| Cle Elum, Washington | |
|---|---|
| — City — | |
| Motto: "Heart of The Cascades" | |
| Location of Cle Elum in Washington State | |
| Coordinates: | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Washington |
| County | Kittitas |
| Founded | February 12, 1902 |
| Area | |
| • City | 3.5 sq mi (3.8 km2) |
| • Land | 1.5 sq mi (3.8 km2) |
| • Water | 0.0 sq mi (0.0 km2) |
| Elevation | 1,913 ft (583 m) |
| Population (2010) | |
| • City | 1,872 |
| • Density | 507/sq mi (456.7/km2) |
| • Metro | 6,500 |
| Time zone | PST (UTC-8) |
| • Summer (DST) | PDT (UTC-7) |
| ZIP code | 98922 |
| Area code(s) | 509 |
| FIPS code | 53-12945[1] |
| GNIS feature ID | 1517819[2] |
| Website | http://www.cityofcleelum.com |
Cle Elum is a city in Kittitas County, Washington, United States. The population was 1,872 at the 2010 census. Only an hour and a half's drive from Seattle, Cle Elum is a popular area for camping and outdoor activities.
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The founders of Cle Elum were Thomas L. Gamble (later known as Judge Gamble) and Walter J. Reid. Mr. Gamble took up a Quarter section of land in Section 26, Township 20 North, and Range 15 East, in April, 1883 with the intent of farming the land. Mr. Reed took a claim adjoining Mr. Gamble's on the West. On those two preemptive claims the town was laid out. The date of these filings was three years prior to the discovery of coal. Scattered discoveries of coal ledges had been made in 1883 and 1884, but in 1886 a definite discovery of a large ledge of good coal in paying quantities made it clear that a most important stage had come in the history of the region and populations in the region began to increase. Meanwhile, the Northern Pacific Railway was seeking a route over the Cascade Mountains.
Some assert that the selection of the Stampede Pass was determined by the coal discovery. In the Spring of 1886 the railroad engineers under Mr. Bogue and Mr. Huson were making their survey through the region with the intent of establishing a station. At the site of the future city, a Northern Pacific Railway station was named Clealum after the Kittitas name Tle-el-Lum (tlielləm), meaning "swift water", referring to the Cle Elum River. In 1908, Clealum was altered to Cle Elum.[3] The name was given to the river, the city, and Cle Elum Lake. Walter Reed entered into a partnership with Thomas Johnson of Ellensburg and laid out sixty-five acres as a site. This was legally dedicated on July 26. of 1886. Mr. Johnson had owned a sawmill on Wilson Creek, in Grant County and he moved the mill to the new location in the vicinity of the new town. The partners, Reed and Johnson, established what was undoubtedly the largest mill up to that time in central or Eastern Washington, cutting 40,000 feet of board lumber per day. At the same time, Frederick Leonhard, who with his brother-in-law, Gerrit d'Ablaing, had been carrying on a mill on Cooke Creek and later on the Naneum, moved to the vicinity of Cle Elum. They cut a large part of the lumber for the Stampede Tunnel.
On October 11, 1886, the first Northern Pacific Railroad train pulled into the new Cle Elum station. Following the arrival of the railway, the small town began to grow rapidly. Two stores were opened in 1886, one by Thomas Johnson, the other by Theron Stafford. A large school district was laid out, for thus far there were few children in the district. The old Reed cabin was transformed into a schoolhouse, and the salary for the teacher was raised by subscription. Mr. Reed had meanwhile built a hotel, which continued to be the major hotel in Cle Elum for many years. The first local election in Cle Elum occurred November 9, 1886. H.C. Witters was first justice of the peace, followed by the first inhabitant, Judge Gamble. The post office was established with the beginning of 1888, Dr. Wheelock becoming first postmaster. In that year Mr. Gamble laid out the larger part of his farm in a new settlement which he called Hazelwood. Subsequently this plat was relaid as the Hazelwood addition to Cle Elum. A large portion of Cle Elum was destroyed on July 23, 1891 by a fire which began in the Stafford store. $50,000 dollars in damage was caused with little insurance by any of the losers.
