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Yelm, Washington Information
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Yelm is a city in Thurston County, Washington, United States. The population was 3,289 at the 2000 census. The current mayor is Ron Harding. His daughter, Janet Harding, was Miss Washington for 2008 after winning the title of Miss Tahoma. Yelm ranked 10th of 279 eligible incorporated communities in population growth between 2000 and 2005. History The word "Yelm" comes from the Coast Salish word "shelm" which means "land of the dancing spirits" their interpretation of the moir effect of heat rising off the prairie. The Yelm Prairie was originally inhabited by members of the Nisqually Indian Tribe and provided good pasture for their horses. The first permanent European-American settlers came in 1853 to join the Hudson's Bay Company sheep farmers who were already conducting business in the area. James Longmire, one of the first American settlers had this to say upon arriving in Yelm: "Having received due notice from the Hudson Bay company not to settle on any lands north of the Nisqually River we crossed the river and went to Yelm prairie, a beautiful spot. I thought as it lay before us covered with tall waving grass, a pretty stream bordered with shrubs and tall trees, flowing through it, and the majestic mountain standing guard over all, in its snowy coat, it was a scene fit for an artist. Herds of deer wandered at leisure through the tall grass." - James Longmire, October 10th 1853.  With the coming of the Northern Pacific Railway in 1873, Yelm began to prosper, having found an outlet for its agricultural and forestry products. Its economic base was further enhanced in the early 1900s when an irrigation company was formed in 1916, making Yelm a center for commercial production of beans, cucumbers, and berries.
Yelm was officially incorporated on December 10, 1924. During the Great Depression, the Yelm Irrigation Company was bankrupted by high maintenance costs and an unstructured water distribution plan. Yelm is now home to the first Class A Water Reclamation Facility and distribution system in Washington state. This system reclaims all of its waste water which is used in local irrigation and added to recharge streams and a wetland park that includes a catch-and-release pond for rainbow trout. Present day Yelm is a bedroom community for residents working in the surrounding cities of Tacoma, Olympia and Centralia. Yelm also hosts a large number of military families who are currently or were formerly stationed at nearby Fort Lewis and McChord Air Force Base. Yelm is also the home of Ramtha's School of Enlightenment. The Yelm post office and school district (zip code 98597) serve the surrounding unincorporated Thurston County residential communities in the Bald Hills of Lake Lawrence and Clearwood. 
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 Roy was officially incorporated on January 16, 1908. It is a rural city outside Tacoma and primarily features ranch-style homes and farms. Roy was one of the early communities in the area, a prosperous boom-town and a major stop on the railroad line. But 3 major blows reduced this once-thriving town to its current form. A major fire in 1929 wiped out most of the downtown businesses just before the Depression started. The railroad eventually discontinued using Roy as a main stop. And the Army annexed most of the surrounding land to the north and west, limiting expansion and the local tax base, and erasing the nearby community of Loveland.
Major features and/or attractions in Roy and the vicinity include the Roy Pioneer Rodeo, attracting  participants and spectators from several states and Canada; Roy Elementary School, and many community organizations like 4H, Grange Hall, Scouts, etc. As of the census of 2000, there were 260 people, 102 households, and 68 families residing in the city. There were 102 households out of which 32.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 48.0% were married couples living together, 12.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 32.4% were non-families. 23.5% of all households were made up of individuals and 15.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.55 and the average family size was 2.96. In the city the population was spread out with 26.2% under the age of 18, 11.5% from 18 to 24, 28.5% from 25 to 44, 23.5% from 45 to 64, and 10.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females there were 97.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 97.9 males.  The median income for a household in the city was $32,727, and the median income for a family was $34,643. Males had a median income of $31,964 versus $21,477 for females. The per capita income for the city was $14,527. About 6.8% of families and 10.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including 12.1% of those under the age of eighteen and none of those sixty five or over.
  McKenna is an unincorporated community in Pierce County, Washington, United States, located on State Route 507 and the Nisqually River, east of Yelm.
McKenna is a former timber company town. |
Yelm Washington Demographic Information
Population (year 2000): 3,289. Estimated population in July 2006: 5,038 (+53.2% change)
| Males: 1,544 |
 (46.9%) |
| Females: 1,745 |
 (53.1%) |
| Median resident age: |
 30.8 years |
| Washington median age: |
 35.3 years |
Estimated median household income in 2005: $40,400 (it was $39,453 in 2000)
| Yelm |
$40,400 |
| Washington: |
$49,262 |
Estimated median house/condo value in 2005: $164,700 (it was $117,400 in 2000)
| Yelm |
$164,700 |
| Washington: |
$227,700 |
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Washington, state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States. It is bordered by Idaho (E); Oregon, with the Columbia River marking much of the boundary (S); the Pacific Ocean (W); and the Canadian province of British Columbia (N).
Area, 68,192 sq mi (176,617 sq km), including 1,483 sq mi (3,841 sq km) of inland water surface.
Pop. (2000) 5,894,121, a 21.1% increase since the 1990 census.
Capital, Olympia.
Largest city, Seattle.
Motto, Alki [By and By].
State bird, willow goldfinch.
State flower, Western rhododendron. 
State tree, Western hemlock.
Much of the land in E Washington is used for dry farming. Irrigation, however, has converted many of the river valleys east of the Cascades (especially the Yakima and Wenatchee) into garden areas. This region contains most of Washington's vineyards; from the 1980s the state has developed an important wine industry. Washington leads the country in the production of apples, sweet cherries, and pears and is a major wheat producer, chiefly in the hilly southeastern Palouse area. Washington is also a major producer of corn, onions, potatoes, apricots, grapes (including those made into wine), and other fruits, nuts, and vegetables. Cattle, dairy goods, sheep, and poultry are also economically important. 
Despite the vast semiarid expanse E of the Cascades, more than half of the state's area is forested, and the lumber and wood-products industry, so important in the early development of the state, remains one of its largest. Many of Washington's cities (among them Tacoma, Bellingham, Everett, and Anacortes) began as sawmill centers. Seattle itself was home to the original “Skid Road” and lumber, pulp, paper, and related items are still among their major products.
Other important manufactures in the state are chemicals and primary metals, especially aluminum. Abundant water power and the rich aluminum and magnesium ores found in the Okanogan Highlands in the northeast part of the state have made Washington the nation's leading aluminum producer.
Visitors are attracted to Mount Rainier National Park, Olympic National Park, North Cascades National Park, Fort Vancouver and Whitman Mission national historic sites, and Lake Roosevelt National Recreation Area. Mt. Saint Helens , which erupted in 1980, is now a national monument.
*Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition, Copyright (c) 2003. | |
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