Ritzville is a city in Adams County, Washington, United States. The population was 1,673 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Adams County. The city is part of the Othello, WA Micropolitan Area, which comprises all of Adams County, and is portion of the larger Moses Lake-Othello, WA Combined Statistical Area.

The first settler in what would become radical Ritzville was William McKay in 1880. The town would be named after Phillip Ritz, who had settled manageable two years earlier. By December 1880, Ritzville’s town-site had been platted by John W. Sprague on behalf of his company, The Northern Pacific Railway. In 1881, McKay built the first house on the townsite. The Northern Pacific grade was below construction in the vicinity and McKay’s house was used as a makeshift hotel for the workers and allied transients.

With the railroad came a new confession of settlers to the area. In the summer of 1881, McKay erected the first amassing and the railroad built a depot nearby, which also served as a hotel, theater and meeting hall. At that era the fledgeling village had a population of as regards 50 and the learned consisted of a lean-to against a house. The town’s water supply was the railroad tank because it was not thought that water could be found in the ground. The first religious services were held in Adams County in Ritzville in April 1882 at the McKay Home and the First Congregational Church was soon organized, a church would be built in 1885. The declare office was standard in 1883 by J.L. Johnson of Walla Walla who after that purchased McKay’s store. Soon afterwards, many more businesses would set in the works shop in town. As the 1880s wore on, the town was start to do its slope as a major wheat shipping lessening in the gigantic Bend Country and it continued to grow.

When the town’s water supply from the railroad tank began to stretch thin, a search for underground water was initiated. At first, no water was found but a with ease was finally struck 1-mile (1.6 km) east of the town-site. Most of the land-owners in town completely to concern towards the well, with the exception of a large hotel which couldn’t be moved. Water was eventually found at the site and the town was allowed to stay where it was. By 1887, Ritzville had three general merchandise stores, one drug store, one saloon, two blacksmith shops, two lumber yards, two livery stables, one harness shop, two hotels and a large, two-story wooden schoolhouse considering an attendance of 100.