Davenport is the county seat of and the largest city in Lincoln County, Washington, United States. The population was 1,703 at the 2020 census.
History
Prior to European settlement, the area around what would become Davenport was home to the Lower Band of the Spokane. The location was also along a popular east-west trade route, and the spring at present day Davenport was seen as an oasis and place for rest and camping along the journey.
That trail would eventually bring white settlers to the area, with prospectors passing through on their way to goldfields in Montana. Like the Spokane before them, these settlers used the springs at the present site of Davenport to collect water, rest and camp. The setting of the springs in the otherwise semi-arid region attracted some of these new arrivals to settle at the location, and in 1880 Aloysius Harry Harker became the first non-native permanent settler at the location, with John and Emma Eads Nicholls arriving soon after. The settlement was located at the springs and known as Cottonwood Springs. John C. Davenport founded a separate settlement on higher ground nearby in 1883, which was destroyed by fire the following year. Davenport's settlement relocated to Cottonwood Springs, taking Davenport's name with it.
thumb|left|Grain elevators along the railroad in Davenport
Davenport gained early prominence in the north central part of the Columbia Basin of eastern Washington with the arrival of the Washington Central branch of the transcontinental Northern Pacific Railway (NP) railroad line, which reached Davenport in February 1889. The Seattle Lake Shore & Eastern Railway (SLS&E) arrived later that year. A branch line of the Great Northern Railway (GN) was built to Davenport from Bluestem in the 1920s. Davenport's train depot, built in 1889 with the arrival of the railroads, lasted almost 100 years before being demolished in 1988. Davenport itself is largely flat, lying in the shallow valley of Cottonwood Creek, but the surrounding region is characterized by the Channeled Scablands scoured by the Missoula Floods during the last ice age. Davenport lies on the northern edge of the scablands, with more familiar drainage patterns taking over the terrain a few miles to the north of the city. Cottonwood Creek is an example of those more typical drainage patterns, as it flows northwest into the Columbia River at Hawk Creek Bay. Crystal Spring, which helps feed the creek, is located near the center of town.
Davenport is served by U.S. Route 2, which runs through the heart of the city. U.S. Route 2 connects Davenport with the region's primary city, Spokane, which is located 35 miles to the east. Two state highways also serve Davenport. State Route 28 has its eastern terminus in Davenport, connecting the city the rural areas to its southwest. State Route 25 has its southern terminus in Davenport, from which it stretches north to the Canadian border.
Climate
Davenport experiences a dry-summer continental climate (Köppen Dsb).