Gifford, Washington — Little Community With a Ferry

Gifford sits along State Route 25 on the east side of Lake Roosevelt in southern Stevens County.

The community is older than the lake. Grand Coulee Dam backed the Columbia into a reservoir during the twentieth century, replacing the old river corridor with miles of broad water and changing how people crossed it.

Gifford kept a connection the highway map alone cannot explain. The Gifford–Inchelium ferry carries vehicles across Lake Roosevelt to the Colville Reservation side, linking two road systems separated by the reservoir.

That gives a very small community an outsized transportation role. Plenty of towns are built around intersections. Gifford's important intersection happens to include a boat.