Editing Walla Walla, Washington (section)

==History==
{{Main|History of Walla Walla, Washington}}

===Native history and early settlement===
{{See also|Tragedy at Waiilatpu|Whitman Mission National Historic Site}}
[[File:Old Mission, Waiilatpu (3641703520).jpg|alt=Old Mission, Waiilatpu|left|thumb|Old Mission, Waiilatpu]]

Walla Walla's history starts in 1806 when the [[Lewis and Clark Expedition|Lewis and Clark expedition]] encountered the [[Walla Walla people|Walawalałáma]] (Walla Walla people) near the mouth of [[Walla Walla River]]. Other inhabitants of the valley included the [[Cayuse people|Liksiyu]] (Cayuse), [[Umatilla people|Imatalamłáma]] (Umatilla), and [[Nez Perce people|Niimíipu]] (Nez Perce) indigenous peoples.<ref name=":7"/> In 1818, Fort Walla Walla (originally [[Fort Nez Percés]]), a fur trading outpost run by [[Hudson's Bay Company]] (HBC), was established and operated as an important stopping point in [[Oregon Country]].<ref name=":02">{{cite web |title=The Many Fort Walla Wallas –- Whitman Mission National Historic Site |url=https://www.nps.gov/whmi/learn/historyculture/the-many-fort-walla-wallas.htm |publisher=[[National Park Service]] |accessdate=February 20, 2022}}</ref> Abandoned in 1855, it is now underwater behind the [[McNary Dam]].<ref name=":52">{{cite web |last=Colt Denfeld |first=Duane |date=July 9, 2011 |title=Fort Walla Walla |url=https://www.historylink.org/file/9649 |work=[[HistoryLink]] |accessdate=February 20, 2022}}</ref>

On October 16, 1836,<ref name=":110">{{cite web |last=Wilma |first=David |date=February 14, 2003 |title=Dr. Marcus Whitman establishes a mission at Waiilatpu on October 16, 1836. |url=http://www.historylink.org/file/5191 |access-date=February 21, 2022 |website=[[HistoryLink]]}}</ref> after news of a Nez Perce{{Efn|Some sources say that Flathead ([[Bitterroot Salish]]) delegates were sent, but the Nez Perce tribe has claimed all four delegates as belonging to their tribes. It has been suggested that "Flathead" was being used to describe the Nez Perce appearance, rather than the tribe.<ref name=":162" /><ref name="calvary">{{Cite news |last=Bell |first=Kim |date=March 30, 2003 |title=Nez Perce ceremony "reclaims" two Indians |pages=C13 |work=[[St. Louis Post-Dispatch]] |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/?clipping_id=34492438&fcfToken=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJmcmVlLXZpZXctaWQiOjE0MjgzMzAyMywiaWF0IjoxNjQ1OTA3OTMxLCJleHAiOjE2NDU5OTQzMzF9.c84grBJmQbW1Ttx6NIhoh-M81ti8liWjwkOzeswk-4s}}</ref>|name=np}} expedition to learn about [[Christianity]] and a deal was brokered between the Cayuse people for the use of the Waiilatpu region,<ref name=":162">{{Cite journal |last=Haines |first=Francis |date=1937 |title=The Nez Percé Delegation to St. Louis in 1831 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/3634109 |journal=Pacific Historical Review |volume=6 |issue=1 |pages=71–78 |doi=10.2307/3634109 |jstor=3634109 |issn=0030-8684}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Prucha |first=Francis Paul |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/12021586 |title=The great father : the United States government and the American Indians |date=1986 |isbn=978-0-8032-8712-9 |edition=Abridged |location=Lincoln |oclc=12021586}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Drury |first=Clifford M. |date=1939 |title=The Nez Perce "Delegation" of 1831 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/20611199 |journal=[[Oregon Historical Quarterly]] |volume=40 |issue=3 |pages=283–287 |jstor=20611199 |issn=0030-4727}}</ref><ref name=":172">{{Cite book |last=Lyman |first=William Denison |author-link=William Denison Lyman |title=Lyman's History of old Walla Walla County |publisher=Outlook Verlag |year=2020 |isbn=978-3752433838 |language=English}}</ref> [[Calvinism|Calvinist]] missionaries [[Marcus Whitman|Marcus]] and [[Narcissa Whitman]] established the [[Whitman Mission National Historic Site|Whitman Mission]].<ref name=":202">{{Cite book |last=Harden |first=Blaine |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1226073551 |title=Murder at the mission : a frontier killing, its legacy of lies, and the taking of the American West |date=2021 |others=Jeffrey L. Ward |isbn=978-0-525-56166-8 |location=[New York] |oclc=1226073551}}</ref><ref name=":212">{{Cite journal |last=Belknap |first=George N. |date=1961 |title=Authentic Account of the Murder of Dr. Whitman: The History of a Pamphlet |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/24299944 |journal=The Papers of the Bibliographical Society of America |volume=55 |issue=4 |pages=319–346 |doi=10.1086/pbsa.55.4.24299944 |jstor=24299944 |s2cid=193120962 |issn=0006-128X}}</ref> A deep distrust of the settlers was cultivated between the Cayuse and the settlers as the Whitmans struggled to convert the natives, failed to fulfill promises, and shifted their focus to whites passing through along the [[Oregon Trail]].<ref name=":202" /><ref name=":212" /> In 1847, following a deadly [[measles]] outbreak, and reports of the Whitmans poisoning the Cayuse, the Whitmans were warned to leave the area because of the Cayuse custom of killing medicine men whose patients died. They refused to leave, and were [[Whitman massacre|killed by the Cayuse, along with 12 others]].<ref name=":202" /><ref>{{cite web |last=Tate |first=Cassandra |date=April 16, 2010 |title=Trial of five Cayuse accused of Whitman murder begins on May 21, 1850. |url=http://www.historylink.org/File/9401 |access-date=March 4, 2022 |website=[[HistoryLink]]}}</ref><ref name=":212" /> The site was later designated as Whitman National Monument, a [[National Historic Site (United States)|National Historic Site]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Park Archives: Whitman Mission National Historic Site |url=http://npshistory.com/publications/whmi/index.htm |access-date=February 27, 2022 |website=npshistory.com}}</ref>

[[Catholic missions|Catholic missionaries]] also arrived in the 1840s, and the [[Catholic Church|Catholic]] ceremonies resonated with the tribe.<ref name=":52" /><ref name=":110" /> On July 24, 1846, [[Pope Pius IX]] established the Diocese of Walla Walla. [[Augustin-Magloire Blanchet]] was appointed the first Bishop of Walla Walla, but fled shortly after the Whitman massacre. The Diocese of Walla Walla is now a [[titular see]] held by [[Witold Mroziewski]], an [[auxiliary bishop]] of [[Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn|Brooklyn, New York]].<ref name=":32">{{cite web |title=Titular Episcopal See of Walla Walla |url=http://www.gcatholic.org/dioceses/former/t1986.htm |access-date=October 9, 2018 |website=GCatholic}}</ref><ref name=":42">{{cite web |last=Paulus |first=Michael J. Jr. |date=August 17, 2010 |title=Catholicism in the Walla Walla Valley |url=http://www.historylink.org/File/9514 |access-date=February 21, 2022 |website=[[HistoryLink]]}}</ref>

