[6] The location was also along a popular east-west trade route, and the spring at present day Davenport was seen as an oasis and place for rest and camping along the journey.

[7] That trail would eventually bring white settlers to the area, with prospectors passing through on their way to goldfields in Montana.

Like the Spokane before them, these settlers used the springs at the present site of Davenport to collect water, rest and camp.

John C. Davenport founded a separate settlement on higher ground nearby in 1883, which was destroyed by fire the following year.

[8] Davenport gained early prominence in the north central part of the Columbia Basin of eastern Washington with the arrival of the Washington Central branch of the transcontinental Northern Pacific Railway (NP) railroad line, which reached Davenport in February 1889.

A branch line of the Great Northern Railway (GN) was built to Davenport from Bluestem in the 1920s.

"Sunset Highway") closely followed the CW railroad from Coulee City through Davenport to Spokane.

[9] Davenport itself is largely flat, lying in the shallow valley of Cottonwood Creek, but the surrounding region is characterized by the Channeled Scablands scoured by the Missoula Floods during the last ice age.

Davenport lies on the northern edge of the scablands, with more familiar drainage patterns taking over the terrain a few miles to the north of the city.

U.S. Route 2 connects Davenport with the region's primary city, Spokane, which is located 35 miles to the east.

State Route 28 has its eastern terminus in Davenport, connecting the city the rural areas to its southwest.

State Route 25 has its southern terminus in Davenport, from which it stretches north to the Canadian border.

[5] Davenport still serves as a central collection point for wheat, with most of it shipped out by truck or railcar.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 1.82 square miles (4.71 km2), all of it land.

As of 2010, Davenport was served by 12 different churches and was home to a museum, library and city park with a pool.