With the imminent construction of the Central Washington Railroad (later acquired by the Northern Pacific) through the area in 1889, Davis was approached by land developers Odgers and Reed who were looking to start a town on the site.

– Wilbur Register, July 26, 1889With the railroad assured, Almira was platted and lots begin to sell quickly.

The railroad reached Almira in the Fall of 1889, where it would serve as the line's temporary terminus before being extended to Coulee City the following summer.

These factors made the town furiously active but a harsh winter prevented any building boom from taking place, leaving Almira as a collection of temporary shacks until the weather improved.

Despite the end of Almira as a rail terminal, it continued to thrive through 1890 with the establishment of a newspaper and the construction of many new buildings.

In November 1890, Almira citizens voted for prohibition and the city temporarily became the only dry town in the Big Bend Country.

In 1902, the city's population was 289 only counting citizens living on the platted town site.

There has been no sudden impetus, no 'mushroom growth, in a single night, a day, or even six months, but there has been a steady increase.

With the exception of a short period last winter, from one to six buildings have been in progress of construction during all seasons of the year.

The second fire in October started in the Almira Hotel and was much more destructive, destroying a whole block's worth of buildings.

[9] According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 0.52 square miles (1.35 km2), all of it land.

The racial makeup of the town was 95.1% White, 0.7% Native American, 0.7% Asian, and 3.5% from two or more races.

About 16.5% of families and 21.0% of the population were below the poverty line, including 29.9% of those under the age of eighteen and 12.8% of those sixty five or over.