[[File:Walla walla.jpg|thumb|Fort Walla Walla, 1874]]

In 1855, the [[Walla Walla Council (1855)|Walla Walla Treaty Council]] was held at Waiilatpu between the [[Washington State Legislature|Washington Territorial Assembly]] and the tribal leaders of the surrounding area. Despite the indigenous people citing [[Natural law|Tamanwit]] (natural law), the following year the natives agreed to surrender millions of acres of land for a [[Indian reservation|native reservation]] and $150,000.<ref name=":7"/><ref name=":112">{{cite web |last=Nisbet |first=Jack |date=May 20, 2008 |title=Artist Gustavus Sohon documents the Walla Walla treaty council in May, 1855. |url=http://www.historylink.org/File/8595 |access-date=February 21, 2022 |website=[[HistoryLink]]}}</ref><ref name=":122">{{cite web |title=Treaty of Walla Walla, 1855 |url=https://goia.wa.gov/tribal-government/treaty-walla-walla-1855 |publisher=Washington Governor's Office of Indian Affairs |access-date=February 21, 2022}}</ref><ref name=":132">{{cite web |last=Trafzer |first=Cliff |date=October 22, 2018 |title=Walla Walla Treaty Council 1855 |url=https://www.oregonencyclopedia.org/articles/walla_walla_treaty_council_1855/#.YhMxk9-IZB0 |access-date=February 20, 2022 |website=[[Oregon Encyclopedia]]}}</ref> The [[Umatilla Indian Reservation]]'s boundaries eventually shrunk to less than {{convert|200,000|acre|ha}}.<ref name=":92">{{cite web |last=Tate |first=Cassandra |date=April 3, 2013 |title=Cayuse Indians |url=http://www.historylink.org/File/10365 |access-date=February 22, 2022 |website=[[HistoryLink]]}}</ref>

===Founding===
{{see also|National Register of Historic Places listings in Walla Walla County, Washington}}The Walla Walla treaty remained unratified for four years, during which time the conflict between the natives and settlers was increasing due to [[frontier]]smen encroaching on the promised reservation and the Walla Walla and Umatilla peoples' refusal to move to the Umatilla Indian Reservation.<ref name=":10">{{Cite journal |last=Clark |first=Robert Carlton |date=1935 |title=Military History of Oregon, 1849-59 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/20610911 |journal=Oregon Historical Quarterly |volume=36 |issue=1 |pages=14–59 |issn=0030-4727 |jstor=20610911}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Umatilla Relationships with US - Making Treaties |url=http://trailtribes.org/umatilla/making-treaties.htm |access-date=February 22, 2022 |website=trailtribes.org |archive-date=January 20, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220120135404/http://trailtribes.org/umatilla/making-treaties.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref> The [[United States Army]] established a presence in a series of [[Fortification|military forts]] beginning in 1856. A community named "Steptoeville" grew around [[Fort Walla Walla]], named for Lieutenant Colonel [[Edward Steptoe]], and later his name was bestowed upon [[Steptoe, Washington]].<ref name=":02"/><ref>{{Cite book |last=Meany |first=Edmond S. |url=https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/001444300 |title=Origin of Washington geographic names |date=1923 |publisher=University of Washington press |isbn=933314241X |location=Seattle}}</ref> The fort has since been restored with a museum about the early settlers' lives.<ref name=":7">{{cite web |last=Paulus |first=Michael J. Jr. |date=February 7, 2008 |title=Town of Walla Walla is named on November 17, 1859. |url=http://www.historylink.org/File/8478 |access-date=February 21, 2022 |website=[[HistoryLink]]}}</ref><ref name=":52"/><ref>Josephy, ''The Nez Perce'', p. 367</ref>

Growth in the region was limited due to a ban on immigration to the area due to the constant warring with the natives from the [[Department of the Pacific]]'s General [[John E. Wool|John Ellis Wool]], who was sympathetic to the natives.<ref name=":10" /><ref name=":18">{{cite web |date=1969 |title=Visitor information service book for the Deschutes National Forest : an abstract of literature, personal recollections, and interviews dealing with the Deschutes Forest |url=https://ir.library.oregonstate.edu/concern/defaults/d504rm66x |access-date=February 22, 2022 |website=[[Oregon State University]]}}</ref> In 1858, the department was split, leaving Washington territory under the command of General [[William S. Harney]], who lifted the ban on October 31, 1858.<ref name=":10" /><ref name=":18" /> Thousands of pioneers swarmed to the area, creating a burgeoning farming and mining community.<ref name="HistoryLink">{{cite web |last=Paulus |first=Michael J. Jr. |date=February 26, 2008 |title=Walla Walla — Thumbnail History |url=https://www.historylink.org/File/8486 |work=[[HistoryLink]] |accessdate=February 20, 2022}}</ref>

On March 15, 1859, Walla Walla county held its first county commission and election in the community's first church, [[St. Patrick's Church (Walla Walla, Washington)|St. Patrick's Church]], which still serves as the city's parish.<ref name=":42"/><ref>{{cite web | last=Paulus | first=Michael J. Jr. |date=August 18, 2010 |title=St. Patrick's Church is established in Walla Walla in 1859. |url=http://www.historylink.org/File/9516 |access-date=February 27, 2022 |website=[[HistoryLink]]}}</ref> Following the ratification of the Walla Walla treaty,<ref name=":7" /><ref>{{cite web |title=Cayuse, Umatilla, Walla Walla Treaty |url=https://www.sos.wa.gov/legacy/werestillhere/pdf/cayuse%20umatilla%20walla%20walla%20treaty.pdf |access-date=February 21, 2022 |website=[[Secretary of State of Washington]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last1=Gray |first1=Claude M. |title=Walla Walla Story - Illustrated Description Of The History And Resources Of The Valley They Liked So Well They Named It Twice |last2=Gulick |first2=Bill |last3=Jones |first3=Nard |last4=Maxey |first4=Dr. C. C. |last5=Mcvay |first5=Alfred |last6=Orchard |first6=Vance |last7=Tooker |first7=John |date=1953 |publisher=Walla Wall Chamber Of Commerce |language=English |asin=B001SUTYPS}}</ref> the commission voted to name the settlement Walla Walla, on November 17, 1859<ref>{{cite web |last=Hamilton |first=Robin |date=April 29, 2019 |title=How Walla Walla Got Its Name |url=https://www.union-bulletin.com/lifestyles/how-walla-walla-got-its-name/article_e787bcf8-6ac6-11e9-adbd-778d0329d6f1.html |access-date=February 22, 2022 |website=[[Walla Walla Union-Bulletin]] |language=en}}</ref> and the military carried out the forced displacement of the remaining natives, under the threat of [[hanging]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Brief History of CTUIR |url=https://ctuir.org/about/brief-history-of-ctuir/ |access-date=February 22, 2022 |website=[[Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=George H. Abbott |url=https://truwe.sohs.org/files/abbott.html |access-date=February 22, 2022 |website=truwe.sohs.org}}</ref>
 
