Walla Walla, Washington
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Walla Walla (Template:IPAc-en Template:Respell)<ref>Template:Cite Merriam-Webster</ref> is a city in and the county seat of Walla Walla County, Washington, United States.<ref name="GR6">Template:Cite web</ref> It had a population of 34,060 at the 2020 census,<ref name="2020 Census (City)">Template:Cite web</ref> estimated to have decreased to 33,339 as of 2023.<ref name="USCensusEst2023"/> The combined population of the city and its two suburbs, the town of College Place and unincorporated Walla Walla East, is about 45,000.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Walla Walla is in the southeastern region of Washington, approximately four hours away from Portland, Oregon, and four and a half hours from Seattle. It is located only Template:Cvt north of the Oregon border.
History
[edit]Native history and early settlement
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Walla Walla's history starts in 1806 when the Lewis and Clark expedition encountered the Walawalałáma (Walla Walla people) near the mouth of Walla Walla River. Other inhabitants of the valley included the Liksiyu (Cayuse), Imatalamłáma (Umatilla), and 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">Template:Cite web</ref> Abandoned in 1855, it is now underwater behind the McNary Dam.<ref name=":52">Template:Cite web</ref>
On October 16, 1836,<ref name=":110">Template:Cite web</ref> after news of a Nez PerceTemplate:Efn expedition to learn about Christianity and a deal was brokered between the Cayuse people for the use of the Waiilatpu region,<ref name=":162">Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref name=":172">Template:Cite book</ref> Calvinist missionaries Marcus and Narcissa Whitman established the Whitman Mission.<ref name=":202">Template:Cite book</ref><ref name=":212">Template:Cite journal</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 killed by the Cayuse, along with 12 others.<ref name=":202" /><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name=":212" /> The site was later designated as Whitman National Monument, a National Historic Site.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Catholic missionaries also arrived in the 1840s, and the 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 Brooklyn, New York.<ref name=":32">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name=":42">Template:Cite web</ref>
In 1855, the Walla Walla Treaty Council was held at Waiilatpu between the Washington Territorial Assembly and the tribal leaders of the surrounding area. Despite the indigenous people citing Tamanwit (natural law), the following year the natives agreed to surrender millions of acres of land for a native reservation and $150,000.<ref name=":7"/><ref name=":112">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name=":122">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name=":132">Template:Cite web</ref> The Umatilla Indian Reservation's boundaries eventually shrunk to less than Template:Convert.<ref name=":92">Template:Cite web</ref>
Founding
[edit]Template:See alsoThe Walla Walla treaty remained unratified for four years, during which time the conflict between the natives and settlers was increasing due to frontiersmen encroaching on the promised reservation and the Walla Walla and Umatilla peoples' refusal to move to the Umatilla Indian Reservation.<ref name=":10">Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The United States Army established a presence in a series of 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>Template:Cite book</ref> The fort has since been restored with a museum about the early settlers' lives.<ref name=":7">Template:Cite web</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 Ellis Wool, who was sympathetic to the natives.<ref name=":10" /><ref name=":18">Template:Cite web</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">Template:Cite web</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, which still serves as the city's parish.<ref name=":42"/><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Following the ratification of the Walla Walla treaty,<ref name=":7" /><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> the commission voted to name the settlement Walla Walla, on November 17, 1859<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and the military carried out the forced displacement of the remaining natives, under the threat of hanging.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
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">Template:Cite web</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 outfitting point for the Oro Fino, Idaho mines.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="cpsithr">Template:Cite news</ref> The nearest part of the road followed the modern approximate path from Spokane to Walla Walla via Interstate 90, U.S. Route 195, and U.S. Route 12.<ref>Template:Cite web</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">Template:Cite news</ref>
Gold rush and growth
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Walla Walla was incorporated on January 11, 1862.<ref>Template:Cite web</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">Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</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">Template:Cite book</ref><ref name=":8" /><ref name=":14">Template:Cite web</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 Cascades, the Washington Statesman, was founded in 1861.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The first bank, Baker Boyer Bank, was the first in the state, was founded in 1869<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> by one of the city's first council members,<ref name=":8" /> Dorsey Syng Baker and his brother-in-law John Franklin Boyer,<ref name=":14" /><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref name=":19" /><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> and as of March 2022, still served as the oldest bank in state.<ref>Template:Cite web</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>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name=":11">Template:Cite book</ref>
One of the first 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>Template:Cite web</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>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The city also had one of the region's first breweries,<ref name="rizzo1908">Template:Cite book</ref> Emil Meyer's City Brewery,<ref name=":9">Template:Cite web</ref> that also served as a bakery.<ref name=":1" /> Downtown also hosted a post office, several hotels, restaurants, a bathhouse and shaving saloon, a liquor store, a drugstore, and several manufactories.<ref name=":1">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name=":12">Template:Cite web</ref>
