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Washington Counties

There are 39 counties in the state of Washington.

Washington was carved out of the western part of Washington Territory and admitted to the Union as the 42nd state in 1889. The first counties were created from unorganized territory in 1845.

Kittitas County, Washington

Kittitas County History, Geography, Demographics, Cities and Towns, and Education

County Seat: Ellensburg
Year Organized: 1883
Square Miles: 2,297

Court House:

205 W. 5th Avenue
County Courthouse
Ellensburg, WA 98926-2890

Etymology - Origin of County Name

A Native American word of uncertain meaning.

Demographics:

County QuickFacts: Census Bureau Quick Facts

History

Kittitas County was created 24 November 1883 from Yakima County

Kittitas County, located at the center of Washington between the Cascade Mountains and the Columbia River, was part of the land ceded by the Yakama Tribe in 1855. Briefly part of Ferguson County (now defunct), then Yakima County, Kittitas County was established on November 24, 1883. Its geographic area is 2,297.2 square miles, placing it eighth in size among Washington counties. Ellensburg, home to Central Washington University and the Ellensburg Rodeo, is county seat. The Kittitas Valley became a stopping place for cowboys driving their herds north toward mining camps in Canada and northwest toward the Seattle/Tacoma market. By the late 1860s, cattle ranchers established land claims and cattle became the area's foremost industry. The completion of a wagon road over Snoqualmie Pass in 1867, the arrival of the Northern Pacific Railroad in 1887, the discovery of gold in Swauk Creek in 1873 and of coal near Cle Elum in 1883, and the 1932 completion of the Kittitas (irrigation) Project are important turning points in the county's history. Today the main industries are agriculture (including timothy hay to feed racehorses), manufacturing (food processing, lumber, and wood products), and government (including employment at Central Washington University).
File 7484: Full Text >

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 2,333 square miles (6,043 km²), of which, 2,297 square miles (5,950 km²) of it is land and 36 square miles (93 km²) of it (1.54%) is water. The highest point in the county is Mount Daniel at 2426 meters (7,959 feet) above sea level.

Neighboring Counties:

Chelan County, Washington - north
Douglas County, Washington - northeast
Grant County, Washington - east
Yakima County, Washington - south
Pierce County, Washington - west
King County, Washington - northwest

Cities and Towns:

- Cle Elum	city	Incorporated Area
- Ellensburg (County Seat)	city	Incorporated Area
- Kittitas	city	Incorporated Area
- Roslyn	city	Incorporated Area
- South Cle Elum	town	Incorporated Area

County Resources:

Enter County Resources and Information Here

County Resource Guide

Counties: US Map

The history of our nation can be seen as a prolonged struggle to define the relative roles and powers of our governments: federal, state, and local. And the names we've given our counties, our most locally based jurisdictions, reflects the "characteristic features of our country!"

But age, size and colorful names of our counties isn't the only reason to explore counties' role in American history, or the history of county government itself. In fact, the story of county government reflects the larger meanings of American history.

Today's counties are the most flexible, locally responsive and creative governments in the US. They are the most diverse, varying in size, population, geography, and governmental structure. In their politics and policies, they express a 1990's political slogan "Think globally, act locally."

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