[[File:08420-Walla Walla-1906-Whitman College, Memorial Building-Brück & Sohn Kunstverlag.jpg|alt=Whitman College, Memorial Building, 1906|thumb|Whitman College, Memorial Building, 1906]]

On December 20, 1859, the first educational charter was granted to Whitman Seminary, a high school, which opened on October 15, 1866. In 1882, the institution's name was changed to [[Whitman College]], and the legislature issued a new educational charter as a four-year private college.<ref name=":19">{{cite web |last1=Becker |first1=Paula |date=March 31, 2006 |title=Walla Walla County – Thumbnail History |url=http://www.historylink.org/File/7679 |publisher=[[HistoryLink]]}}</ref>

The [[Mullan Road]], the first [[wagon road]] to cross the [[Rocky Mountains]] into the [[Pacific Northwest]], tied Walla Walla to more mining opportunities, and after gold was discovered in 1860, the area became the [[Outfitter|outfitting point]] for the [[Orofino, Idaho|Oro Fino, Idaho]] mines.<ref>{{cite web |date=November 5, 2009 |title=The Mullan Road: A Real Northwest Passage |url=http://www.historylink.org/File/9202 |access-date=February 21, 2022 |website=[[HistoryLink]]}}</ref><ref name="cpsithr">{{cite news |last=Swergal |first=Edwin |date=December 14, 1952 |title=Captain Mullan sees it through |page=8 |newspaper=[[The Spokesman-Review]] |agency=''This Week'' section |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=MTBWAAAAIBAJ&pg=3858%2C817305}}</ref> The nearest part of the road followed the modern approximate path from [[Spokane, Washington|Spokane]] to Walla Walla via [[Interstate 90]], [[U.S. Route 195]], and [[U.S. Route 12 in Washington|U.S. Route 12]].<ref>{{cite web |last=Clark |first=Daniel |title=Final work on historic Mullan Road through Walla Walla began 160 years ago |url=https://www.union-bulletin.com/local_columnists/walla_walla_2020_and_beyond/final-work-on-historic-mullan-road-through-walla-walla-began-160-years-ago/article_a1117de4-bf07-11eb-a0db-3f6e2188ef6b.html |access-date=February 21, 2022 |website=[[Walla Walla Union-Bulletin]] |date=June 13, 2021 |language=en}}</ref> The population swelled due to the [[gold rush]], resulting in an unsuccessful proposal to Congress to split Walla Walla from Washington into its own territory.<ref name=":8">{{Cite news |last=Caldbick |first=John |date=June 1, 2013 |title=Washington Territorial Legislature incorporates City of Walla Walla on January 11, 1862. |url=http://www.historylink.org/File/10387 |access-date=February 22, 2022 |website=[[HistoryLink]]}}</ref>

===Gold rush and growth===
[[File:Bird's eye view of Walla Walla, Washington Territory 1876. LOC 75696671.jpg|alt=Bird's eye view of Walla Walla, Washington Territory 1876|thumb|upright=1.3|Bird's eye view of Walla Walla, Washington Territory, 1876|left]]

Walla Walla was incorporated on January 11, 1862.<ref>{{cite web |title=City of Walla Walla, Community Information |url=http://www.ci.walla-walla.wa.us/index.asp?Type=B_LIST&SEC={E387D88A-E80E-4B29-83C1-2AF6DED68853} |access-date=February 5, 2013 |publisher=Ci.walla-walla.wa.us}}</ref> The first election was held on April 1, 1862, and Judge [[Elias Bean Whitman]], Marcus Whitman's cousin, was elected as the city's first mayor.<ref name="HistoryLink" /><ref name=":8" /><ref name=":15">{{cite web |last=Reed |first=Diane |date=April 29, 2019 |title=The Beginnings of Local and Regional Government |url=https://www.union-bulletin.com/lifestyles/the-beginnings-of-local-and-regional-government/article_f0cdcc0c-6ac7-11e9-ad59-933e6ae17b35.html |access-date=February 22, 2022 |website=[[Walla Walla Union-Bulletin]] |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Pickett |first=Susan |date=April 12, 1862 |title=Cousin of Marcus Whitman elected as Walla Walla's first mayor |url=https://www.union-bulletin.com/local_columnists/cousin-of-marcus-whitman-elected-as-walla-wallas-first-mayor/article_b565adc1-6ecb-5093-862b-35607fcb0c1f.html |access-date=February 22, 2022 |website=Union-Bulletin.com |language=en}}</ref> The population exploded over the following decade, increasing by 300%, making it the most populous city in the territory, slating it to be the capital until cities surpassed it again, after it was bypassed by the transcontinental rail lines in the 1880s.<ref name=":2">{{Cite book |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/351325565 |title=The new encyclopaedia Britannica. |date=2010 |others=Inc Encyclopaedia Britannica |isbn=978-1-59339-837-8 |edition=15 |location=Chicago, Ill. |oclc=351325565}}</ref><ref name=":8" /><ref name=":14">{{cite web |last=Reed |first=Diane |date=April 29, 2019 |title=Walla Walla and the Gold Rush |url=https://www.union-bulletin.com/lifestyles/walla-walla-and-the-gold-rush/article_b5ee1870-6ac8-11e9-aa60-f7ee81680913.html |access-date=February 21, 2022 |website=[[Walla Walla Union-Bulletin]] |language=en}}</ref>