During the gold rush, large populations of Chinese settlers arrived in the city from Portland, Oregon, creating a neighborhood referred to as "Chinatown".<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> The Chinese settlers mainly worked in commerce, mining, and 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>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> including Eng Ah King, who was informally known as the "mayor of Chinatown" for revitalizing Seattle's Chinatown.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</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">Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</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 escapes attempted in the prison's history.<ref name=":24">Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</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>Template:Cite journal</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
[edit]
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 onions, apples, peas, and 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">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name=":6">Template:Cite web</ref> One of the main contributions of the Italians to Walla Walla commerce was their vineyards, and soon after, wine tasting rooms, the first two opened in the 1880s by Frank Orselli and Pasquale Saturno.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name=":11" /> The Italian Walla Walla population was also responsible for growing Washington State's official vegetable,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> the Walla Walla sweet onion.<ref name="HistoryLink" /><ref name=":3" /><ref name=":6" />
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 Adventists (SDA) to the city, building Walla Walla College and the Walla Walla Sanitarium.<ref name=":22">Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The SDA population was followed by hundreds of Volga Germans, whose Old Lutheran and Mennonite religions were connected to SDA in Prussia. The immigrants had relied on dryland farming of wheat crops in Volgograd, Russia.<ref>Template:Cite journal</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>Template:Cite web</ref> The area around Walla Walla College eventually incorporated as its own city, College Place, Washington.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
German immigrants also grew hops and the city was home to several breweries.<ref>Template:Cite web</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">Template:Cite book</ref><ref name=":5">Template:Cite web</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>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="HistoryLink" /><ref name=":19" />
20th century
[edit]
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">Template:Cite web</ref> In 1990, became Walla Walla's first privately renovated building as a Bon-Macy's.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</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>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</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>Template:Cite book</ref><ref name=":12" /><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Template:As of, the hotel was still open.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Mill Creek overflowed into Walla Walla and College Place on March 31, 1931, causing $1 million in damages. Community volunteers jury-rigged makeshift levees 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>Template:Cite book</ref> The dam and lake were instrumental in preventing damage from flooding in 1964, 1996, and 2020.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
During the Great Depression, a 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 cannery, Walla Walla Canning Company. In 1939, Walla Walla produced roughly $5 million of the country's $30 million canned green pea industry, and TIME magazine referred to Kelly as the "Father of Peas".<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref><ref name="HistoryLink" /><ref>Template:Cite book</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>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
In 1936, Walla Walla and surrounding areas were struck by the magnitude 6.1 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>Template:Cite web</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>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
In 1997, Gary Johnson founded the first brewery in Walla Walla since prohibition, Mill Creek Brewpub.<ref name="rizzo1908"/>
21st century
[edit]In 2001, Walla Walla was a Great American Main Street Award winner for the transformation and preservation of its once dilapidated main street.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In July 2011, USA Today selected Walla Walla as the friendliest small city in the United States.<ref>Template:Cite news</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>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Downtown Walla Walla was awarded a Great Places in America Great Neighborhood designation in 2012 by the American Planning Association.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
In the 2010s, Walla Walla's brewery industry experienced a revival.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The first hops farms since prohibition were planted in 2018,<ref name=":5" /><ref>Template:Cite web</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>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The city hosted its first beer festival in February 2020.<ref>Template:Cite web</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">Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</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>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Etymology
[edit]Walla Walla is Nez Perce for "Place of Many Waters", because the original settlement was at the junction of the Snake and Columbia rivers.<ref name=":7" />
Tourists to Walla Walla are often told that it is a "town so nice they named it twice".<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The slogan was coined by Al Jolson, who had visited the city in the early 1900s in The Keylor Grand Theater. He had also said the same of New York, New York.<ref name="HistoryLink" /> The quote referring to Walla Walla was in The Jolson Story, a musical about the entertainer's life.<ref>Template:Cite AV media</ref>
Some locals and Walla Walla natives often refer to the city in text form with "W2".<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Geography and climate
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Walla Walla is located in the Walla Walla Valley, with the rolling Palouse hills to the north and the Blue Mountains to the east of town. Various creeks meander through town before combining to become the Walla Walla River, which drains into the Columbia River about Template:Convert west of town. The city lies in the rain shadow of the Cascade Mountains, so annual precipitation is fairly low.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of Template:Convert, of which Template:Convert is land and Template:Convert is water.<ref name="Gazetteer files">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="GR1">Template:Cite web</ref>
Walla Walla has a hot-summer Mediterranean climate according to the Köppen climate classification system (Köppen: Csa; Trewartha: Doak). It is one of the northernmost locations in North America to qualify as having such a climate. In contrast to most other locations having this climate type in North America, Walla Walla can experience fairly cold winter conditions, though they are still relatively mild for its latitude and inland location.
