Wenatchee ( ) is the
county seat
A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or civil parish. The term is in use in Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, Taiwan, and the United States. The equivalent term shire town is used in the US ...
and largest city of
Chelan County,
Washington
Washington commonly refers to:
* Washington (state), United States
* Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States
** A metonym for the federal government of the United States
** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...
, United States.
The population within the city limits in 2010 was 31,925,
and was estimated to have increased to 34,360 as of 2019.
Located in the north-central part of the state, at the confluence of the
Columbia
Columbia may refer to:
* Columbia (personification), the historical female national personification of the United States, and a poetic name for America
Places North America Natural features
* Columbia Plateau, a geologic and geographic region i ...
and
Wenatchee rivers near the eastern foothills of the
Cascade Range
The Cascade Range or Cascades is a major mountain range of western North America, extending from southern British Columbia through Washington and Oregon to Northern California. It includes both non-volcanic mountains, such as the North Cascades, ...
, Wenatchee lies on the western side of the Columbia River, across from the city of
East Wenatchee. The Columbia River forms the boundary between Chelan and
Douglas County. Wenatchee is the principal city of the
Wenatchee–East Wenatchee, Washington Metropolitan Statistical Area, which encompasses all of Chelan and Douglas counties (total population around 110,884). However, the "Wenatchee Valley Area" generally refers to the land between
Rocky Reach and
Rock Island Dam on both banks of the Columbia, which includes East Wenatchee,
Rock Island, and
Malaga.
The city was named for the nearby
Wenatchi Indian tribe. The name is a
Sahaptin
The Sahaptin are a number of Native American tribes who speak dialects of the Sahaptin language. The Sahaptin tribes inhabited territory along the Columbia River and its tributaries in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. Sahaptin-s ...
word that means "river which comes
r whose source isfrom canyons" or "robe of the rainbow". ''Awenatchela'' means "people at the source
f a river. The city of Wenatchee shares its name with the Wenatchee River,
Lake Wenatchee and the
Wenatchee National Forest.
Wenatchee is referred to as the "Apple Capital of the World" due to the valley's many orchards. The city is also sometimes referred to as the "Buckle of the Power Belt of the Great Northwest". The "Power Belt of the Great Northwest" is a metaphor for the series of hydroelectric dams on the Columbia River. Rock Island Dam is located nearest to the middle of this "belt", and so was labeled the "Buckle". This saying is printed at the top of every issue of Wenatchee's newspaper, ''
The Wenatchee World
''The Wenatchee World'' is the leading daily newspaper in Wenatchee and East Wenatchee, Washington, United States. Serving Chelan, Douglas and other North Central Washington counties since 1905, ''The Wenatchee World'' prints on its front page ...
'', but is no longer in common use elsewhere.
History
Prehistoric era
Archeological digs in nearby East Wenatchee have uncovered
Clovis stone and bone tools dating back more than 11,000 years, indicating that people migrating during the last Ice Age spent time in the Wenatchee area. The Columbia River and nearby mountains and sagebrush steppes provided an ample supply of food. Clovis points are on display at the
Wenatchee Valley Museum & Cultural Center
The Wenatchee Valley Museum & Cultural Center (WVMCC) is a museum in Wenatchee, Washington, that houses local and regional history, Native American heritage, and the propeller used in the first trans-Pacific flight.
Founded in 1939 by the Columb ...
and research findings are available through the ''Wenatchee World''.
Indigenous villages and early settlers
Several indigenous villages existed in the area prior to and during Anglo American exploration. The village Nikwikwi'estku was a fishing and gathering camp located in present-day downtown Wenatchee. In 1811,
North West Company
The North West Company was a fur trading business headquartered in Montreal from 1779 to 1821. It competed with increasing success against the Hudson's Bay Company in what is present-day Western Canada and Northwestern Ontario. With great weal ...
surveyor David Thompson encountered a group of Native American horsemen at Wenatchee and was invited into a village with huts, the largest measuring 209 feet long. Fur traders document friendly relations through the mid 19th century, even during the smallpox epidemic of 1817 and food shortages in 1841.
During the
Yakima War in 1856, US Army Colonel Wright intervened on a possible alliance between Yakama and Wenatchi tribes by removing the Wenatchi to Kittitas. The resulting march was estimated to include 1,000 horses and extend five miles long. A contingent stayed behind to fish at
Wenatchapam Fishery in preparation for winter.