During the 1860s, the city established its first businesses and community gathering spaces, a number of which served as the first in Pacific Northwest. The city's first newspaper was one of the first between [[Missouri]] and the [[Cascade Range|Cascades]], the ''[[Walla Walla Union-Bulletin|Washington Statesman]]'', was founded in 1861''.<ref>{{cite web |last=Wilma |first=David |date=February 6, 2003 |title=Washington Statesman begins publication in Walla Walla on November 29, 1861. - HistoryLink.org |url=https://www.historylink.org/File/5179 |access-date=February 22, 2022 |website=[[HistoryLink]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=The Evening Statesman (Walla Walla, Wash.) 1903-1910 |url=https://www.loc.gov/item/sn88085421/ |access-date=February 22, 2022 |website=Library of Congress}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Blethen |first=Rob |date=April 29, 2019 |title=The First Newspaper in Walla Walla |url=https://www.union-bulletin.com/lifestyles/the-first-newspaper-in-walla-walla/article_5b1ceaee-6ac7-11e9-9875-1fdf54cbc3fd.html |access-date=February 22, 2022 |website=[[Walla Walla Union-Bulletin]] |language=en}}</ref>'' The first bank, [[Baker Boyer Bank]], was the first in the state, was founded in 1869<ref>{{cite web |last=Becker |first=Paula |date=October 17, 2007 |title=Baker Boyer Bank opens in Walla Walla on November 10, 1869. |url=http://www.historylink.org/File/8333 |access-date=March 4, 2022 |website=[[HistoryLink]]}}</ref> by one of the city's first [[Municipal council|council members]],<ref name=":8" /> [[Dorsey Syng Baker]] and his brother-in-law [[John F. Boyer|John Franklin Boyer]],<ref name=":14" /><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Baker |first=W. W. |date=1923 |title=The Building of the Walla Walla & Columbia River Railroad |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/40474681 |journal=The Washington Historical Quarterly |volume=14 |issue=1 |pages=3–13 |issn=0361-6223 |jstor=40474681}}</ref><ref name=":19" /><ref>{{cite book |last1=Bentley |first1=Judy |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Z6ikCwAAQBAJ&dq=Baker+Boyer+Bank&pg=PA59 |title=Walking Washington's History: Ten Cities |date=April 5, 2016 |publisher=University of Washington Press |isbn=9780295806679}}</ref> and as of March 2022, still served as the oldest bank in state.<ref>{{cite web |last=White |first=Martha C. |date=March 2, 2022 |title=Oil soars as markets, consumers brace for more volatility |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/business/crude-oil-ukraine-russia-price-volatility-analysis-rcna18449 |access-date=March 4, 2022 |website=[[NBC News]] |language=en}}</ref> The Pioneer Meat Market, run by partners John Dooley and William Kirkman, was opened during this time and remained there until they sold it to Christopher Ennis in 1882 and founded the Walla Walla Dressed Meat Company.<ref>{{cite web |last=Monahan |first=Susan |date=March 10, 2017 |title=A cut above the norm: Pioneer Meat Market on Main Street |url=https://www.union-bulletin.com/local_columnists/in_times_past/a-cut-above-the-norm-pioneer-meat-market-on-main-street/article_7302af3c-05ba-11e7-87f6-6be514ed659d.html |access-date=March 13, 2022 |website=[[Walla Walla Union-Bulletin]] |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Bennett |first=Robert Allen |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/6649756 |title=Walla Walla: Portrait of a Western Town, 1804-1898 |date=June 1, 1980 |publisher=Pioneer Press Books |isbn=0-936546-00-X |location=Walla, Walla, WA |oclc=6649756}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Chapter 6 |url=https://www.kirkmanhousemuseum.org/chapter-6 |access-date=March 13, 2022 |website=Kirkmanhousemuseum |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":11">{{Cite book |last=Reed |first=Diane B. |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/866922900 |title=Legendary locals of Walla Walla, Washington |date=2014 |isbn=978-1-4671-0117-2 |location=Charleston, South Carolina |oclc=866922900}}</ref>

One of the first [[Brickwork|brick buildings]] in the city was also Walla Walla's first store, [[Schwabacher Brothers]] Store on Main street, which served as the city's grocer, builder supply, and clothes shop. Sigmond Schwabacher, one of the brothers, also served in the city's council.<ref>{{cite web |last=Paulus |first=Michael J. Jr. |date=July 17, 2011 |title=Schwabacher Brothers open store in Walla Walla in the fall of 1860. |url=http://www.historylink.org/File/9843 |access-date=March 6, 2022 |website=[[HistoryLink]]}}</ref> The city's first book store was opened in 1864, and an academic community formed around the city's book collection as the Calliopean Society and later incorporated as the Walla Walla Library Association.<ref>{{cite web |last=Paulus |first=Michael J. Jr. |date=August 24, 2008 |title=The Walla Walla Library Association is incorporated on January 20, 1865. |url=http://www.historylink.org/File/8729 |access-date=March 6, 2022 |website=[[HistoryLink]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Monahan |first=Susan |date=February 12, 2018 |title=How did early Walla Wallans endure winter weather? |url=https://www.union-bulletin.com/local_columnists/in_times_past/how-did-early-walla-wallans-endure-winter-weather/article_a7400fbe-102d-11e8-994d-dbe4671bf765.html |access-date=March 6, 2022 |website=[[Walla Walla Union-Bulletin]] |language=en}}</ref> The city also had one of the region's first [[Brewery|breweries]],<ref name="rizzo1908">{{Cite book |last=Rizzo |first=Michael F. |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/940922344 |title=Washington beer : a heady history of Evergreen State brewing |date=2016 |isbn=978-1-4671-1908-5 |location=Charleston, SC |oclc=940922344}}</ref> Emil Meyer's City Brewery,<ref name=":9">{{cite web |last=Reed |first=Diane B. |date=August 29, 2021 |title=Brewing up history: Beer has a long tradition in Walla Walla, more famous today for its wine industry |url=https://www.union-bulletin.com/lifestyles/brewing-up-history-beer-has-a-long-tradition-in-walla-walla-more-famous-today-for/article_e4db426e-f95c-11eb-bba9-fb386a568f93.html |access-date=March 6, 2022 |website=[[Walla Walla Union-Bulletin]] |language=en |issn=2154-6207}}</ref>  that also served as a [[bakery]].<ref name=":1" /> Downtown also hosted a [[post office]], several hotels, restaurants, a [[Public bathing|bathhouse]] and [[Barber|shaving saloon]], a [[liquor store]], a [[Pharmacy (shop)|drugstore]], and several manufactories.<ref name=":1">{{Cite news |date=December 13, 1861 |title=Advertising Section |volume=1 |page=3 |work=[[Washington Statesman|Walla Walla Union-Bulletin]] |url=https://www.sos.wa.gov/legacy/images/newspapers/sl_dir_wallawallawashstat/pdf/sl_dir_wallawallawashstat_12131861.pdf |access-date=March 6, 2022 |issn=2768-170X}}</ref><ref name=":12">{{cite web |last=McIntyre Walker |first=Catie |date=February 28, 2019 |title=Walla Walla, the way it used to be |url=https://www.union-bulletin.com/news/history/walla-walla-the-way-it-used-to-be/article_b98668ae-3b8c-11e9-a925-7fff5c587e74.html |access-date=March 14, 2022 |website=[[Walla Walla Union-Bulletin]] |language=en |issn=2154-6207}}</ref>

During the gold rush, large populations of [[History of Chinese Americans|Chinese]] settlers arrived in the city from [[Portland, Oregon]], creating a neighborhood referred to as "[[Chinatown]]".<ref>{{cite book |author=Walter Nugent |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0AvI-biS6EsC&q=spokane+chinatown&pg=PA215 |title=Into the West: The Story of Its People |date=December 18, 2007 | publisher=Knopf Doubleday Publishing |isbn=9780307426420}}</ref> The Chinese settlers mainly worked in commerce, mining, and [[Rail transport|railroad]] contracts. After Mullan was unable to lobby the state to make Walla Walla a major railroad stop, and a fire in Chinatown destroyed most of the neighborhood, the immigrants left to find work elsewhere,<ref>{{cite web |last=Hessel |first=Katherine |date=October 16, 2015 |title=Forgotten Chinatown In Walla Walla |url=https://www.yaktrinews.com/forgotten-chinatown-in-walla-walla/ |access-date=March 6, 2022 |website=[[KVEW]] |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Chin |first=Art |date=March 2, 2012 |title=COMMENTARY: A Shadow of the Past: the Chinese experience in Walla Walla |url=http://nwasianweekly.com/2012/03/commentary-a-shadow-of-the-past-the-chinese-experience-in-walla-walla/ |access-date=March 6, 2022 |website=[[Northwest Asian Weekly]] |language=en-US}}</ref> including [[Eng Ah King]], who was informally known as the "mayor of Chinatown" for revitalizing [[Chinatown–International District, Seattle|Seattle's Chinatown]].<ref>{{cite web |last=Lange |first=Greg |date=April 23, 2000 |title=King, Eng Ah (1863-1915) |url=http://www.historylink.org/File/10629 |access-date=March 6, 2022 |website=[[HistoryLink]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |author1-link=Quintard Taylor |last=Taylor |first=Quintard |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/930704151 |title=The forging of a black community : Seattle's Central District, from 1870 through the Civil Rights Era |date=1994 |isbn=978-0-295-80223-7 |location=Seattle |oclc=930704151}}</ref>