Demographics
[edit]2020 census
[edit]As of the 2020 census, there were 34,060 people and 12,414 householders residing in the city. The population density was Template:Convert.<ref name="wwwcensusgov">Template:Cite web</ref>
2010 census
[edit]As of the 2010 census, there were 31,731 people, 11,537 households, and 6,834 families residing in the city. The population density was Template:Convert. There were 12,514 housing units at an average density of Template:Convert. The racial makeup of the city was 81.6% White, 2.7% African American, 1.3% Native American, 1.4% Asian, 0.3% Pacific Islander, 9.1% from other races, and 3.6% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino residents of any race were 22.0% of the population.<ref name="wwwcensusgov" />
There were 11,537 households, of which 30.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 42.6% were married couples living together, 12.0% had a female householder with no husband present, 4.7% had a male householder with no wife present, and 40.8% were other forms of households. 33.4% 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 2.43 and the average family size was 3.10.<ref name="wwwcensusgov" />
The median age in the city was 34.4 years. 22% of residents were under the age of 18; 14.5% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 26.2% were from 25 to 44; 23.1% were from 45 to 64; and 14% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the city was 51.9% male and 48.1% female.<ref name="wwwcensusgov" />
2000 census
[edit]As of the 2000 census, there were 29,686 people, 10,596 households, and 6,527 families residing in the city. The population density was 2,744.9 people per square mile (1,059.3/km2). There were 11,400 housing units at an average density of 1,054.1 per square mile (406.8/km2). The racial makeup of the city was 83.79% White, 2.58% African American, 1.05% Native American, 1.24% Asian, 0.23% Pacific Islander, 8.26% from other races, and 2.85% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino people of any race were 17.42% of the population.<ref name="wwwcensusgov" />
There were 10,596 households, of which 30.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 46.4% were married couples living together, 11.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 38.4% were other forms of households. 31.9% of all households were made up of individuals, and 15.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.44 and the average family size was 3.08.<ref name="wwwcensusgov" />
In the city, 21.8% of the population was under the age of 18, 14.2% was from 18 to 24, 26.5% from 25 to 44, 17.5% from 45 to 64, and 20.1% was 65 years of age or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females, there were 108.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 109.1 males.<ref name="wwwcensusgov" />
The median income for a household in the city was $31,855, and the median income for a family was $40,856. Men had a median income of $31,753 versus $23,889 for women. The per capita income for the city was $15,792. About 13.1% of families and 18.0% of the population were below the poverty line, including 22.8% of those under the age of 18 and 10.5% of those aged 65 and older.<ref name="wwwcensusgov" />
Economy
[edit]Agriculture
[edit]
Though wheat is still a significant crop, vineyards and wineries have become economically important over the last three decades.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In summer 2020, there were over 120 wineries in the greater Walla Walla area. Following the wine boom, the town has developed several fine dining establishments and luxury hotels. The Marcus Whitman Hotel, originally opened in 1928, was renovated with original fixtures and furniture. It is the tallest building in the city, at 13 stories.
The Walla Walla Sweet Onion and the Great Grape are a few crops with a rich tradition. Over a century ago on the Island of Corsica, off the west coast of Italy, a French soldier named Peter Pieri found an Italian sweet onion seed and brought it to the Walla Walla Valley. Impressed by the new onion's winter hardiness, Pieri, and the Italian immigrant farmers who comprised much of Walla Walla's gardening industry, harvested the seed.<ref name=":3" /><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
The sweet onion developed over several generations through the process of selecting onions from each year's crop, targeting sweetness, size and round shape. The Walla Walla Sweet Onion is designated under federal law as a protected agricultural crop. In 2007 the Walla Walla Sweet Onion became Washington's official state vegetable.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> There is also a Walla Walla Sweet Onion Festival, held annually in July. Walla Walla Sweet Onions have low sulfur content (about half that of an ordinary yellow onion) and are 90 percent water.