In 1863, Father Respari, a Catholic priest, began his missionary work with local Native Americans. He was followed some 20 years later by Father De Grassi, who built a log cabin on the Wenatchee River near the present town of
Cashmere. Throughout the 19th century, other white settlers came to homestead the land.
Wenatchee was platted in September 1888 and officially incorporated as a city on January 7, 1893.
Frank and
Belle Reeves founded ''The Wenatchee Advance'', the city's first newspaper, in 1891.
The 1900 U.S. Census counted 451 residents.
Continued growth
The Great Northern Railway completed its railroad line between
St. Paul, Minnesota
Saint Paul (abbreviated St. Paul) is the capital of the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of Ramsey County. Situated on high bluffs overlooking a bend in the Mississippi River, Saint Paul is a regional business hub and the center o ...
, and
Seattle
Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest region o ...
in 1893. Its route through the Wenatchee Valley was significant to the development of this region. The railroad not only provided passenger travel to and from Wenatchee, but it provided for freight service for shipments of wheat, apples, and other products to out-of-state markets.
By the early 20th century, the Wenatchee Commercial Club, now the
Wenatchee Valley Chamber of Commerce, was advertising the region as the "Home of the World's Best Apples." The tree fruit industry provided the economic backbone for the region for a century and still is an important source of revenue.
On May 22, 1910, the Wenatchee
free speech fight occurred when members of the
Industrial Workers of the World
The Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), members of which are commonly termed "Wobblies", is an international labor union that was founded in Chicago in 1905. The origin of the nickname "Wobblies" is uncertain. IWW ideology combines general ...
(IWW) were arrested for
speaking in the street in front of the local hall of the
Socialist Party of America
The Socialist Party of America (SPA) was a socialist political party in the United States formed in 1901 by a merger between the three-year-old Social Democratic Party of America and disaffected elements of the Socialist Labor Party of Ameri ...
.
The town had freed imprisoned IWW members by June;
however, tensions resumed in September 1911 when police raided a house rented by six IWW men and arrested twenty-five migrant workers found carrying IWW literature. Again, the men were all quickly released.
In 1922, a
Ku Klux Klan
The Ku Klux Klan (), commonly shortened to the KKK or the Klan, is an American white supremacist, right-wing terrorist, and hate group whose primary targets are African Americans, Jews, Latinos, Asian Americans, Native Americans, and Cat ...
chapter of nearly 100 men demanded that black residents leave on threat of violence. By 1923 they hosted meetings of up to 400 members and burned a large cross above Fancher airfield in East Wenatchee. The Wenatchee chapter hosted the 1926 state Klan convention and marched in the
Apple Blossom Parade. In the wave of
anti-Filipino sentiment, Filipino immigrant workers were targeted by violence and deportation through the late 1920s.
On October 5, 1931,
Clyde Pangborn and his copilot Hugh Herndon landed their
airplane
An airplane or aeroplane (informally plane) is a fixed-wing aircraft that is propelled forward by thrust from a jet engine, propeller, or rocket engine. Airplanes come in a variety of sizes, shapes, and wing configurations. The broad ...
, named the ''
Miss Veedol'', in the hills of
East Wenatchee, and thus became the first
aviator
An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its directional flight controls. Some other aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are also considered aviators, because they a ...
s to fly nonstop across the Pacific Ocean. The 41-hour flight from Sabishiro Beach,
Misawa,
Aomori Prefecture
is a prefecture of Japan in the Tōhoku region. The prefecture's capital, largest city, and namesake is the city of Aomori. Aomori is the northernmost prefecture on Japan's main island, Honshu, and is bordered by the Pacific Ocean to the eas ...
,
Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the n ...
, won them the
Harmon Trophy
The Harmon Trophy is a set of three international trophies, to be awarded annually to the world's outstanding aviator, aviatrix, and aeronaut (balloon or dirigible). A fourth trophy, the "National Trophy," was awarded from 1926 through 1938 to th ...
for the greatest achievement in flight of 1931. ''Miss Veedol''s propeller is on display at the
Wenatchee Valley Museum & Cultural Center
The Wenatchee Valley Museum & Cultural Center (WVMCC) is a museum in Wenatchee, Washington, that houses local and regional history, Native American heritage, and the propeller used in the first trans-Pacific flight.
