Pateros, WA

Pateros is an Okanogan County city at the confluence of the Methow and Columbia rivers. The 2020 census counted 593 residents. Lake Pateros, the downtown waterfront, city parks, the post office, library, museum, and local school route sit close together, while orchards, irrigation, fishing, and river recreation shape the surrounding economy. The city is small, but its river junction puts it on the road between the Methow Valley, the Columbia basin, and larger Okanogan County communities.

Pateros began as Ives' Landing around 1886, when Lee Ives farmed near the river confluence, operated a ferry, and built an eighteen-room hotel. A post office followed in 1895, and the town took the name Pateros in 1900. The 2014 Carlton Complex fire destroyed blocks of the city and left a lasting mark on its streets and civic work. Pateros now carries that history alongside its summer calendar: the Apple Pie Jamboree, salmon bake, fishing derbies, and Pateros Hydro Classic bring boats and neighbors to the water. The city remains a river town first, with downtown life organized around the lake, school, parks, and working orchards.