Walla Walla currently has two farmers markets, both held from May until October. The first is located on the corner of 4th and Main, and is coordinated by the Downtown Walla Walla Foundation. The other is at the Walla Walla County Fairgrounds on S. Ninth Ave, run by the Walla Walla Valley Farmer's Market.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Wine industry
[edit]Template:Main Walla Walla has experienced an expansion in its wine industry in recent decades, culminating in the area being named "Best Wine Region" in USA Today's Reader Choice Awards in both 2020 and 2021.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Several local wineries have received top scores from wine publications such as Wine Spectator, The Wine Advocate and Wine and Spirits. Although most of the early recognition went to the wines made from Merlot and Cabernet, Syrah is fast becoming a star varietal in this appellation.<ref name="Walla Walla Valley Wine">Walla Walla Valley Wine Alliance website - http://wallawallawine.com/</ref> Overall, there are more than 120 wineries in the Walla Walla area, which collectively generate over $100 million for the valley annually.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>
Walla Walla Community College offers an associate degree (AAAS) in winemaking and grape growing through its Center for Enology and Viticulture, which operates its own commercial winery, College Cellars.<ref name="College Cellars">College Cellars website - http://www.collegecellars.com</ref>
One challenge to growing grapes in Walla Walla Valley is the risk of a killing freeze during the winter. On average these happen once every six or seven years; the penultimate occurrence (in 2004) destroyed about 75% of the wine grape crop in the valley. In November 2010 the valley was again hit with a killing frost, leading to a 28% decline in Cabernet Sauvignon production, a 20% decline in red grape production, and an overall decline in production of 11% (red and white varietals).<ref name="Washington Wine Report">Sean Sullivan's Washington Wine Report - http://www.wawinereport.com/2012/02/cabernet-sauvignon-production-down-28.html</ref>
Corrections industry
[edit]Template:Main The second-largest prison in Washington, after nearby Coyote Ridge Corrections Center in Connell, is the Washington State Penitentiary (WSP) located in Walla Walla, at 1313 North 13th. Originally opened in 1886, it now houses about 2,000 offenders.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In addition, there are about 1000 staff members. In 2005, the financial benefit to the local economy was estimated to be about $55 million through salaries, medical services, utilities, and local purchases. In 2014, the penitentiary underwent an extensive expansion project to increase the prison capacity to 2,500 violent offenders and double the staff size.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Until October 11, 2018, Washington was a death penalty state, and occasional executions took place at the state penitentiary; the last execution took place on September 10, 2010.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Washington was also one of the last two states to allow hanging as a choice when sentenced to death<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> (the other being New Hampshire); there has not been a hanging since May 1994 (the default method of execution was changed to lethal injection in 1996). Washington was the last state with an active gallows.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> 80 executions were carried out at the prison between 1904 and 2010.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
The most notable inmate has been Gary Ridgway, a serial killer known as the "Green River killer", who was still incarcerated there as of November 2021.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Infrastructure
[edit]Healthcare
[edit]Walla Walla is served by two health care institutions: St. Mary Medical Center (part of the Catholic Providence Health System) and the Jonathan M. Wainwright Veteran's Affairs Medical Center on the grounds of the old Fort Walla Walla and World War II training facility.
Transportation
[edit]Transportation to Walla Walla includes service by air through Walla Walla Regional Airport, several railroads, and highway access primarily from U.S. Route 12. The Washington State Department of Transportation is engaged in a long-term process of widening this road into a four-lane divided highway between Pasco and Walla Walla. The most recent portion was completed in June 2023.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite press release</ref> The highway also acts as the main gateway to Interstates 82 and 84, which run to the west and south, respectively.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> State Route 125 runs through the city, north to State Route 124 in Prescott and south to Milton-Freewater, Oregon, becoming Oregon Highway 11 at the state line.<ref>Template:Cite WSDOT map</ref>
There are four major bus services in the area connecting the region's cities. Walla Walla and nearby College Place are served by Valley Transit, a typical multi-route city bus service. The city of Milton-Freewater, Oregon has a single-line bus service with several stops in town with two stops in College Place and five in Walla Walla. Travel Washington's Grape Line is a Template:Convert intercity service between Walla Walla and Pasco that runs three times a day. Finally, Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation operates a Kayak bus to Pendleton, with four trips each weekday and two trips each Saturday via its Walla Walla Whistler route.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Sports
[edit]Walla Walla is home of the Walla Walla Sweets, a summer collegiate baseball team that plays in the West Coast League. The league comprises college players and prospects working towards a professional baseball career. Teams are located in British Columbia, Oregon, Washington and Alberta. Sweets home games have been played at Borleske Stadium in Walla Walla, since their first season in 2010. In only their second season the Sweets played in the WCL Championship game, ultimately losing to the Corvallis Knights. In 2013, the Sweets won their first North Division title with the second best win–loss record in the WCL. The Sweets lost their North Division playoff series to the Wenatchee Applesox that year.
