Editing Walla Walla, Washington (section)

===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" />