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Ephrata ( ) is a city in and the county seat of
Grant County Grant County may refer to: Places ;Australia * County of Grant, Victoria ;United States * Grant County, Arkansas * Grant County, Indiana * Grant County, Kansas *Grant County, Kentucky Grant County is a county located in the northern pa ...
, Washington, United States. Its population was 8,477 at the 2020 census.


History

Ephrata was officially incorporated on June 21, 1909 and was given the county seat for the newly created Grant County. The settlement of Ephrata is quite recent. There was no known settlement until 1886, just three years before Washington gained statehood. The horse rancher Frank Beezley was the first to settle near the natural springs, thus the area was known as Beezley Springs. As the climate and topography were not promising to settlement, the entire region remained sparsely populated until several federal congressional actions, including the Northern Pacific Land Grant Act, the
Homestead Act The Homestead Acts were several laws in the United States by which an applicant could acquire ownership of Federal lands, government land or the American frontier, public domain, typically called a Homestead (buildings), homestead. In all, mo ...
, and Desert Claims Act, encouraged the settlement of this
semi-arid A semi-arid climate, semi-desert climate, or steppe climate is a aridity, dry climate sub-type. It is located on regions that receive precipitation below Evapotranspiration#Potential evapotranspiration, potential evapotranspiration, but not as l ...
desert-like area. Originally, Douglas County spread over the entire territory of the Big Bend of 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 ...
. In 1909, the Washington State legislature divided it, creating Grant County. When the time came to present arguments to the state legislature regarding which town should be the county seat, someone apparently intentionally intoxicated the representative of a rival community, and Ephrata was chosen. It is generally believed that the city was named Ephrata by a man who worked for the Great Northern Railway. The name Ephrata is derived from a biblical description of an orchard in the middle of the desert. It is also the ancient name for the town of
Bethlehem Bethlehem is a city in the West Bank, Palestine, located about south of Jerusalem, and the capital of the Bethlehem Governorate. It had a population of people, as of . The city's economy is strongly linked to Tourism in the State of Palesti ...
. The region was known at the turn of the century for the great herds of wild horses that roamed the land. Horse trading was an important element of the local economy, and Ephrata served as the staging area for the horse round-ups. The last "Grand Horse Round-up" was held in Ephrata in 1906. Ephrata then developed as a trade and service center for cattle and sheep ranches in the area until the construction of the Columbia Basin Reclamation Project. In 1939, one of the state's longest runways was built at Ephrata Municipal Airport and served the U.S. Army Air Corps until 1945, when the field was turned into a commercial airport. The airport and hangars were used in
Steven Spielberg Steven Allan Spielberg ( ; born December 18, 1946) is an American filmmaker. A major figure of the New Hollywood era and pioneer of the modern blockbuster, Spielberg is widely regarded as one of the greatest film directors of all time and is ...
's
1989 1989 was a turning point in political history with the "Revolutions of 1989" which ended communism in Eastern Bloc of Europe, starting in Poland and Hungary, with experiments in power-sharing coming to a head with the opening of the Berlin W ...
film '' Always,'' the final movie to feature
Audrey Hepburn Audrey Kathleen Hepburn ( Ruston; 4 May 1929 – 20 January 1993) was a British actress. Recognised as a film and fashion icon, she was ranked by the American Film Institute as the third-greatest female screen legend from the Classical Holly ...
. Ephrata was in the national spotlight in a segment on '' 60 Minutes II'' after the 2003 murder of Craig Sorger by Evan Savoie and Jake Eakin. The two accused were the youngest defendants in state history to be tried as adults. Grant County Public Utility District has its headquarters located in Ephrata.


Columbia Basin Irrigation Project

Beginning in July 1918, several prominent Ephrata residents started the promotion of a plan to redirect waters of 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 ...
in order to irrigate the dry but fertile soils of the Big Bend country. Labeled "The Dam University", Ephrata residents persistently lobbied at the local, state, and federal levels to gather support for the project. Initial funding for the Grand Coulee Dam was through the
Public Works Administration The Public Works Administration (PWA), part of the New Deal of 1933, was a large-scale public works construction agency in the United States headed by United States Secretary of the Interior, Secretary of the Interior Harold L. Ickes. It was ...
created under
Franklin Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), also known as FDR, was the 32nd president of the United States, serving from 1933 until his death in 1945. He is the longest-serving U.S. president, and the only one to have served ...
's promise of a "
New Deal The New Deal was a series of wide-reaching economic, social, and political reforms enacted by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in the United States between 1933 and 1938, in response to the Great Depression in the United States, Great Depressi ...
" in 1933. However, the irrigation waters would not be released as the nation focused on ending World War II during the 1940s. During this era, Grand Coulee Dam's main mission was to produce electricity for the Hanford Reservation and for aluminum manufacturing, vital to military aircraft production. When the war ended, the Project returned to its original mission, to irrigate the desert.


