John Work, an agent for The Hudson's Bay Company, established Fort Colvile near the Kettle Falls fur trading site in 1825. It replaced the Spokane House and the Flathead Post as the main trading center on the Upper Columbia River. In the 1950s, the Colville Air Force Station was developed and operated in the hills above the city as part of the Air Defense Command's network of radar stations. A few buildings remain at the site today. It is used largely by paint-ballers.