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Ellensburg was an early center of commerce in Washington and was among the first cities in the state to have electrical service. The city launched a bid to become Washington state's capital in 1889, preparing a site in the Capital Hill neighborhood for government offices.
Learn about the history of Ellensburg, where the City got its name, and about the 1889 fire, and how Ellensburg rebuilt.
Article History. Ellensburg, city, seat (1883) of Kittitas county, central Washington, U.S., on the Yakima River, 28 miles (45 km) north of Yakima. The first white man settled there in 1867, and three years later the valley’s first trading post, called Robbers Roost, was opened.
- The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
Dec 23, 2005 · Ellensburg, the county seat of Kittitas County, is located three miles from the confluence of the Yakima River and Wilson Creek near the geographic center of Washington. The site was a gathering place for the Kittitas band of the Yakama Indians and other Columbia plateau tribes.
- The Early Days in Ellensburgh. Ellensburg, originally named Ellensburgh for the wife of town founder John Alden Shoudy, was founded in 1871. The town grew rapidly in the 1880s following the arrival of the Northern Pacific Railway and was officially incorporated on November 26, 1883.
- Open for Business. Palace Cafe and Fitterer’s Furniture are among the oldest operating businesses in Ellensburg today, Robber’s Roost was the first business in the area, aside from the early trading that occurred among Native Americans, cattle drivers, trappers, and miners.
- Race for the Capital. The city launched a bid to become Washington State’s capital in 1889. The ballot included top challengers Olympia, North Yakima, and Ellensburgh’as well as the cities of Centralia, Pasco, and Yakima City (now Union Gap).
- Meet in the Middle. Ellensburg is located just east of the Cascade Range on Interstate 90 and is known as the most centrally located city in the state.
Earlier that decade, the county's first flour mill was established near Ellensburg. It was quickly followed by four others. Although the county's yellowish flour was deemed suitable only for local consumption and for trade with the Orient, wheat production grew annually until the turn of the century.
An early gathering place for Native American tribes, Ellensburg’s location at the confluence of the Yakima River, Manastash Creek and Wilson Creeks and near the geographic center of Washington, continues to make this a natural gathering place and convenient home of Central Washington University.
