Klickitat and Wahkiacus, Washington

Entering Klickitat

Klickitat River

Town of Klickitat

The unincorporated community of Klickitat is located 11 miles north of Lyle on Highway 142, on the banks of the Klickitat River in western Klickitat County. The major industries are timber, ranching and recreation.

The unincorporated community of Wahkiacus is located just south of Klickitat on Highway 142.

Klickitat Community Council
PO Box 183
Klickitat, WA 98628
Council contact telephone:
(509) 369-3855

Fire: 9-1-1 (emergencies only)
Non-emergency: (509) 369-2720.
Electricity: Klickitat County PUD
(509) 773-5891

History of Klickitat

Klickitat began as a sawmill town March 17, 1909.

Mrs. Jennie Stump, a daughter of pioneer settler Louis Cass Wright, was interviewed at her home in Bingen by Mrs. Neils recently. Her father, a farmer and stockman, had lived near Appleton, but moved his family home down to the bank of the Klickitat in 1890. The railroad referred to the place as "Wright" and the name so remained until it was changed to Klickitat about 1912.

The reason for the change was the adoption of that name by the bottling works which was the forerunner of the present Gas-Ice Corp. The mineral springs of that area had long been an attraction and the bottling of carbonated water had become an important industry. The company produced a very popular "soda pop" which was marketed under the name Klickitat until the late 1920s, when production of dry ice became more profitable.

Nowhere in the nation is nature producing ponderosa pine faster than in the Klickitat country. The Oregonian, Portland, OR., June 19, 1938 reported "Here [in Klickitat] stands the world's biggest single ponderosa pine tree, over 200 feet tall, 85 inches in diameter, containing about 20,000 board feet of lumber, enough to build a couple of houses."