Grant

Formed February 24, 1909 (38^th county)

Grant County (99,120), Ephrata (8,467), Moses Lake (25,261)

The dark red/brown brick Classical Revival structure was constructed in 1917.  The courthouse is located on 1^st Northwest Avenue between C and D streets.  Washington State Highway 28 is one block east of the location.  George H. Keith is the architect.  It features columns and a canon on the grounds.  An Annex was added in 1957.  Grant County was established on February 24, 1909 from Douglas County as the 38^th county with Ephrata as the only county seat.  The county is named for United States President Ulysses S. Grant.  The county seat was named for the Biblical location. 

Grant County government consists of a sheriff, an attorney, a clerk, a treasurer, an auditor, and an assessor (executive).  It has 3 Commissioners (legislative.)  Three Superior Court Judges and Three District Court Judges serve Grant County (judicial.) The county is located in the central part of the state.  Spokane, Washington is northeast and Seattle, Washington is west of the county.  The Columbia River forms its western border.  The county center is 10.1 miles Southeast of Ephrata nearer Moses Lake.  The county is surrounded clockwise by Okanogan, Lincoln, Adams, Franklin, Benton, Yakima, Kittitas, and Douglas counties. 

The area of the county is 2680 square miles.  It is 4 out of 39 in the state.  It ranks 13 out of 39 in population in the state.  It has a density of 37.0 persons per square mile making it 20 out of 39 in the state.  Grant County has 54.7% of its population in its incorporated areas.  Interstate Highway 90 crosses the county from east to west from Adams County to Kittitas County.  United States Highway 2 enters from Lincoln County, east, and exits to Douglas County, west.  The county looks like a sagging small letter d.  Ephrata is located near the center of the county.  Moses Lake is in the southeast quarter of the county.  Ephrata is the county seat and Moses Lake is the largest city.  Ephrata is 8.5% of the county population while Moses Lake is 25.5% of the county population.  The county seat is pronounced EE-FRAT-A.  This county is in the Moses Lake Micropolitan Statistical Area.