Walla Walla Drag Strip is an 1/8 mile dragstrip west of the Walla Walla Regional Airport. The dragstrip is located on an old runway of the airport.
There also is a women's flat track roller derby league called the Walla Walla Sweets Rollergirls, their practices and games are played at the Walla Walla YMCA.
Walla Walla is the location of Tour of Walla Walla, a four-stage road cycling race held annually in April. The races are held in Walla Walla and in the Palouse hills of nearby Waitsburg. The stages include two road races, a time trial, and a criterium race.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
The annual Walla Walla Marathon takes place in October and includes a full marathon, half-marathon, and 10k race. The full marathon is a Boston Marathon Qualifier.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The race route winds through the streets of the city of Walla Walla and the country roads outside of town, often running past several of the region's many estate vineyards.
Fine and performing arts
[edit]The Walla Walla Valley boasts a number of fine and performing arts organizations and venues.
- The Walla Walla Valley Bands were formed in 1989 and currently boasts a Concert Band of more than 70 and two Jazz Ensembles. The group rehearses weekly on Tuesday nights at the Walla Walla Valley Adventist Academy in nearby College Place.
- The Walla Walla Symphony began in 1907<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and performs six to eight concerts from October - May. Its primary performance venue is Cordiner Hall on the campus of Whitman College. Other performance venues include the Gesa Power House Theatre and Walla Walla University Church.
- The Walla Walla Chamber Music Festival is held twice a year and features guest musical ensembles playing classical chamber music in various small venues throughout town. The summer festival includes performances for almost the whole month of June. The winter festival is a small-scale version of the summer program, it is held in mid-January.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
- Shakespeare Walla Walla is a non-profit organization that hosts a summer Shakespeare festival in Walla Walla. They often bring Shakespeare troupes from Seattle and elsewhere to perform about four plays per year. In the past this was done at the Fort Walla Walla Amphitheater, but more recently at the GESA Powerhouse Theatre.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
- The GESA Powerhouse Theatre opened in 2011 in Walla Walla; it was originally the Walla Walla gas plant, hence its name. Its dimensions closely resemble the Blackfriars Theatre once used by William Shakespeare.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The venue is used by Shakespeare Walla Walla as well as host to various concerts and other performing arts events throughout the year.
- The Little Theatre of Walla Walla began in 1944 and moved into its current building on Sumach St. in 1948 where it has performed various plays to this day.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
- The Walla Walla Choral Society began in 1980 and performs a season of three or four concerts per year in various locations around the Walla Walla Valley.
- Fort Walla Walla Amphitheater is a disused open-air stage with bench seating on the grounds of the Fort Walla Walla Park, next to Fort Walla Walla Museum. It formerly hosted Shakespeare Walla Walla productions and the Walla Walla Community College Summer Musical.
- The Walla Walla Foundry was founded in 1980.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
In addition, the area's three colleges—Whitman College, Walla Walla University and Walla Walla Community College as well as its largest public high school—Walla Walla High School—stage theater and music performances.