In 1886, while Washington was lobbying for statehood, local business man [[Levi Ankeny]] donated 160 acres of land to the city to serve as the site of a new prison. Legislators approved the site, and in 1887, the state began transferring prisoners to the Washington Territorial Prison from [[Saatco Prison]], a privately owned facility that was shut down in 1888 because of its poor living conditions.<ref name=":23">{{cite web |last=Freeman |first=Bob |date=February 7, 2021 |title=A few memorable tales of the history of the Washington State Penitentiary |url=https://www.union-bulletin.com/opinion/opinion_columns/a-few-memorable-tales-of-the-history-of-the-washington-state-penitentiary/article_ae7e9cb8-1a80-5f5f-abc6-09922f219eed.html |access-date=March 6, 2022 |website=[[Walla Walla Union-Bulletin]] |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Plog |first=Kari |date=January 22, 2019 |title=Hell on Earth: A forgotten prison that predates McNeil Island |url=https://www.knkx.org/news/2019-01-22/hell-on-earth-a-forgotten-prison-that-predates-mcneil-island |access-date=March 6, 2022 |website=[[KNKX]] |language=en}}</ref> The first inmate was a local, William Murphy, who was serving an 18-year sentence for [[manslaughter]].<ref name=":24"/> There have been many [[prison escape]]s attempted in the prison's history.<ref name=":24">{{cite web |last=Wilma |first=David |date=February 6, 2003 |title=First convicts occupy penitentiary at Walla Walla on May 11, 1887. |url=http://www.historylink.org/File/5180 |access-date=March 6, 2022 |website=[[HistoryLink]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Gibson |first=Elizabeth |date=April 26, 2009 |title=Nine die in escape attempt at Washington State Penitentiary in Walla Walla on February 12, 1934. |url=http://www.historylink.org/file/7650 |access-date=March 6, 2022 |website=[[HistoryLink]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=November 4, 1955 |title=10 CONVICTS FLEE PRISON BY TUNNEL; Felons in Washington State Escape Through Thirty-Foot Passage Dug Under Wall |language=en-US |work=[[The New York Times]] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1955/11/04/archives/10-convicts-flee-prison-by-tunnel-felons-in-washington-state-escape.html |access-date=March 6, 2022 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Shapiro |first=Nina |date=June 12, 2017 |title=5 of the most daring Washington state inmate escapes |url=https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/law-justice/5-of-the-most-daring-washington-state-inmate-escapes/ |access-date=March 6, 2022 |website=[[The Seattle Times]] |language=en-US}}</ref> In 1887, the prison took in its first woman inmate, and had to improvise accommodations until a separate facility was built nearby.<ref name=":23" /><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Stammen |first=Emma |date=January 1, 2020 |title=Benevolent Feminism and the Gendering of Criminality: Historical and Ideological Constructions of US Women's Prisons |url=https://scholarship.claremont.edu/scripps_theses/1508 |journal=Scripps Senior Theses}}</ref> When Washington became a state in 1889, the facility officially became the Washington State Penitentiary, but inmates nicknamed it "The Hill", "The Joint", "The Walls", and "The Pen".<ref name=":23" />

===Agricultural center===
[[File:Fruit farm and vineyard, Walla Walla, Washington, 1890s.jpg|alt=Fruit farm and vineyard, 1890s|thumb|Fruit farm and vineyard, 1890s]]

As the gold rush died out, the city developed into an agricultural center referred to as the "cradle of Pacific Northwest history",<ref name=":8" /><ref name=":14" /> and the "garden city",<ref name=":12" /> a popular source for [[onion]]s, [[apple]]s, [[pea]]s, and [[Wine Grapes|wine grapes]].<ref name=":7" />

Italian settlers from [[Lonate Pozzolo]] and [[Calabria]] regions formed the core of the gardening industry, and settled in neighborhoods known as "Blalock" and the "South Ninth".<ref name="HistoryLink" /><ref name=":3">{{cite web |last=Cipalla |first=Rita |date=May 17, 2021 |title=Early Italians nurtured the Walla Walla onions from humble beginnings |url=https://italoamericano.org/the-walla-walla-onion-and-italy/ |access-date=March 6, 2022 |website=[[L'Italo Americano]] |language=en-US}}</ref><ref name=":6">{{cite web |title=Italians in Walla Walla Collection 1917-2018 - Archives West |url=https://archiveswest.orbiscascade.org/ark:/80444/xv66900 |access-date=March 6, 2022 |website=[[Orbis Cascade Alliance]]}}</ref> One of the main contributions of the Italians to Walla Walla commerce was their [[vineyard]]s, and soon after, [[wine tasting]] rooms, the first two opened in the 1880s by [[Frank Orselli]] and [[Pasquale Saturno]].<ref>{{cite web |last=Cipalla |first=Rita |date=July 19, 2018 |title=Italian Immigrants: How They Helped Define the Wine Industry of Walla Walla |url=http://www.historylink.org/file/20607 |access-date=March 6, 2022 |website=[[HistoryLink]]}}</ref><ref name=":11" /> The Italian Walla Walla population was also responsible for growing Washington State's official vegetable,<ref>{{cite web |last=Tuinstra |first=Rachel |date=April 21, 2007 |title=Walla Walla Sweet Onion now is the state vegetable |url=https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/walla-walla-sweet-onion-now-is-the-state-vegetable/ |access-date=March 6, 2022 |website=[[The Seattle Times]] |language=en-US}}</ref> the Walla Walla [[sweet onion]].<ref name="HistoryLink" /><ref name=":3" /><ref name=":6" />

[[File:08419-Walla Walla-1906-W. P. Resers Wheat Field, Walla Walla, Wash.-Brück & Sohn Kunstverlag.jpg|alt=Wheat Field, Walla Walla, Washington, 1906|thumb|Wheat field, Walla Walla, 1906]]