In 1894 a company consisting of Oscar James, Isaac Davis, Charles Hamer, and James Smith, made a bargain with Thomas Gamble to run a mine shaft on his property for the purpose of a test of the coal deposits. They had a forty-year lease on the place and did a considerable amount of construction work. In 1900, the Northwestern Improvement Company acquired the lease, and immediately made large improvements, as a result of which the mines came to be one of the greatest factors in the business of the county.
Cle Elum was officially incorporated on February 12, 1902. Logan Moody was the first mayor.
Tragedy struck the area when on July 16, 1908 two carloads of blasting powder being unloaded by the Northwest Improvement Company inexplicably exploded, killing at least nine people including miners, NIC store employees and a family with children living in a tent near the building. The explosion, located about 3/4 of a mile from Cle Elum's downtown, scattered debris and human remains and shattered windows across town. Accounts from residents equated the explosion to an earthquake.[4]
In 1913, steps were taken to improve automobile access across the Cascade Mountains via Snoqualmie Pass. A $1,500,000 levy was approved in 1913 to improve and expand the state's highways. The majority of the levy ($590,743) went to construction of the Sunset Highway between Spokane and Seattle. This major cross-state highway would pass directly through Cle Elum's business district, and as it was one of the first towns reached after traveling east across the pass, would benefit a lot from its construction.[5] That same year, reflecting on the prosperity of the coal mines, the city's second bank was chartered.[6] By 1914, Cle Elum's population had risen to 3,000 from about 100 at the turn of the 20th century.[7]
Cle Elum's greatest disaster occurred on June 25, 1918 when a huge fire wiped out over seventy acres of the city (29 city blocks) at a cost of over $500,000 dollars in damages. The cause was later determined to most likely to be a discarded cigarette butt thrown into a pile of garbage behind a theater. Thirty businesses and 205 houses were destroyed leaving more than 1,800 people homeless. Following the incident, Aid from across the state began pouring in. The Red Cross brought tents from Camp Lewis to house misplaced citizens while soldiers were sent from Ellensburg to guard businesses. Yakima and Portland, Oregon also sent aid to the city. Fortunately no lives were lost in the incident.[8]
High insurance rates on Cle Elum's many wooden structures inhibited many people from purchasing it. One of the few buildings in downtown Cle Elum to survive the fire was the Cle Elum State Bank Building, built in 1906 it still stands today. The rest of downtown was quickly rebuilt of brick and many of these buildings still stand.
Headed by John Bresko, Cle Elum was the first to have 'organized' skiing west of Denver, Colorado. Starting in 1921, 100–400 people would be on the ski hill every weekend through the winter. 1931 saw the largest crowd est. at 8,000 spectators for the ski jumping events. The depression ended the skiing and jumping events in 1934 along with the opening of Snoqualmie Pass for winter travel.
Douglas Munro grew up in Cle Elum. He served in the United States Coast Guard during World War II. He was killed in action while evacuating Marines during the Battle of Guadalcanal and for his extraordinary heroism, outstanding leadership and gallantry, Munro posthumously received the Medal of Honor, the only Coast Guardsman to ever receive the military's highest honor. The USS Douglas A. Munro (DE-422), a Navy destroyer escort, was named for him. The Coast Guard cutter USCGC Munro (WHEC-724) was also named in his honor.
The town was also the birthplace of astronaut Dick Scobee, the commander of the Space Shuttle Challenger on the day of its explosion.
Freestyle skier Patrick Deneen, a member of the US Olympic Team for the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, is a native of Cle Elum where his family has a ranch. Deneen's father Pat was the part owner and general manager of the Hyak ski area before it became part of The Summit at Snoqualmie.
Cle Elum is located in Upper Kittitas County. It is bordered on the north side by the Cle Elum Ridge and the south side by the South Cle Elum Ridge including Peoh Point. The Yakima River Runs through it and also Crystal Creek.