Founded in 1939 by the Columb ...
.
In 1936, with the completion of
Rock Island Dam, Wenatchee was protected from the summer flooding of the
Columbia River
The Columbia River ( Upper Chinook: ' or '; Sahaptin: ''Nch’i-Wàna'' or ''Nchi wana''; Sinixt dialect'' '') is the largest river in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. The river rises in the Rocky Mountains of British Columbia ...
, and the first of 14
hydroelectric
Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies one sixth of the world's electricity, almost 4500 TWh in 2020, which is more than all other renewable sources combined an ...
projects on the Columbia began generating
electric power
Electric power is the rate at which electrical energy is transferred by an electric circuit. The SI unit of power is the watt, one joule per second. Standard prefixes apply to watts as with other SI units: thousands, millions and billions ...
. The reservoirs thus generated also made it possible to irrigate hundreds of thousands of acres of farmland in the Columbia Basin.
Modern era
In 1975,
Stemilt Growers moved its headquarters from nearby Stemilt Hill to Olds Station, Wenatchee. The company grows, packs and ships tree fruit and would go on to become the largest fresh market
sweet cherry shipper in the world.
Every year from the last week of April to the end of the first week of May, Wenatchee hosts the
Washington State Apple Blossom Festival, which probably brings in the largest number of people Wenatchee sees annually, with the exception of migrant workers travelling for harvest. It features two relatively large parades: the Apple Blossom Youth Parade on the last Saturday in April and the Apple Blossom Grand Parade on the first Saturday in May, a food fair representing cuisine from around the world, and a
traveling carnival
A traveling carnival (US English), usually simply called a carnival, or travelling funfair (UK English), is an amusement show that may be made up of amusement rides, food vendors, merchandise vendors, games of chance and skill, thrill acts, ...
.
The
Wenatchee child abuse prosecutions
The Wenatchee child abuse prosecutions in Wenatchee, Washington, US, of 1994 and 1995, were the last "large scale Multi-Victim / Multi-Offender case" during the hysteria over child molestation in the 1980s and early 1990s. Many poor and intellect ...
in Wenatchee, Washington, also known as the "Wenatchee Witch Hunt", that occurred in 1994 and 1995, are examples of the
hysteria over child molestation in the 1980s and early 1990s.
[
In the early 1990s Wenatchee had a reputation as the "happy pill town" and "Happy Valley", with psychologist James Goodwin, "the Pied Piper of Prozac".]
According to CNN's ''Money Magazine'', Wenatchee had the second fastest forecast real estate value growth in the country for June 2006–June 2007. In November 2018, USA Today listed Wenatchee as experiencing the 22nd highest employment growth in the country.
On July 29, 2013, a large wildfire spreading over south of Wenatchee occurred, affecting over 40 nearby homes.
The Riverfront Park Ice Arena closed its doors in July 2008, and Awaken Church was later opened at the site.
The Wenatchee Valley also boasts one of only two aluminum
Aluminium (aluminum in American and Canadian English) is a chemical element with the symbol Al and atomic number 13. Aluminium has a density lower than those of other common metals, at approximately one third that of steel. It ha ...
smelters remaining in the Northwestern United States
The Northwestern United States, also known as the American Northwest or simply the Northwest, is an informal geographic region of the United States. The region consistently includes the states of Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana and Wyoming. ...
, at the Alcoa
Alcoa Corporation (an acronym for Aluminum Company of America) is a Pittsburgh-based industrial corporation. It is the world's eighth-largest producer of aluminum. Alcoa conducts operations in 10 countries. Alcoa is a major producer of primar ...
plant in Malaga. The plant announced in November 2015 that it would be shutting down operations on January 5, 2016. Other growing areas of the regional economy are tourism and information technology.
Geography
Wenatchee is located at the confluence of the Wenatchee and Columbia
Columbia may refer to:
* Columbia (personification), the historical female national personification of the United States, and a poetic name for America
Places North America Natural features
* Columbia Plateau, a geologic and geographic region i ...
rivers in the Columbia Basin, just east of the foothills of the Cascade Range
The Cascade Range or Cascades is a major mountain range of western North America, extending from southern British Columbia through Washington and Oregon to Northern California. It includes both non-volcanic mountains, such as the North Cascades, ...