It was the technique of [[dryland farming]], though, that made Walla Walla the region's [[breadbasket]] known for its [[wheat]] exports.<ref name="HistoryLink" /><ref name=":19" /> The cultivating of grains brought hundreds of [[Seventh-day Adventist theology|Seventh-day Adventists]] (SDA) to the city, building [[Walla Walla University|Walla Walla College]] and the [[Walla Walla General Hospital|Walla Walla Sanitarium]].<ref name=":22">{{Cite book |last=Johnson |first=Doug R. |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/35050746 |title=Adventism on the Northwestern frontier |date=1996 |publisher=Oronoko Books |isbn=1-883925-12-6 |location=Berrien Springs, Michigan |oclc=35050746}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Paulus |first=Michael J. Jr. |date=May 12, 2009 |title=The first Seventh-day Adventist church in Walla Walla is organized on May 17, 1874. |url=http://www.historylink.org/File/9014 |access-date=March 5, 2022 |website=[[HistoryLink]]}}</ref> The SDA population was followed by hundreds of [[Volga Germans]], whose [[Old Lutherans|Old Lutheran]] and [[Mennonites|Mennonite]] religions were connected to SDA in [[Prussia]]. The immigrants had relied on dryland farming of wheat crops in [[Volgograd|Volgograd, Russia]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Schillinger |first1=William F. |last2=Papendick |first2=Robert I. |date=2008 |title=Then and Now: 125 Years of Dryland Wheat Farming in the Inland Pacific Northwest |url=https://acsess.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.2134/agronj2007.0027c |journal=Agronomy Journal |volume=100 |issue=S3 |doi=10.2134/agronj2007.0027c |issn=0002-1962}}</ref> The neighborhood built around the Russian-German immigrants is known as "Germantown" or "Russische Ecke (Russian Corner)" to locals, referring to the creek that runs through it as "Little [[Volga]]".<ref>{{cite web |last=Eveland |first=Annie Charnley |date=July 19, 2019 |title=Australia's Walla Walla celebrates 150th anniversary |url=https://www.union-bulletin.com/local_columnists/etcetera/australia-s-walla-walla-celebrates-150th-anniversary/article_86edd580-aa31-11e9-a36d-b32098c8d1f5.html |access-date=March 5, 2022 |website=[[Walla Walla Union-Bulletin]] |language=en}}</ref> The area around Walla Walla College eventually incorporated as its own city, [[College Place, Washington]].<ref>{{cite web |last=Marshall |first=Patrick |date=November 6, 2013 |title=College Place votes for incorporation on December 18, 1945. |url=http://historylink.org/File/10658 |access-date=March 6, 2022 |website=[[HistoryLink]]}}</ref>

German immigrants also grew [[hops]] and the city was home to several breweries.<ref>{{cite web |last=Joyce-Bulay |first=Catie |date=May 12, 2021 |title=These Farmers Want You to Drink Your Hops and Eat Them Too |url=http://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/cooking-with-hops |access-date=March 7, 2022 |website=[[Atlas Obscura]] |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":9" /> By the 1890s, wine, beer, [[liquor]], and [[tobacco]] taxes accounted for 90% of the city's revenue,<ref name=":12" /> but the alcohol industries died out with [[Prohibition in the United States]].<ref name=":9" /><ref name="Parker pg 43">{{cite book |author1=Parker, Tom |url=https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1199142.Discovering_Washington_Wines |title=Discovering Washington Wines: An Introduction to One of the Most Exciting Premium Wine Regions |date=September 1, 2002 |publisher=Raconteurs Press |isbn=0-9719258-5-2 |pages=39–44, 92}}</ref><ref name=":5">{{cite web |last=Newspapers |first=Lee |date=August 20, 2018 |title=Walla Walla's first hops farm plans to grow the region's market |url=https://wineandcraftbeveragenews.com/walla-wallas-first-hops-farm-plans-to-grow-the-regions-market/ |access-date=March 7, 2022 |website=Wine and Craft Beverage News |language=en-US}}</ref>

As the city became dependent on its wheat production, merchants in the town financed a railroad to [[Wallula, Washington]], to connect Walla Walla to the [[Columbia River]], completed in 1875.<ref>{{cite web |last=Gibson |first=Elizabeth |date=March 7, 2006 |title=Walla Walla & Columbia River Railroad is completed from Wallula to Walla Walla on October 23, 1875. |url=http://www.historylink.org/File/7630 |access-date=March 7, 2022 |website=[[HistoryLink]]}}</ref><ref name="HistoryLink" /><ref name=":19" />

===20th century===
[[File:Baker Boyer National Bank.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Baker Boyer Bank]] building, built in 1911]]

In 1911, Walla Walla adopted a [[mayor–council government]] referred to as a "commission" form of government. In 1954, after [[Sunnyside, Washington]] adopted another form of government, [[council–manager government]], voted down a change to council-manager, but on November 4, 1959, the city's residents voted to adopt the government form.<ref name=":8" />

Walla Walla's second [[movie theater]], American Theater, opened in 1917 showing ''[[The Law of Compensation]]'', a [[Selznick Pictures]] film starring [[Norma Talmadge]]. The theater later was sold and renamed to Liberty, and eventually became a department store around the 1930s.<ref name=":13">{{cite web |last=Eveland |first=Annie Charnley |date=December 9, 2018 |title=New blog post features 1931 Mill Creek flood articles, photos |url=https://www.union-bulletin.com/local_columnists/etcetera/new-blog-post-features-1931-mill-creek-flood-articles-photos/article_39298b1c-fa52-11e8-a506-d7d32b04f1ce.html |access-date=March 20, 2022 |website=[[Walla Walla Union-Bulletin]] |language=en}}</ref> In 1990, became Walla Walla's first privately renovated building as a [[The Bon Marché|Bon-Macy's]].<ref>{{cite web |last=Flom |first=Eric L. |date=December 23, 2005 |title=American Theater in Walla Walla opens on August 25, 1917. |url=https://www.historylink.org/File/7579 |access-date=March 19, 2022 |website=[[HistoryLink]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Eveland |first=Annie Charnley |date=September 5, 2017 |title=Main Street's once-great Liberty Theater 100 years old |url=https://www.union-bulletin.com/local_columnists/etcetera/main-street-s-once-great-liberty-theater-100-years-old/article_7385e35c-9264-11e7-b6be-9fcd54fdf5e0.html |access-date=March 20, 2022 |website=[[Walla Walla Union-Bulletin]] |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Downtown Walla Walla: Walla Walla, Washington |url=https://www.planning.org/greatplaces/neighborhoods/2012/wallawalla.htm |access-date=March 20, 2022 |website=[[American Planning Association]]}}</ref> Bon-Macy's parent company, [[Federated Department Stores]], rebranded all of its subsidiaries to [[Macy's]], which operated in the Liberty building until 2020.<ref>{{cite web |date=January 30, 2020 |title=A history of the Bon Marche in downtown Seattle |url=https://www.kiro7.com/news/local/history-bon-marche-downtown-seattle/3NKQWDDOX5HYVPWLCOQIUY4O4M/ |access-date=March 20, 2022 |website=[[KIRO-TV]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Hillhouse |first=Vicki |date=January 7, 2020 |title=Macy's closing Walla Walla store |url=https://www.union-bulletin.com/news/business/macys-closing-walla-walla-store/article_f4a69d32-91a9-57a6-a1ec-ea56895b3657.html |access-date=March 20, 2022 |website=[[Walla Walla Union-Bulletin]] |language=en}}</ref>

