Danville is an unincorporated community

Unincorporated area

In law, an unincorporated area is a region of land that is not a part of any municipality.To "incorporate" in this context means to form a municipal corporation, a city, town, or village with its own government. An unincorporated community is usually not subject to or taxed by a municipal government...

 in Ferry County, Washington, United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. Danville is located on Washington State Route 21 near the Canadian

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

 border, 26 miles (41.8 km) north-northeast of Republic

Republic, Washington

Republic is a city in Ferry County, Washington, United States. The population was 1,073 at the 2010 census, a 12.5% increase over the 2000 Census. It is the county seat of Ferry County.-History:...

. Danville has a post office

Post office

A post office is a facility forming part of a postal system for the posting, receipt, sorting, handling, transmission or delivery of mail.Post offices offer mail-related services such as post office boxes, postage and packaging supplies...

 with ZIP code

ZIP Code

ZIP codes are a system of postal codes used by the United States Postal Service since 1963. The term ZIP, an acronym for Zone Improvement Plan, is properly written in capital letters and was chosen to suggest that the mail travels more efficiently, and therefore more quickly, when senders use the...

 99121. The population at the 2010 census was 34.

Danville was founded in 1899 and took its name from the Danville Mining Company.

Early Years

Danville was the first town in the county. Danville was originally known as Nelson and was established in 1889 by the Nelson brothers. By 1897 the town had half a dozen businesses and a post office. The town also had the first newspaper in the county called the Reservation Record. In 1897 the Nelson brothers built a commodious store right on the international boundary line with a north entrance and a south entrance. The north entrance was to serve the Canadian patrons and the north entrance to serve the American patrons. The authorities suspected customs duty evasion and closed the store. In 1901 the Washington and Great Northern railroad built through Nelson. The railroad officials had Nelson's name changed to Danville to avoid confusion with Nelson in British Columbia. When the mines in the area became depleted Danville slipped in importance.

1920s

In the 1920s some level of prosperity returned to Danville with prohibition. Danville became a whiskey smugglers rendezvous. The whiskey smugglers used local guides and old trails to avoid detection by the border authorities. When prohibition came to an end Danville went into a state of decline. The town changed as a series of fires also took their toll. It was rumored that old Man Jennings the justice of the peace used to counterfeit half dollars.