. Irrigation from the Columbia River and its tributaries allows for the large amount of agriculture in Wenatchee and the surrounding areas.
The city of Wenatchee is bordered by the Wenatchee River on the north, the Columbia River to the east, and the Wenatchee Mountains to the south and west. These ridges and peaks form a wall around the western and southern sides of the city. According to the United States Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of th ...
, the city has a total area of , of which is land and is water.
Climate
Wenatchee experiences a semi-arid climate
A semi-arid climate, semi-desert climate, or steppe climate is a dry climate sub-type. It is located on regions that receive precipitation below potential evapotranspiration, but not as low as a desert climate. There are different kinds of semi ...
( Köppen ''BSk'') with cold winters and hot, dry summers.
Demographics
2010 census
As of the census
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses inc ...
of 2010, there were 31,925 people, 12,379 households, and 7,721 families residing in the city. The population density
Population density (in agriculture: standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geographical term.Matt RosenberPopu ...
was . There were 13,175 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 76.7% White
White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White ...
, 0.4% African American
African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...
, 1.2% Native American, 1.1% Asian, 0.2% Pacific Islander
Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the Pacific Islands. As an ethnic/ racial term, it is used to describe the original peoples—inhabitants and diasporas—of any of the three major subregions of O ...
, 17.3% from other races, and 3.1% from two or more races. Hispanic
The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad.
The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to viceroyalties for ...
or Latino of any race were 29.4% of the population.
There were 12,379 households, of which 33.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 44.6% were married couples
Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognized union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children, and between ...
living together, 11.9% had a female householder with no husband present, 5.8% had a male householder with no wife present, and 37.6% were non-families. 31.2% of all households were made up of individuals, and 14.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.53 and the average family size was 3.19.
The median age in the city was 35.2 years. 26.1% of residents were under the age of 18; 10% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 25.2% were from 25 to 44; 23.4% were from 45 to 64; and 15.2% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the city was 48.9% male and 51.1% female.
2000 census
As of the census
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses inc ...
of 2000, there were 27,856 people, 10,741 households, and 6,884 families residing in the city. The population density was 4,049.6 people per square mile (1,563.3/km2). There were 11,486 housing units at an average density of 1,669.8 per square mile (644.6/km2). The racial makeup of the city was 80.93% White
White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White ...
, 0.39% African American
African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...
, 1.13% Native American, 0.95% Asian, 0.13% Pacific Islander
Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the Pacific Islands. As an ethnic/ racial term, it is used to describe the original peoples—inhabitants and diasporas—of any of the three major subregions of O ...
, 13.99% from other races, and 2.48% from two or more races. Hispanic
The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad.
The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to viceroyalties for ...
or Latino of any race were 21.52% of the population.
There were 10,741 households, out of which 33.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 49.4% were married couples living together, 10.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 35.9% were non-families. 30.1% of all households were made up of individuals, and 13.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.53 and the average family size was 3.17.
In the city, the age distribution of the population shows 27.4% under the age of 18, 10.0% from 18 to 24, 28.3% from 25 to 44, 19.3% from 45 to 64, and 15.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females, there were 95.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 92.8 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $34,897, and the median income for a family was $45,982. Males had a median income of $35,245 versus $26,062 for females. The per capita income
Per capita income (PCI) or total income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. It is calculated by dividing the area's total income by its total population.
Per capita i ...
for the city was $19,498. About 10.6% of families and 15.3% 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 19.7% of those under age 18 and 5.7% of those age 65 or over.
Arts and culture
The Wenatchee post office contains an oil on canvas mural, ', painted in 1940 by Peggy Strong. Murals were produced from 1934 to 1943 in the United States through the Section of Painting and Sculpture
The Treasury Section of Painting and Sculpture was a New Deal art project established on October 16, 1934, and administered by the Procurement Division of the United States Department of the Treasury.
Commonly known as the Section, it was rena ...
, later called the Section of Fine Arts
The Treasury Section of Painting and Sculpture was a New Deal art project established on October 16, 1934, and administered by the Procurement Division of the United States Department of the Treasury.
Commonly known as the Section, it was rena ...