In 1927, the Real Estate Improvement Company of Seattle invested $300,000 toward the construction of the [[Marcus Whitman Hotel]]. The 174-room hotel was designed by Sherwood D. Ford and opened in 1928. It fell into disrepair in the 1960s, until it was restored in 1999 and reopened in 2001.<ref name="HistoryLink" /><ref>{{Cite book |last=Walker |first=Catie McIntyre |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1145596678 |title=Lost Restaurants of Walla Walla |date=2018 |publisher=Arcadia Publishing Inc |isbn=978-1-4396-6499-5 |location=Chicago |oclc=1145596678}}</ref><ref name=":12" /><ref>{{cite web |last=Franklin |first=Robert R. |date=January 15, 2019 |title=Marcus Whitman Hotel |url=https://sah-archipedia.org/buildings/WA-01-071-0013 |access-date=March 14, 2022 |website=[[Society of Architectural Historians]] |language=en}}</ref> {{As of|2022|March}}, the hotel was still open.<ref>{{cite web |last=Charnley Eveland |first=Annie |date=March 13, 2022 |title=Organizers: The 57th AAUW book sale is at Walla Walla Marcus Whitman Hotel most successful in its history |url=https://www.union-bulletin.com/local_columnists/etcetera/organizers-the-57th-aauw-book-sale-is-at-walla-walla-marcus-whitman-hotel-most-successful/article_5cb7f718-a250-11ec-af3f-3b4e6fd4b4f2.html |access-date=March 14, 2022 |website=[[Walla Walla Union-Bulletin]] |language=en |issn=2154-6207}}</ref>

Mill Creek overflowed into Walla Walla and College Place on March 31, 1931, causing $1&nbsp;million in damages. Community volunteers [[Jury rigging|jury-rigged]] makeshift [[levee]]s to divert water from buildings during the cleanup which cost roughly $100,000. The [[United States Army Corps of Engineers]] built the Mill Creek Dam and Bennington Lake in response to the disaster.<ref name="HistoryLink" /><ref name=":13" /><ref>{{Cite book |last=Freeman |first=Bob |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1013890485 |title=Personal stories of the Great Depression |date=2017 |others=Carroll B. Adams, Esther Whiteley, Harley Michaelis, Dorothy Hoffman, Donald D. Meiners, Emilio, Jr. Guglielmelli |isbn=978-1-5403-2168-8 |location=[Walla Walla, Wash.] |oclc=1013890485}}</ref> The dam and lake were instrumental in preventing damage from flooding in 1964, 1996, and 2020.<ref>{{cite web |date=February 13, 2020 |title=1940s Mill Creek Project helped divert water from downtown Walla Walla during historic 2020 flooding |url=https://www.yaktrinews.com/1940s-mill-creek-project-helped-divert-water-from-downtown-walla-walla-during-historic-flooding/ |access-date=March 25, 2022 |website=[[KVEW-TV]] |language=en-US}}</ref>

During the [[Great Depression]], a [[Canadian import duties|Canadian import duty]] cut off the main market for Walla Walla's fresh agriculture. John Grant Kelly, who owned the ''[[Walla Walla Union-Bulletin]]'' at the time, opened the area's first [[Canning|cannery]], Walla Walla Canning Company. In 1939, Walla Walla produced roughly $5&nbsp;million of the country's $30&nbsp;million canned green pea industry, and [[Time (magazine)|''TIME'']] magazine referred to Kelly as the "Father of Peas".<ref>{{Cite magazine |date=December 25, 1939 |title=MANUFACTURING: Father of Peas |language=en-US |magazine=[[Time (magazine)|TIME]] |url=https://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,762149,00.html |access-date=March 14, 2022 |issn=0040-781X}}</ref><ref name="HistoryLink" /><ref>{{Cite book |last=Bennett |first=Robert Allen |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/21752307 |title=Walla Walla : a nice place to raise a family, 1920-1949 |date=1988 |publisher=Pioneer Press Books |isbn=0-936546-13-1 |location=Walla Walla, WA |oclc=21752307}}</ref> Kelly also owned Church Grape Juice Company, a concord grape farm in [[Kennewick, Washington]]. Workers went on strike for better wages in September 1949, and Kelly had two employees arrested for speaking to the ''[[Tri-City Herald]]''. Church was one of four juice companies in the region to be charged with violations of the [[Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890]] for price-fixing grapes. [[Welch's]] bought Church from Kelly in 1952.<ref>{{cite web |last=Rousso |first=Nick |date=October 14, 2021 |title=Grape Farming in Washington |url=https://www.historylink.org/File/21302 |access-date=March 26, 2022 |website=[[HistoryLink]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Gibson |first=Elizabeth |date=December 3, 2005 |title=Church Grape Juice Company field workers, in Kennewick, strike for higher wages on September 22, 1949. |url=https://www.historylink.org/File/7543 |access-date=March 26, 2022 |website=[[HistoryLink]]}}</ref>

In 1936, Walla Walla and surrounding areas were struck by the magnitude 6.1 [[1936 State Line earthquake|State Line earthquake]]. Residents reported hearing a moderate rumbling immediately before the shock. There was significant damage in the area, and aftershocks were felt for several months following.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://assets.pnsn.org/HIST_CAT/1936.html |title=WA/OR - United States Earthquakes, 1936 |access-date=February 26, 2018}}</ref>

in the 1970s and 1980s, Leonetti Cellar, Woodward Canyon, L'Ecole 41, Waterbrook Winery and Seven Hills Winery pioneered a resurgence of Walla Walla's [[viticulture]].<ref name="HistoryLink" /><ref>{{cite web |last=Blecha |first=Peter |author-link=Peter Blecha|date=July 7, 2008 |title=Wine in Washington |url=https://www.historylink.org/file/8658 |access-date=March 26, 2022 |website=[[HistoryLink]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Paulus |first=Michael J. Jr. |date=February 6, 2008 |title=Walla Walla |url=https://historylink.org/File/8481 |access-date=March 26, 2022 |website=[[HistoryLink]]}}</ref>

In 1997, Gary Johnson founded the first brewery in Walla Walla since prohibition, Mill Creek Brewpub.<ref name="rizzo1908"/>

