Wapato () is a town in

Yakima County, Washington Yakima County is a County (United States), county in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, its population was 256,728. The county seat and most populous city is Yakima, Washington, Ya ...

, United States. The population was 4,607 at the 2020 census. It has a Hispanic majority.

History

Origins

The town was founded in 1885 by Indian Postmaster Alexander McCredy as a railroad stop on the

Northern Pacific Railroad The Northern Pacific Railway was an important American transcontinental railroad that operated across the northern tier of the Western United States, from Minnesota to the Pacific Northwest between 1864 and 1970. It was approved and chartered b ...

as Simcoe, Washington. The

Dawes Severalty Act The Dawes Act of 1887 (also known as the General Allotment Act or the Dawes Severalty Act of 1887) regulated land rights on tribal territories within the United States. Named after Senator Henry L. Dawes of Massachusetts, it authorized the Pr ...

of 1887 allowed the government to subdivide the

Yakama Indian Reservation The Yakama Indian Reservation (spelled Yakima until 1994) is a Native American reservation in Washington state of the federally recognized tribe known as the Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation. The tribe is made up of Klikitat ...

tribal communal landholdings into allotments for Native American heads of families and individuals. The selling of these allotments drew settlers into the area. With the construction of the Irwin Canal in 1896, agriculture became the big business in town. In the early 1900s, McCredy and George Rankin established the Wapato Development Company and laid out the town site. They established the town's first bank and began selling lots. In response to persistent confusion with nearby Fort Simcoe, the town changed its name to Wapato in 1903. The 1906 Jones Act further encouraged Anglos to purchase land from the Yakamas. Wapato was officially incorporated on September 16, 1908, with a population of around 300 people. The name wapato comes from the

Chinook Jargon Chinook Jargon (' or ', also known simply as ''Chinook'' or ''Jargon'') is a language originating as a pidgin language, pidgin trade language in the Pacific Northwest. It spread during the 19th century from the lower Columbia River, first to othe ...

word for an edible root, probably originally derived from the

Upper Chinook language Upper Chinook, endonym Kiksht, also known as Columbia Chinook, and Wasco-Wishram after its last surviving dialect, is a recently extinct language of the US Pacific Northwest. It had 69 speakers in 1990, of whom 7 were monolingual: five Wasco and ...

Japanese and African American residents

As early as 1905, many

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

people also began to migrate to the city, mainly from Hawaii. From 1916 to 1918, "Japanese Town" developed along present-day West 2nd Street. With more than 1,000 Japanese then living in the Yakima Valley, the community soon became a center of Washington's Japanese population, second only to Seattle. The Yakima Buddhist Bussei Kaikan (1936–1941), on West 2nd Street, was an architecturally noteworthy building built by members of the congregation. A mob including police attacked dozens of African Americans at a railroad camp in Wapato on July 9, 1938. African American residents in town were also driven out. After World War II broke out, Wapato's Japanese language school (which had about 200 students) and several Japanese residences were burned by arsonists.

Executive Order 9066 Executive Order 9066 was a President of the United States, United States presidential executive order signed and issued during World War II by United States president Franklin D. Roosevelt on February 19, 1942. "This order authorized the fo ...

forced the Japanese to evacuate from Wapato in 1942 and many residents were sent to

internment camps Internment is the imprisonment of people, commonly in large groups, without charges or intent to file charges. The term is especially used for the confinement "of enemy citizens in wartime or of terrorism suspects". Thus, while it can simp ...

World War II

During World War II, much of the labor in the orchards and fields around Wapato came from either Germans held in a

POW camp A prisoner-of-war camp (often abbreviated as POW camp) is a site for the containment of enemy fighters captured as prisoners of war by a belligerent power in time of war. There are significant differences among POW camps, internment camps, an ...

between Wapato and Toppenish, or from Japanese still being held in internment camps. At the end of the war, a labor shortage created a void readily filled by

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 ...

migrant workers, and the

Bracero Program The Bracero Program (from the Spanish term ''bracero'' , meaning " manual laborer" or "one who works using his arms") was a temporary labor initiative between the United States and Mexico that allowed Mexican workers to be employed in the U.S. ...

(a guest-worker program agreed to by the US and Mexico during World War II). These events significantly changed Wapato's cultural history.

Post war through today

Through the 1970s and into 1990, Wapato produced some of the largest volume potato and apple crops, as tonnage per acre. Today, Wapato boasts one of the most Hispanic populations in Washington State (76% in the 2000 census). In recent times both Anglo and Hispanic residents have described Wapato as a "Mexican Town". In 2012, Wapato allowed strip clubs into the city, in the words of one resident, "to put Wapato on the map."