, of the Treasury Department. The WPA was the largest and most ambitious American New Deal agency
The alphabet agencies, or New Deal agencies, were the U.S. federal government agencies created as part of the New Deal of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The earliest agencies were created to combat the Great Depression in the United States an ...
, employing individuals to carry out public works
Public works are a broad category of infrastructure projects, financed and constructed by the government, for recreational, employment, and health and safety uses in the greater community. They include public buildings ( municipal buildings, sc ...
projects.
Wenatchee is home to many performing arts groups including the Wenatchee Valley Symphony, Wenatchee Big Band, Columbia Chorale, Wenatchee Valley Appleaires and The Apollo Club. Music Theater of Wenatchee, Stage Kids, and several other theatre companies offer stage productions year-round. Wenatchee also is home to Mariachi Huenachi, a much-celebrated mariachi
Mariachi (, , ) is a genre of regional Mexican music that dates back to at least the 18th century, evolving over time in the countryside of various regions of western Mexico. The usual mariachi group today consists of as many as eight violins, t ...
program in the Wenatchee School District which performed at the US Capitol for National Hispanic Heritage Month in 2017. The group was featured in a 2018 TVW documentary.
The Town Toyota Center has featured high school mariachi ensembles from across the region. Mariachi Sol De Mexico gives clinics to high school musicians and gives an evening concert sometimes featuring famous musical artists.
Sports
Professional sports
Current teams
Former teams
Amateur sports
The Wenatchee Valley Super Oval in East Wenatchee is a quarter-mile-long banked asphalt oval used for local racing.
In the fall of 2008, the Town Toyota Center was completed, and hosts some professional and junior professional sporting events, in addition to touring events and expositions, and the 2010 NAHL Pepsi Robertson Cup.
Parks and recreation
The Wenatchee Valley and the surrounding areas provide an abundance of sports and recreational activities for any season. There are several facilities including the WRAC tennis club, an Olympic size swimming pool, an ice arena, several 18-hole and 9-hole golf courses, a 9-hole disc golf course, and countless baseball diamonds and soccer fields as well as two skateboard parks. There are many places to hike, fish and hunt for both birds and larger game. Boating and water recreation are also quite common. Many kayak, windsurf and water-ski on the Columbia. Whitewater rafting and inner-tubing is frequent on the Wenatchee River. In the winter, the mountains near Wenatchee provide great snowmobiling, sledding at Squilchuck State Park, as well as skiing and snowboarding at Mission Ridge (30 minutes drive) and Stevens Pass (1 hour and a half drive). Nordic skiing is available at the Stevens Pass Nordic Center, Leavenworth (25 minute drive), and the Methow Valley (1 hour and 45 minute drive).
The city also offers a large system of parks and paved trails known as the Apple Capital Recreation Loop Trail. The loop along both banks of the Columbia River is used by cyclists, walkers, joggers, and skaters. A project to extend the eastern segment of the trail north to Lincoln Rock State Park was completed on July 9, 2015. An additional extension on the east side runs south to Kirby Billingsley Hydro Park. A short extension slated for completion in Fall 2017 is planned from the west end of the Odabashian bridge to the corner of Easy Street and the highway. In the winter, cross-country skiers and snowshoers also use the trail. The trail connects in the south at the historic Columbia River Bridge, also known as the pipeline bridge, and in the north at the Richard Odabashian Bridge. It passes through Wenatchee Confluence State Park. Much of the hillside areas surrounding the city of Wenatchee have been purchased by or have their rights held by the Chelan-Douglas Land Trust which protects them as a natural resource and as a site for hiking in the foothills.
Government and politics
Wenatchee is within Chelan County, Washington
Chelan County (, ) is a county in the U.S. state of Washington. As of the 2020 census, its population was 79,074. The county seat and largest city is Wenatchee. The county was created out of Okanogan and Kittitas Counties on March 13, 1899. ...
, and is in the 12th Legislative District and 8th Congressional District of Washington.
Public safety in Wenatchee is provided by three law enforcement
Law enforcement is the activity of some members of government who act in an organized manner to enforce the law by discovering, deterring, rehabilitating, or punishing people who violate the rules and norms governing that society. The term ...
agencies ( Wenatchee Police Department, Chelan County Sheriff's Office, and the Washington State Patrol
The Washington State Patrol (WSP) is the state patrol agency for the U.S. state of Washington. Organized as the Washington State Highway Patrol in 1921, it was renamed and reconstituted in 1933. The agency is charged with the protection of the G ...
