Mining claims were first made along Eureka Creek on March 1, 1896,[3] after the northern half of the Colville Indian Reservation was vacated on February 21.

On March 5, 1896, the Republic claim was staked by Thomas Ryan and Philip Creasor along Granite Creek, another branch of the Sanpoil River.

The Mountain Lion Gold Mining company 100-ton mill used a combination of mercury plate amalgamation followed by MacArthur-Forrest cyanide leaching.

However, because of much lower gold and silver recovery rates, combined with the soon to arrive rail lines, the mill was soon shut down.

[3] In July 1897, Philip Creasor built a two-story hotel at the townsite, originally called Eureka.

[10] The company was initially incorporated in 1901 with J. Stratton as president, with construction of the line between Republic and Danville, Washington at the United States-Canadian border being contracted to the Republic and Grand Forks Construction Company, itself owned by Stratton.

[10] On January 2, 1902, the railroad was also approved by the Secretary of the Interior to conduct surveying for a southern line though the Colville Indian Reservation along the Sanpoil River.

[12][13][14] The city also had a brass band which would play at events such as Fourth of July celebrations which it would host with the baseball club.

[15] The Kettle River Journal of Orient reported August 1913 that the Republic Theater had been purchased by a new owner who renovated and remodeled it.

It spread for half a block consuming the hotel, the state liquor store, The Republic News-Miner newspaper offices, and an unoccupied building.

[17] Republic's prominence, initially brought on by the gold rush, started to fade as prospectors and those who supported the mining industry moved away.

[18] As of the 2020s, the town of 1,100 is sustained mainly by those people in surrounding farms and ranches, miners who work at the local mine, and tourists looking for a quieter, slower pace of life.

[citation needed] According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 1.59 square miles (4.12 km2), all of it land.

[19] Republic is located on a low shoulder of Klondike Mountain northwest of the Sanpoil River in a long graben valley.

Republic experiences a humid continental climate (Köppen Dfb) with cold winters, warm summers and fairly even precipitation year-round, with a drying trend in summer, though there is a secondary uptick in rainfall from April through June, unlike in much of the rest of the state.

[30] Curlew Lake, 7 miles (11 km) long, lies northeast of Republic and has summertime fishing and boating.

[32] The Republic Drug Store founded in 1904, was reported to be the oldest continually family run drugstore in the state of Washington as of 2003.

Events are staged across Republic, and people attending can try their hand at competing in mining and logging competitions, panning for gold, and watching an old west gun fight.

The Stonerose Interpretive Center and Fossil Site, famous for the Eocene fossils found in a 49 mya Klondike Mountain Formation lake bed at the north end of Republic is housed on the corner of North Clarke Avenue and Highway 20.

A number of extinct plants and animals found in the lake bed have been named in honor of Republic, including Acer republicense, a maple, Rhus republicensis, a sumac, and Republica hickeyi an extinct flowering plant.

Insects named for Republic include Republica weatbrooki, a damselfly, Republicopteron douseae, a katydid-relative, and Ulteramus republicensis a sawfly.

[41] Letters supporting the intuitive were received by the Washington State Recreation and Conservation office from Jay Inslee, then Washington State Governor; Jeff Ament, Pearl Jam bassist; and a number of local residents and organizations.