Population growth

The construction of the Irrigation Project and the military activity increased the population of Ephrata by a factor of eight between 1940 and 1960. As the federal projects phased out, the town experienced a population decrease of 22% between 1960 and 1975. The population stabilized between 1975 and 1982, with a slight decrease between 1980 and 1990. The city has seen steady population growth since 1990. The present population is 7,110.


Geography and climate

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 city has a total area of , all of it land. Ephrata has 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 se ...
(
Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (1951–2014), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author ...
''BSk'').


Demographics


2010 census

As of the 2010 census, there were 7,664 people, 2,856 households, and 1,915 families residing in the city. The
population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), 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 geog ...
was . There were 3,086 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 84.1%
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 ...
, 0.8%
African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...
, 1.1% Native American, 1.3% Asian, 0.1%
Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe th ...
, 9.5% from other races, and 3.1% 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 16.7% of the population. There were 2,856 households, of which 36.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 49.6% were
married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...
living together, 12.6% had a female householder with no husband present, 4.8% had a male householder with no wife present, and 32.9% were non-families. 28.7% of all households were made up of individuals, and 12.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.57 and the average family size was 3.14. The median age in the city was 34.7 years. 27.4% of residents were under the age of 18; 9.4% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 25% were from 25 to 44; 23.6% were from 45 to 64; and 14.6% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the city was 49.7% male and 50.3% female.


2000 census

As of the 2000 census, there were 6,808 people, 2,561 households, and 1,776 families residing in the city. The population density was 683.0 people per square mile (263.6/km2). There were 2,788 housing units at an average density of 279.7 per square mile (108.0/km2). The racial makeup of the city was 90.64%
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 ...
, 0.40%
African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...
, 0.71% Native American, 0.72% Asian, 0.12%
Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe th ...
, 5.32% from other races, and 2.10% 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 10.30% of the population. There were 2,561 households, out of which 35.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 54.5% were married couples living together, 10.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 30.7% were non-families. 27.1% of all households were made up of individuals, and 13.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.56 and the average family size was 3.09. In the city, the age distribution of the population shows 28.9% under the age of 18, 8.0% from 18 to 24, 26.9% from 25 to 44, 20.1% from 45 to 64, and 16.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females, there were 97.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 94.5 males. The median income for a household in the city was $35,060, and the median income for a family was $43,500. Males had a median income of $38,571 versus $26,320 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 city was $17,929. About 8.7% of families and 12.9% 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 16.0% of those under age 18 and 10.0% of those age 65 or over.


Schools


Elementary schools

* Columbia Ridge Elementary * Grant Elementary


Intermediate schools

* Parkway Intermediate School


Middle schools

* Ephrata Middle School


Private schools

* New Life Christian School * St. Rose Of Lima Catholic School


High schools

* Ephrata High School


Transportation

Ephrata is bisected by State Route 28, which travels west to Wenatchee and east to Soap Lake and Davenport. The highway also intersects State Route 282 in Ephrata, which connects to State Route 17 for onward travel towards Moses Lake. The city has a public use airport, Ephrata Municipal Airport, that is used for limited cargo operations and general aviation. The
BNSF Railway BNSF Railway is the largest freight railroad in the United States. One of six North American Class I railroads, BNSF has 36,000 employees, of track in 28 states, and over 8,000 locomotives. It has three Transcontinental railroad, transcontine ...
's Columbia River Subdivision travels through Ephrata and is primarily used for freight. These tracks also carry the ''
Empire Builder The ''Empire Builder'' is a daily long-distance passenger train operated by Amtrak 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 North ...
'', an
Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, Trade name, doing business as Amtrak (; ), is the national Passenger train, passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates intercity rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous United Stat ...
passenger train that stops in the city at Ephrata station. The Grant Transit Authority operates bus service in Ephrata that connects to Soap Lake and Moses Lake.


Notable people

* Danica Dart, racing driver * Ken Dow, professional American football player * Thomas Jesse Drumheller, lawyer and sheep rancher * Shane Johnson, actor * Robert K. Preston, helicopter pilot and perpetrator of 1974 White House helicopter incident * Bobby Rich, radio broadcaster * Craig Sorger, murder victim * Baxter Ward, TV news anchor * Jim Wickwire, mountaineer and lawyer


Notes


External links


City of Ephrata

History of Ephrata
at HistoryLink {{Authority control Cities in Washington (state) Cities in Grant County, Washington County seats in Washington (state)