), one fire department (Chelan County Fire District No. 1), and two private ambulance companies (Ballard Ambulance and Lifeline Ambulance). East Wenatchee Police and Douglas County Fire District No. 2 (East Wenatchee) also assist with police and fire protection services within the city through mutual aid agreements.
Education
Public K-12 education in Wenatchee is provided by the Wenatchee School District Wenatchee School District #246 is a public school district of the State of Washington serving the city of Wenatchee and surrounding communities. As of May 2016 the approximate student population of the district is 7,931, served by 467 teachers. , which also serves the communities of Malaga, Olds Station, South Wenatchee, Sunnyslope, and Wenatchee Heights. The city has seven elementary schools, three middle schools, and one high school (Wenatchee High School
Wenatchee High School is a public school in Wenatchee, Washington, United States. It serves grades 9-12 for the Wenatchee School District.
Notable alumni
* Trey Adams, football player
* Mackenzie Cowell, murder victim
* Duane Francies
First ...
). The School District also maintains Westside High School, an alternative high school, and the Valley Academy of Learning, which is an alternative education program where parents play the active role in education of their children.
In 2006, the Wenatchee School District began offering students of Wenatchee High School and Westside High School the ability to take selected classes online at the Wenatchee Internet Academy. These classes employ use of Moodle and Blackboard software packages for managing the distance-learning program. All classes are designed by educators at Wenatchee High School and operated by local instructors within the Wenatchee School District.
The city also has several private schools, most of which are religious: Children's Gate Montessori School, Cascade Christian Academy, The River Academy, St. Joseph Catholic School, and St. Paul's Lutheran School.
Higher education
Wenatchee is also the home of the North Central Educational Service District, serving all of north-central Washington, and the Wenatchee Valley College
Wenatchee Valley College (WVC) is a public community college in Wenatchee, Washington. The college provides students with adult education classes, certifications, associate degrees, and four bachelor's degrees. WVC's primary service district i ...
, a two-year community college with its main campus in Wenatchee and a satellite campus in Omak, Washington. Its main campus has an average student population of 3500 of all ages. Wenatchee Valley College has one of the largest community college service areas in the State of Washington
Washington (), officially the State of Washington, is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. Named for George Washington—the first U.S. president—the state was formed from the western part of the Washington ...
, covering more than .
The Washington State University
Washington State University (Washington State, WSU, or informally Wazzu) is a public land-grant research university with its flagship, and oldest, campus in Pullman, Washington. Founded in 1890, WSU is also one of the oldest land-grant uni ...
is represented in Wenatchee by the Tree Fruit Research and Extension Center, the North Central Washington Learning Center, and Chelan Co. Cooperative Extension.
Transportation
The city is served by U.S. Route 2 passing by in Sunnyslope, less than a mile north of city limits. U.S. Route 97
U.S. Route 97 (US 97) is a major north–south route of the United States Numbered Highway System in the Pacific Northwest region. It runs for approximately through the states of California, Oregon, and Washington, primarily serving i ...
also passes north of the city, while State Route 28 passes through East Wenatchee just across the river.
Columbia River can be crossed by three bridges: the Richard Odabashian Bridge and the Senator George Sellar Bridge
The Senator George Sellar Bridge at Wenatchee, Washington was built in 1950 as the "Columbia River Bridge" to carry U.S. Route 2 across the Columbia River.
The steel suspended tied-arch bridge has a main span of with anchor arms. The suspended ...
for motor vehicles, and the Old Wenatchee Bridge for pedestrians.
Public transportation
Transit services within Wenatchee is provided by Link Transit, which serves all of Chelan County and parts of Douglas County. Link Transit also runs commuter bus service from Wenatchee to many outlying communities in the region, including Leavenworth and Chelan. The agency adopted its first electric buses
Electricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and motion of matter that has a property of electric charge. Electricity is related to magnetism, both being part of the phenomenon of electromagnetism, as described by ...
with batteries in 2014, running on three trolley routes in Wenatchee branded as "The Current".
