Warden is a city in Grant County, Washington, United States. The population was 2,449 at the 2020 census. The Central Basin plateau was settled in the late 1800s by immigrants of Russian-German ancestry who homesteaded in the area and farmed dryland wheat. Prior to this the area had been inhabited by local Native American Salish tribes that had contact with the early Spanish and British traders. The Milwaukee Railroad arrived in the early 1900s and attracted additional settlers, including Doc Harris who established a drug and sundries store with physician services in Warden about 1905. The town's name of "Warden" comes from its Bessarabian German heritage and means "worthy" or "treasured" as may be noted in the Das Deutsche Woerterbuch von Jacob und Wilhelm Grimm. A local tradition attributes the name of the town to Doc Harris's son Ward. However, the area of the town was being referred to as "Warden" by its German settlers long before Doc Harris arrived, as may be noted in the Protokol, official church records in German of the original church which is today the Warden Community Church. Other nearby towns also carry Bessarabian German names such as Lind, Ruff, and Odessa. The Bessarabian German tradition of the town has long since vanished and has been mostly replaced with a mixed Anglo/Hispanic culture with a current population that is of roughly 72% Hispanic heritage.
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