Cle Elum is located at (47.194293, -120.937537).[9]
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 1.5 square miles (3.8 km²), all land. It borders South Cle Elum and Roslyn.
| Ronald Roslyn |
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| 'Cle Elum' | ||||
| South Cle Elum | Thorp |
| Climate data for Cle Elum, Washington | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °F (°C) | 65 (18) |
69 (21) |
95 (35) |
96 (36) |
99 (37) |
100 (38) |
105 (41) |
105 (41) |
98 (37) |
96 (36) |
68 (20) |
66 (19) |
105 (41) |
| Average high °F (°C) | 36 (2) |
41 (5) |
50 (10) |
57 (14) |
65 (18) |
71 (22) |
80 (27) |
80 (27) |
73 (23) |
58 (14) |
43 (6) |
33 (1) |
57.3 (14.0) |
| Average low °F (°C) | 24 (−4) |
24 (−4) |
30 (−1) |
34 (1) |
41 (5) |
47 (8) |
53 (12) |
52 (11) |
43 (6) |
34 (1) |
29 (−2) |
22 (−6) |
36.1 (2.3) |
| Record low °F (°C) | −33 (−36) |
−30 (−34) |
0 (−18) |
12 (−11) |
19 (−7) |
26 (−3) |
30 (−1) |
30 (−1) |
21 (−6) |
10 (−12) |
−14 (−26) |
−31 (−35) |
−33 (−36) |
| Precipitation inches (mm) | 2.98 (75.7) |
2.66 (67.6) |
1.98 (50.3) |
1.07 (27.2) |
1.15 (29.2) |
0.89 (22.6) |
0.59 (15) |
0.50 (12.7) |
0.81 (20.6) |
1.91 (48.5) |
4.31 (109.5) |
3.50 (88.9) |
22.35 (567.7) |
| Source: [10] | |||||||||||||
| Historical populations | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Census | Pop. | %± | |
| 1870 | 4 |
|
|
| 1880 | 543 | 13,475.0% | |
| 1890 | 243 | −55.2% | |
| 1900 | 296 | 21.8% | |
| 1910 | 2,749 | 828.7% | |
| 1920 | 2,661 | −3.2% | |
| 1930 | 2,508 | −5.7% | |
| 1940 | 2,230 | −11.1% | |
| 1950 | 2,206 | −1.1% | |
| 1960 | 1,816 | −17.7% | |
| 1970 | 1,725 | −5.0% | |
| 1980 | 1,773 | 2.8% | |
| 1990 | 1,778 | 0.3% | |
| 2000 | 1,755 | −1.3% | |
| 2010 | 1,872 | 6.7% | |
| source:[11][12] | |||
As of the census[1] of 2000, there were 1,755 people, 792 households, and 1448 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,182.8 people per square mile (457.8/km²). There were 956 housing units at an average density of 644.3 per square mile (249.4/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 95.16% White, 0.51% African American, 1.03% Native American, 0.57% Asian, 0.85% from other races, and 1.88% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 3.36% of the population.
There were 792 households out of which 67.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 63.1% were married couples living together, 10.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 43.4% were non-families. 35.4% of all households were made up of individuals and 16.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.22 and the average family size was 2.87.
In the city the population was spread out with 23.2% under the age of 18, 7.6% from 18 to 24, 26.7% from 25 to 44, 24.6% from 45 to 64, and 17.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females there were 93.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 92.3 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $28,144, and the median income for a family was $39,000. Males had a median income of $32,750 versus $26,645 for females. The per capita income for the city was $16,620. About 17.4% of families and 20.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including 22.3% of those under age 18 and 18.5% of those age 65 or over.
Cle Elum - Roslyn High School ~Home of the Warriors.
Walter Strom Middle School ~Home of the Wildcats
Swiftwater Learning Center~ (Alternative School)
Cle Elum - Roslyn Elementary School ~ Home of the Grey Wolves
All schools and administrative buildings (except Swiftwater Learning Center and the Transportation Department) are located on SR 903 in the Cle Elum UGA.
Cle Elum Medical Center (formerly Cle Elum Family Medicine Center) underwent an almost $1,000,000 renovation and expansion in June 2007. The medical center, which provides healthcare to almost 10,000 residents of the upper county, and over 1,000,000 travelers, who pass through the town, is equipped with an after-hour urgent care center, for non-life threatening injuries and illnesses
Cle Elum is presided over by a mayor and a six-member city council. As of 2010 the following were in Office:
City council meetings have been traditionally held on the 2nd and 4th Tuesdays of the month at 7:00 p.m. in City Hall Council Chambers.
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