Columbia Station, the city's Amtrak
The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak () , is the national passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates inter-city rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous U.S. States and nine cities in Canada. ...
station, is also served by intercity coach buses from Greyhound
The English Greyhound, or simply the Greyhound, is a breed of dog, a sighthound which has been bred for coursing, greyhound racing and hunting. Since the rise in large-scale adoption of retired racing Greyhounds, the breed has seen a resurgenc ...
, the Washington State Department of Transportation
The Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT or WashDOT, both ) is a governmental agency that constructs, maintains, and regulates the use of transportation infrastructure in the U.S. state of Washington. Established in 1905, it is ...
's AppleLine, and Northwestern Trailways.
Aviation
The city is served by Pangborn Memorial Airport which is located about to the east, and supports commercial flights from Wenatchee to and from Seattle
Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest region o ...
on Alaska Airlines
Alaska Airlines is a major American airline headquartered in SeaTac, Washington, within the Seattle metropolitan area. It is the sixth largest airline in North America when measured by fleet size, scheduled passengers carried, and the numb ...
.
Railroad
Wenatchee is in the major railroad line of the BNSF Railway
BNSF Railway is one of the largest freight railroads in North America. One of seven North American Class I railroads, BNSF has 35,000 employees, of track in 28 states, and nearly 8,000 locomotives. It has three transcontinental routes that ...
(formerly Great Northern Railway) to Seattle. Wenatchee was once the eastern terminus of the Great Northern electric-driven train service (1928/1929–1956) on its New Cascade Tunnel route via the Chumstick Valley, which went all the way to Skykomish
Skykomish is a town in King County, Washington, United States. The population was 198 as of the 2010 census, down from an estimated peak of "several thousand" in the 1920s.
Located in the Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest, 49 miles east ...
. There, steam locomotive
A steam locomotive is a locomotive that provides the force to move itself and other vehicles by means of the expansion of steam. It is fuelled by burning combustible material (usually coal, oil or, rarely, wood) to heat water in the locomot ...
s or diesel locomotive
A diesel locomotive is a type of railway locomotive in which the prime mover is a diesel engine. Several types of diesel locomotives have been developed, differing mainly in the means by which mechanical power is conveyed to the driving whee ...
s replaced electric locomotive
An electric locomotive is a locomotive powered by electricity from overhead lines, a third rail or on-board energy storage such as a battery or a supercapacitor. Locomotives with on-board fuelled prime movers, such as diesel engines or gas ...
s along this route, as well as having a maintenance base for the electric locomotives. Today, Amtrak
The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak () , is the national passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates inter-city rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous U.S. States and nine cities in Canada. ...
's ''Empire Builder
The ''Empire Builder'' is an Amtrak long-distance passenger train that operates daily between Chicago and either Seattle or Portland via two sections west of Spokane. Introduced in 1929, it was the flagship passenger train of the Great Northe ...
'' passenger train serves Wenatchee at Columbia Station. The Cascade and Columbia River short line freight railroad interfaces with BNSF in Wenatchee, and runs north to Okanogan and further north to Oroville.
On August 6, 1974, a tank car belonging to Burlington Northern (now BNSF) exploded in the Appleyard Terminal in south Wenatchee, killing 2 people.
Notable people
* Gary J. Coleman
Gary Jerome Coleman (born September 18, 1941) has been a general authority of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) since 1992.
Coleman was born in Wenatchee, Washington. He was raised a Roman Catholic in the Diocese of ...
, (b. 1941) Mormon leader
* Chris DeGarmo
Christopher Lee DeGarmo (born June 14, 1963) is an American guitarist and songwriter, best known for being a rhythm and lead guitarist, backing vocalist, and primary songwriter in the progressive metal band Queensrÿche from their formation in 1 ...
, (b. 1963) member of the heavy metal band, Queensrÿche
Queensrÿche is an American heavy metal band. It formed in 1982 in Bellevue, Washington, out of the local band the Mob. The band has released 16 studio albums, one EP, and several DVDs, and continues to tour and record. The original lineup ...
, born in Wenatchee
* Tyler Farrar Tyler may refer to:
People and fictional characters
* Tyler (name), an English name; with lists of people with the surname or given name
* Tyler, the Creator (born 1991), American rap artist and producer
* John Tyler, 10th president of the United ...
