Nighthawk came into being when that county in the Northwestern corner of Okanogan County was a beacon for prospectors. With Oroville to the east and Loomis to the Southwest, and some spectacular mineral finds in between those two centers, it was not long before a stopping place called "Nighthawk" grew up around a ferry crossing just to the east of Miner’s Bend, in the heart of the mineral belt.
By 1903 there was a general store, railroad station, Nighthawk Hotel, and saloon.
Although the mining eventually subsided, Nighthawk survived and down through the decades it has remained almost exactly as it was in the early 1900's. The prospectors and miners search no more through those barren but beautiful hills in the numbers they once did, but their legacy may still be seen.
Ore dumps of long dead mines cascading down the mountainsides, long abandoned and weathered buildings, deserted workings, and on its old location Nighthawk still presides, almost unchanged.
This part of western Okanogan County abounds with old mines, decades of old buildings, trails, ranches, landmarks, and a host of other fascinating reminders of the west of yesteryear.
By 1903, there was a general store, Nighthawk Hotel, railroad station, saloon, and several other establishments including a house of ill repute shown here.
Nighthawks main street "Prospect Avenue, but without the cowboys, miners, horses and wagons of yesteryear.
South of Nighthawk remains the original Nighthawk schoolhouse, but without the children at play.
Remaining buildings of the Kaaba-Texas Mine. Small building was the mine office. Wedge shaped building was the old mill.
Looking north across the Similkamen River, at the remains of the Kaaba-Texas Mine site, a mute relic of Nighthawks mining days.
Click here to read more about Nighthawk.