opened in 1889 with six students in attendance.
5. The Neilson Brothers platted the town site on June 7, 1890 which consisted of only four square blocks.
6. The Panic of 1893 would stave off any further development of the town site until the turn of the century.
7. By 1899 the panic was starting to wear off and the local wheat crop, of high quality, was growing in demand. Lind began to expand in size. A new post office and saloon were built and a lumber yard was started and by the end of the year, the population was nearing 100.
8. By the end of 1901, several brick buildings were being constructed for a bank and other stores and hundreds of temporary dwellings were constructed by settlers.
9. A new school and three churches were built. Between 1898 and 1903, Lind grew immensely to a population of about 600 and saw the opening of many more stores, restaurants, a second bank, real estate offices and a newspaper, The Lind Leader.
10. Lind was incorporated on January 26, 1902. Dugal Neilson was elected mayor while his brother James was elected treasurer.
11. The Milwaukee Road would later lay its tracks through the south side of town, which is now the John Wayne Pioneer Trail.
12. When the Neilson brothers platted the town site of Lind, they named all of the north to south streets to eventually spell out their surname. The town only grew large enough to spell “Neilso”.
13. The local Jr./Sr. High School has changed mascots many times some of which are Lind Bulldogs, Lind-Kahlotus Blue Devils, Lind-Ritzville Broncos, and the current Lind-Ritzville-Sprague Broncos which is classified as a 2B school according to the WIAA.
14. Old time rival the Rearden Indians has been kept, but due to the great success with the local football program, it has been the very challenging Colfax Bulldogs. Also, due to state funding, the local high school will move to the nearby town of Ritzville, WA. The middle school remains at Lind as same with Ritzville.
15. Lind is the home of a combine demolition derby that is held annually in June. It has received much publicity over the past couple years when it was featured in Playboy’s 50th Year Anniversary Special Edition issue, Discovery Channel, the movie “Always”, Hamish and Andy (Australia), ESPN, KHQ’s “The Derby”, and also in Stranger Than Fiction: True Stories by Chuck Palahniuk.