, (b. 1984) pro tour cyclist, born and raised in Wenatchee.
* Dan Hamilton
Dan Hamilton is a fictional character from the BBC medical drama '' Holby City'', played by actor Adam Astill. He first appeared in the series thirteen episode "Blue Valentine", broadcast on 15 February 2011. Dan is a consultant orthopaedic s ...
, (1946-1994) lead singer for Hamilton, Joe Frank & Reynolds
Hamilton, Joe Frank & Reynolds were a 1970s soft rock trio from Los Angeles. The original members were Dan Hamilton (guitar/lead vocal), Joe Frank Carollo (bass/vocal), and Tommy Reynolds (multi-instrumentalist/vocal), all of whom had previou ...
was raised in Wenatchee.
* Susan Hart, (b.1941) actress and producer
* Brad Lamm, (b.1966) educator and author born in Wenatchee.
* Don Lanphere
Donald Gale Lanphere (June 26, 1928 – October 9, 2003) was an American jazz tenor and soprano saxophonist, known for his 1940s and 1950s work, and recordings with Fats Navarro (in 1948), Woody Herman (1949), Claude Thornhill, Sonny Dunham, Bil ...
, (1928–2003) jazz saxophonist, born in Wenatchee
* Noreen Nash
Noreen Nash (born Norabelle Jean Roth; April 4, 1924) is an American retired film and television actress. In the beginning of her career, she had uncredited parts at MGM. In 1945, she appeared in '' The Southerner'', after which she had mostly l ...
, (b. 1924) actress, born in Wenatchee.
* Casey Parsons
Casey Robert Parsons is a former Major League Baseball outfielder. He played parts of four seasons in the majors, between and , for the Seattle Mariners, Chicago White Sox, and Cleveland Indians. In four seasons, he played in just 63 games, and ...
, (b. 1954) baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...
player, born in Wenatchee.
* Joseph Rose, (b. 1969), award-winning journalist, Episcopal minister and theologian, born and grew up in Wenatchee
*Bud Sagendorf
Forrest Cowles Sagendorf (March 22, 1915 – September 22, 1994), better known as Bud Sagendorf, was an American cartoonist, notable for his work on King Features Syndicate's '' Thimble Theatre Starring Popeye'' comic strip.
Personal life
Born ...
, (1915–1994), cartoonist known for drawing ''Popeye
Popeye the Sailor Man is a fictional cartoon character created by E. C. Segar, Elzie Crisler Segar.[Heidi Schreck
Heidi Schreck (born September 26, 1971) is an American playwright, screenwriter, and actress from Wenatchee, Washington. Her play ''What the Constitution Means to Me'', which she also performs in, was a finalist for the 2019 Pulitzer Prize for Dr ...](_blank)
, (b. 1971/1972) actress and playwright, grew up in Wenatchee.
* Kurt Schulz, (b. 1968) NFL player who played for the Buffalo Bills
The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. ...
and Detroit Lions
The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) North Division. The team play their home games at Ford ...
, born in Wenatchee.
* Sammy Charles White, (1927–1991) baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...
player, born in Wenatchee.
Sister cities
Wenatchee has four sister cities
A sister city or a twin town relationship is a form of legal or social agreement between two geographically and politically distinct localities for the purpose of promoting cultural and commercial ties.
While there are early examples of inter ...
:
* Kuroishi, Japan
* Misawa, Japan
* Tynda
Tynda (russian: Ты́нда) is a town in Amur Oblast, Russia, located northwest of Blagoveshchensk. It is an important railway junction, informally referred to as the capital of the Baikal-Amur Mainline. Its population has declined sharply in ...
, Russia
* Naju
Naju () is a city in South Jeolla Province, South Korea.
The capital of South Jeolla was located at Naju until it was moved to Gwangju in 1895. The name Jeolla actually originates from the first character of Jeonju () and the first character of Na ...
, South Korea
See also
* Wenatchee Dome
References
External links
City of Wenatchee
*
{{Authority control
Archaeological sites in Washington (state)
Cities in Washington (state)
County seats in Washington (state)
Populated places established in 1888
Washington (state) populated places on the Columbia River
Cities in Chelan County, Washington
Wenatchee–East Wenatchee metropolitan area
1888 establishments in Washington Territory