A History of Ritzville, Washington

Ritzville, located in eastern Washington, is the hub of a significant wheat-growing region. When the Northern Pacific railroad made it a station stop, it came into being in 1881. It was given the name Ritzville to honor Philip Ritz, an early resident who won the bid to grade 10 miles of the railroad bed. At first, the town was primarily populated by railroad workers, but soon wheat growers began to move in-first from South Dakota, then from Russia via Germany. The Volga Germans, a sizable colony of Germans who had arrived in Russia for centuries, liked the dry-land wheat producing conditions. Ritzville was the only town of any size in the newly constituted county, therefore it was chosen to serve as the county seat of Adams County in 1883.
Want to learn more about the Evergreen State? The History of the Evergreen State Podcast is available wherever you listen to podcasts, and has over 75 ad free episodes for your listening enjoyment.

[@classicalvintagecollector]

I was 11 years old when Mount St Helens blew and remember that day extremely well. I grew up in Connell, just south of Ritzville. The crops may have been better, but the pumous ash wrecked havoc on the equipment. All of the equipment, from the sickle sections on the sickle bar of the combine wore out prematurely, Not to mention the extreme polishing up of any of the disc or plowing equipment.

[@richardjohndew7245]

Odessa is not in Adams county. Odessa is in Lincoln county..