===21st century===
In 2001, Walla Walla was a Great American Main Street Award winner for the transformation and preservation of its once dilapidated main street.<ref>{{cite web|title=Great American Main Street Award|url=http://www.preservationnation.org/main-street/awards/gamsa/2001/staunton-virginia.html#.UsSkrbRu5NQ|access-date=January 1, 2014|archive-date=January 2, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140102200318/http://www.preservationnation.org/main-street/awards/gamsa/2001/staunton-virginia.html#.UsSkrbRu5NQ|url-status=dead}}</ref> In July 2011, ''[[USA Today]]'' selected Walla Walla as the friendliest small city in the United States.<ref>{{cite news|last=Bly|first=Laura|date=July 21, 2011|title=The five best small towns in America|work=[[USA Today]]|url=http://travel.usatoday.com/destinations/story/2011/07/The-five-best-small-towns-in-America/49573514/1|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120112235602/http://travel.usatoday.com/destinations/story/2011/07/The-five-best-small-towns-in-America/49573514/1?csp=hf|archive-date=January 12, 2012}}</ref> Walla Walla was also named Friendliest Small Town in America the same year as part of Rand McNally's annual Best of the Road contest. In 2012 and 2013, Walla Walla was a runner-up in the best food category for the Best of the Road.<ref>{{cite web|title=Best of the Road Walla Walla profile|url=http://www.bestoftheroad.com/town/walla-walla-wa/4123|access-date=January 1, 2014|archive-date=January 2, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140102194529/http://www.bestoftheroad.com/town/walla-walla-wa/4123|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=2011 and 2012 Best of the Road contests|url=http://www.bestoftheroad.com/page/recap|access-date=January 1, 2014|archive-date=December 5, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131205192414/http://www.bestoftheroad.com/page/recap|url-status=dead}}</ref> Downtown Walla Walla was awarded a Great Places in America Great Neighborhood designation in 2012 by the [[American Planning Association]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://records.wallawallawa.gov:9443/agenda_publish.cfm?id=&mt=ALL&get_month=10&get_year=2012&dsp=agm&seq=279&rev=0&ag=43&ln=1259&nseq=288&nrev=0&pseq=&prev=#ReturnTo1259 |title=Agenda |publisher=Records.wallawallawa.gov:9443 |date=October 17, 2012 |accessdate=August 6, 2022 |archive-date=November 27, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201127225757/https://records.wallawallawa.gov:9443/agenda_publish.cfm?id=&mt=ALL&get_month=10&get_year=2012&dsp=agm&seq=279&rev=0&ag=43&ln=1259&nseq=288&nrev=0&pseq=&prev=#ReturnTo1259 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.planning.org/greatplaces/neighborhoods/2012/wallawalla.htm|title = Downtown Walla Walla: Walla Walla, Washington}}</ref>

In the 2010s, Walla Walla's brewery industry experienced a revival.<ref>{{cite web |last=Joyce-Bulay |first=Catie |title=For want of an ale: Change is a-brewing in Walla Walla |url=https://www.union-bulletin.com/lifestyles/people/for-want-of-an-ale-change-is-a-brewing-in-walla-walla/article_743b8dd4-e679-11e6-8758-8b118dd10a95.html |access-date=April 4, 2022 |website=[[Walla Walla Union-Bulletin]] |date=January 29, 2017 |language=en}}</ref> The first hops farms since prohibition were planted in 2018,<ref name=":5" /><ref>{{cite web |last=Hillhouse |first=Vicki |date=September 29, 2019 |title=Business brewing as hops take root in Walla Walla Valley |url=https://www.union-bulletin.com/news/business/business-brewing-as-hops-take-root-in-walla-walla-valley/article_5d3cd7da-e24f-11e9-8aa7-97c50bf66e3f.html |access-date=April 4, 2022 |website=Union-Bulletin.com |language=en}}</ref> and in 2019, [[Washington State Department of Corrections]] announced a plan to bring a vineyard and hopyard to Washington State Penitentiary, along with [[agricultural science]] education to prepare inmates for careers in the field. The program would offer inmates state-wide minimum wages, a practice only legally enforced by state law at private institutions.<ref>{{cite web |last=Hillhouse |first=Vicki |date=January 30, 2019 |title=Penitentiary announces hops and vineyard project |url=https://www.union-bulletin.com/things_to_do/food_and_wine/penitentiary-announces-hops-and-vineyard-project/article_bbe8ea98-24c3-11e9-a96a-3b957c79e363.html |access-date=April 4, 2022 |website=[[Walla Walla Union-Bulletin]] |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=O'Neill |first=Eilis |date=July 19, 2019 |title=Inmates will soon be growing wine grapes, hops inside the Washington State Penitentiary |url=https://www.kuow.org/stories/inmates-will-soon-be-growing-wine-grapes-hops-inside-the-washington-state-penitentiary |access-date=April 4, 2022 |website=[[npr]] |language=en}}</ref> The city hosted its first [[beer festival]] in February 2020.<ref>{{cite web |last=Maynes |first=Jedidiahh |date=February 6, 2020 |title=Brew crew: Local beer makers get a chance to shine in wine country |url=https://www.union-bulletin.com/things_to_do/entertainment/brew-crew-local-beer-makers-get-a-chance-to-shine-in-wine-country/article_b039c878-f4ec-5a9f-b595-3fc3098f38ef.html |access-date=April 4, 2022 |website=[[Walla Walla Union-Bulletin]] |language=en}}</ref>

In 2017, and annually, Walla Walla's mayor signed a [[proclamation]] making the third Saturday of September "[[Adam West]] Day", to honor the actor, who was born and raised in the city.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news |date=September 14, 2018 |title=Holy Hometown Hero, Batman! It's Adam West Day In Walla Walla |publisher=Northwest Public Broadcasting |url=https://www.nwpb.org/2018/09/14/holy-hometown-hero-batman-its-adam-west-day-in-walla-walla/ |access-date=November 14, 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |date=September 19, 2017 |title=Celebrating the first official 'Adam West Day' in Walla Walla |url=https://www.nbcrightnow.com/archives/celebrating-the-first-official-adam-west-day-in-walla-walla/article_47751d1e-0912-5ab4-9af2-d6d673777e3f.html |access-date=April 4, 2022 |website=[[NBC]] |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Hillhouse |first=Vicki |date=August 23, 2019 |title=Adam West Day swoops back into Walla Walla |url=https://www.union-bulletin.com/things_to_do/entertainment/adam-west-day-swoops-back-into-walla-walla/article_3bbdc4d8-c5d1-11e9-bcf3-77d79fdf46c0.html |access-date=April 4, 2022 |website=[[Walla Walla Union-Bulletin]] |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Dinman |first=Emry |date=August 26, 2021 |title=Walla Walla celebrates Adam West, Batman actor and hometown superhero, for 4th year |url=https://www.union-bulletin.com/news/walla-walla-celebrates-adam-west-batman-actor-and-hometown-superhero-for-4th-year/article_5c1b8c30-0600-11ec-a4f7-4b6bfbc205f3.html |access-date=April 4, 2022 |website=[[Walla Walla Union-Bulletin]] |language=en}}</ref> In 2020, the event was cancelled due to the [[COVID-19 pandemic]], but the organizers announced that the city approved the erection of a statue in West's honor and a [[GoFundMe]] fundraiser to cover the costs of the statue. The statue will be placed in Menlo Park on Alvarado Terrace, part of Historic Downtown Walla Walla.<ref>{{cite web |last= |date=July 8, 2020 |title=Walla Walla's Adam West Day 2020 Officially Canceled |url=https://katsfm.com/walla-wallas-adam-west-days-2020-officially-canceled/ |access-date=April 4, 2022 |website=[[KATS]] |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Dinmin |first=Emry |date=January 5, 2022 |title=Fundraiser to erect statue of Walla Walla's hometown hero, Batman actor Adam West, stalls |url=https://www.union-bulletin.com/news/fundraiser-to-erect-statue-of-walla-wallas-hometown-hero-batman-actor-adam-west-stalls/article_55ad1e58-6e75-11ec-807a-f3d9f993b6bd.html |access-date=April 4, 2022 |website=[[Walla Walla Union-Bulletin]] |language=en}}</ref>