Education
[edit]
Walla Walla Public Schools operates seven elementary schools (one is in Dixie, six of them are K-5 with one of these being PreK-5), two middle schools, one traditional high school (colloquially Wa-Hi), and two alternative high schools (Lincoln and Opportunity). There is also Homelink, an alternative K-8 education program which is a hybrid of homeschooling and public school programs.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The district includes most of the city, excluding the extreme western portions of Walla Walla that are in the College Place School District.<ref>Template:Cite map</ref>
There are several private Christian schools in the area. These include:
- The Walla Walla Catholic Schools (Assumption K-8 School and DeSales High School)
- Liberty Christian School, non-denominational
- Rogers Adventist School and Walla Walla Valley Academy, in nearby College Place, both of Seventh-day Adventist affiliation
- Saint Basil Academy of Classical Studies (K-8)
In addition to these, there are three colleges in the area:
- Walla Walla Community College, co-winner of the 2013 Aspen Prize for Community College Excellence<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
- Whitman College, an independent liberal arts college
- Walla Walla University, in nearby College Place, Washington, affiliated with the Seventh-day Adventist denomination
In popular culture
[edit]Walla Walla is humorously mentioned in the Pogo comic strip in an alternate lyrical version of "Deck the Halls", a traditional Christmas carol.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Walla Walla is the location of the treasure in Cash and Carry, a short film starring The Three Stooges.<ref>Template:Cite AV media</ref>
In the Looney Tunes short Transylvania 6-5000, "Walla Walla, Washington" is a magic word that can transform Count Bloodcount.<ref>Template:Cite AV media</ref> Walla Walla is also the hometown of several fictional companies in other Looney Tunes shorts, including A Mouse Divided ("Little Giant Vacuum Cleaner Company"), The High and the Flighty, Heir-Conditioned ("Hi-Ho Silver Cleaner Company") and This Is a Life? ("Wishy Washy Washing Machine Company").<ref>Template:Cite AV media</ref><ref>Template:Cite AV media</ref><ref>Template:Cite AV media</ref><ref>Template:Cite AV media</ref>
"Walla Walla" was also a nickname for the right-field wall at the Kingdome, when the Seattle Mariners played there.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Sister cities
[edit]In 1972, Walla Walla established a sister city relationship with Sasayama (now named Tamba-Sasayama), Japan. The two cities have since named roads after their counterpart sister city. Walla Walla has also hosted exchange students from Tamba-Sasayama since 1994 for a two-week home-stay experience. Yearlong high school student exchanges between the cities have occurred several times in the past. Cultural and art exchanges involving music, dance, and various art mediums have also occurred. The Walla Walla Sister City Committee has been the recipient of the Washington State Sister City Association Peace Prize in 2011 and 2014 for their involvement in promoting peace, cultural understanding and friendship.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Notable people
[edit]- Juan Alvarez, soccer player
- Burl Barer, broadcaster and author
- Drew Bledsoe, NFL quarterback
- Richard Arthur Bogle, businessman and rancher
- Walter Brattain, Nobel Prize winner and co-inventor of the transistor
- Robert Brode, physicist
- Wallace R. Brode, scientist
- Sally Buzbee, executive editor of the Washington Post and formerly of the Associated Press
- Robert Clodius, educator and university administrator
- Tonya Cooley, Real World Chicago housemate
- C. Curtis-Smith, composer and pianist
- Alex Deccio, politician, former member of Washington House of Representatives and Senate<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
- Evelyn Evelyn, baroque pop duo created by Amanda Palmer and Jason Webley
- Eddie Feigner, softball player
- Bert Hadley, actor and makeup artist
- Gladys Ingle, 4th licensed pilot in US, wing-walker display performer.
- Alan W. Jones, US Army major general<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
- Charly Martin, NFL player<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
- Walt Minnick, U.S. congressman
- Edward P. Morgan, television and newspaper journalist
- Mikha'il Na'ima, writer and philosopher
- David R. Nygren, physicist, inventor of the time projection chamber
- Eric O'Flaherty, MLB player<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
- Charles Potts, poet and publisher
- Don Roff, novelist, screenwriter, and filmmaker
- Cher Scarlett, software engineer and labor activist<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
- Hope Summers, actress
- Connor Trinneer, actor
- Jonathan Wainwright, U.S. general
- Ferris Webster, film editor
- Adam West, television and film actor<ref name=":0" />
- Hamza Yusuf, Islamic scholar
See also
[edit]Notes
[edit]References
[edit]Further reading
[edit]- Template:Cite book Available online through the Washington State Library's Classics in Washington History collection Elma MacGibbon's reminiscences of her travels in the United States starting in 1898, which were mainly in Oregon and Washington. Includes chapter "Walla Walla and southeastern Washington."
- Bennett, Robert A. Walla Walla: Portrait of a Western Town, 1804–1899. Walla Walla: Frontier Press Books, c. 1980.
- Gilbert, Frank T. Historic Sketches: Walla Walla, Columbia and Garfield Counties, Washington Territory. Portland, Oregon: A.G. Walling Printing
External links
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Template:Walla Walla County, Washington Template:Washington Template:Washington (state) county seats