- Palouse — Thumbnail History (historylink.org)
Palouse is the second oldest town in Whitman County. It is located on the north fork of the Palouse River, about 15 miles north of Pullman and less than two miles from the Idaho state border. Founded in 1874 and incorporated in 1888, the town was once the lumber capital of Eastern Washington, thanks to the Potlatch Lumber Company and several railroad lines. A massive fire devastated Palouse in 1888, but over the next few decades, its Main Street was rebuilt and became one of the region’s largest pioneer-era commercial districts…