Geography

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 land. The community is within the external boundaries of the

.Yakama Nation

Retrieved on August 29, 2016.Shapiro, Nina. "Welcome to Mi Pueblito, Washington." ''

Houston Press The ''Houston Press'' is an online newspaper published in Houston, Texas, United States. It is headquartered in the Midtown Houston, Midtown area. It was also a weekly print newspaper until November 2017. The publication is supported entirely ...

''. Thursday July 15, 2010
2
Retrieved on July 16, 2010.

Climate

According to the

Köppen Climate Classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

system, Wapato has a

cold semi-arid climate Cold is the presence of low temperature, especially in the atmosphere. In common usage, cold is often a subjective perception. A lower bound to temperature is absolute zero, defined as 0.00K on the Kelvin scale, an absolute thermodynamic ...

, abbreviated "BSk" on climate maps.

Demographics

For decades Wapato attracted

Filipino American Filipino Americans () are Americans of Filipino ancestry. Filipinos in North America were first documented in the 16th century and other small settlements beginning in the 18th century. Mass migration did not begin until after the end of the Sp ...

Hispanic American Hispanic and Latino Americans are Americans who have a Spanish or Latin American background, culture, or family origin. This demographic group includes all Americans who identify as Hispanic or Latino, regardless of race. According to the ...

Japanese American are Americans of Japanese ancestry. Japanese Americans were among the three largest Asian Americans, Asian American ethnic communities during the 20th century; but, according to the 2000 United States census, 2000 census, they have declined in ...

s, and Native Americans. Older white residents died and entered

nursing home A nursing home is a facility for the residential care of older people, senior citizens, or disabled people. Nursing homes may also be referred to as care homes, skilled nursing facilities (SNF), or long-term care facilities. Often, these terms ...

s in larger cities, while younger whites moved to attend school and did not return to the community. Hispanic immigrants arrived for agricultural jobs and the small town lifestyle. In 1952, the Filipino community established the Yakima Valley Filipino Community Hall in Wapato, the first facility of its kind in the Western United States. The building was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

in 2024.

2010 census

As of the 2010 census, there were 4,997 people, 1,240 households, and 1,045 families living 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 1,293 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 17.2%

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 ...

, 0.3%

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 ...

, 6.6% 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 ...

, 70.6% from other races, and 3.9% from two or more races.

or Latino of any race were 84.2% of the population. There were 1,240 households, of which 64.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 51.1% 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, 22.7% had a female householder with no husband present, 10.4% had a male householder with no wife present, and 15.7% were non-families. 11.7% of all households were made up of individuals, and 5.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.88 and the average family size was 4.12. The median age in the city was 24.9 years. 37% of residents were under the age of 18; 13.1% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 27.2% were from 25 to 44; 16.1% were from 45 to 64; and 6.7% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the city was 50.5% male and 49.5% female.

2000 census

As of the 2000 census, there were 4,582 people, 1,198 households, and 971 families living in the city. The population density was 4,725.2 people per square mile (1,823.8/km²). There were 1,267 housing units at an average density of 1,306.6 per square mile (504.3/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 25.51%

, 0.50%

, 9.34% Native American, 1.53% Asian, 57.57% from other races, and 5.54% from two or more races.

or Latino of any race were 76.21% of the population. There were 1,198 households, out of which 53.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 53.6% were married couples living together, 19.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 18.9% were non-families. 15.5% of all households were made up of individuals, and 7.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.73 and the average family size was 4.10. In the city, the age distribution of the population shows 38.2% under the age of 18, 12.1% from 18 to 24, 26.5% from 25 to 44, 14.7% from 45 to 64, and 8.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 25 years. For every 100 females, there were 104.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 102.2 males. The median income for a household in the city was $25,804, and the median income for a family was $26,378. Males had a median income of $18,333 versus $19,375 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 $9,451. About 32.2% of families and 34.3% 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 41.6% of those under age 18 and 12.7% of those age 65 or over.

Education

Public education is provided by the Wapato School District, also known as Wapato Public Schools, which operates six schools. * Wapato High School * Wapato Middle School * Pace High School * Adams Elementary * Satus Elementary * Camas Elementary * Simcoe Elementary

Notable people

* Deb Manjarrez, politician

References

External links

* {{Authority control Cities in Yakima County, Washington Cities in Washington (state) Japanese-American culture in Washington (state) Populated places on the Yakima River Washington (state) placenames of Native American origin