Basin City () is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a parcel of land that is not governed by a local general-purpose municipal corporation. (At p. 178.) They may be governed or serviced by an encompassing unit (such as a county) or another branch of the state (such as th ...

and

census-designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a Place (United States Census Bureau), concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counte ...

(CDP) in Franklin County, Washington, United States. The population was 1,092 at the 2010 census, up from 968 at the 2000 census.

History

The town of Basin City was laid out in the 1950s on land owned by dry-land farmer Loen Bailie. The town was established to support the local agricultural community which was being opened to irrigation through the

Columbia Basin Project The Columbia Basin Project (or CBP) in Central Washington (state), Washington, United States, is the irrigation network that the Grand Coulee Dam makes possible. It is the largest water reclamation project in the United States, supplying irrigat ...

. The new settlers to the area consisted primarily of young farmers from

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest and Mountain states, Mountain West subregions of the Western United States. It borders Montana and Wyoming to the east, Nevada and Utah to the south, and Washington (state), ...

and southwestern

Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...

and World War II veterans, who received preferential status on the purchase of federal lands that were sold as part of the project. Early crops included

sugar beet A sugar beet is a plant whose root contains a high concentration of sucrose and that is grown commercially for sugar production. In plant breeding, it is known as the Altissima cultivar group of the common beet (''Beta vulgaris''). Together with ...

alfalfa Alfalfa () (''Medicago sativa''), also called lucerne, is a perennial plant, perennial flowering plant in the legume family Fabaceae. It is cultivated as an important forage crop in many countries around the world. It is used for grazing, hay, ...

corn Maize (; ''Zea mays''), also known as corn in North American English, is a tall stout Poaceae, grass that produces cereal grain. It was domesticated by indigenous peoples of Mexico, indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 9,000 years ago ...

asparagus Asparagus (''Asparagus officinalis'') is a perennial flowering plant species in the genus ''Asparagus (genus), Asparagus'' native to Eurasia. Widely cultivated as a vegetable crop, its young shoots are used as a spring vegetable. Description ...

wheat Wheat is a group of wild and crop domestication, domesticated Poaceae, grasses of the genus ''Triticum'' (). They are Agriculture, cultivated for their cereal grains, which are staple foods around the world. Well-known Taxonomy of wheat, whe ...

and

barley Barley (), a member of the grass family, is a major cereal grain grown in temperate climates globally. It was one of the first cultivated grains; it was domesticated in the Fertile Crescent around 9000 BC, giving it nonshattering spikele ...

. Later, potatoes, beans, carrots, and onions also became important, while sugar beet production stopped due to closure of a local sugar beet plant. A large number of orchards were planted, and the area is now a major supplier of the famous Washington apples. Cherries and other fruits are also produced locally.

Geography

Basin City is located in northwestern Franklin County at (46.591416, -119.149325). As the name implies, it lies in a basin. The land west of the town slopes gradually downward for about then rises abruptly by about at Basin Hill. Basin Hill extends about southwest of town to the

Columbia River The Columbia River (Upper Chinook language, Upper Chinook: ' or '; Sahaptin language, Sahaptin: ''Nch’i-Wàna'' or ''Nchi wana''; Sinixt dialect'' '') is the largest river in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. The river headwater ...

, where it forms the southern extent of the "White Bluffs" for which the town of White Bluffs was named. Basin Hill also extends to the north, where it is called Sage Hill and then rises a bit higher at Radar Hill, named for an old World War II radar base installed at the peak. A little further to the northwest lie the Saddle Mountains. The tallest peak visible from Basin City is Rattlesnake Mountain, about to the southwest on the opposite side of the Columbia River. However, from the top of nearby Basin Hill it is possible to see

Mount Rainier Mount Rainier ( ), also known as Tahoma, is a large active stratovolcano in the Cascade Range of the Pacific Northwest in the United States. The mountain is located in Mount Rainier National Park about south-southeast of Seattle. With an off ...

, which lies approximately to the west in the

Cascade Range The Cascade Range or Cascades is a major mountain range of western North America, extending from southern British Columbia through Washington (state), Washington and Oregon to Northern California. It includes both non-volcanic mountains, such as m ...

. Bailie's Lake, a small lake formed by irrigation runoff, lies to the northwest of town and provides opportunities for fishing and hunting. According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...

, the Basin City CDP has a total area of , all of it land. Although the CDP itself is quite small, it serves as the heart of a much larger agricultural community extending for miles in all directions.

Demographics

As of the

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

of 2000, there were 968 people, 219 households, and 204 families residing in the CDP. The population density was 302.0 people per square mile (116.4/km²). There were 221 housing units at an average density of 69.0/sq mi (26.6/km²). The racial makeup of the CDP was 55.68%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

, 0.62% Native American, 0.31% Asian, 20.76% from other races, and 22.62% from two or more races.

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

or Latino of any race were 76.14% of the population. There were 219 households, out of which 68.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 71.7% were married couples living together, 13.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 6.4% were non-families. 4.1% of all households were made up of individuals, and 1.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 4.42 and the average family size was 4.41. In the CDP, the age distribution of the population shows 43.6% under the age of 18, 13.9% from 18 to 24, 29.1% from 25 to 44, 10.4% from 45 to 64, and 2.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 20 years. For every 100 females, there were 110.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 114.1 males. The median income for a household in the CDP was $29,444, and the median income for a family was $31,071. Males had a median income of $23,438 versus $21,071 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...

for the CDP was $8,461. About 22.9% of families and 18.0% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line, or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...

, including 16.1% of those under age 18 and none of those age 65 or over.

Freedom Rodeo

The Basin City Freedom Rodeo was first staged on July 4, 2020, as a peaceful protest against Washington State's coronavirus lockdown restrictions. The Basin City Memorial Park rodeo grounds were restored specifically for the event after 40 years of not being used. The Bailie Memorial Youth Foundation donated the money for the restoration. Organizers spent a month leveling the rodeo grounds, installing bleachers, and putting in grass. The first event had two days of rodeo slack competitions, a parade, fireworks, and a dance with open mouth kissing. The Freedom Rodeo is now an annual event.

References

{{authority control Census-designated places in Washington (state) Census-designated places in Franklin County, Washington