| Goldendale |
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Located at 45°49′16″N, 120°49′17″W (45.821117, -120.821380). History The site of Goldendale was first settled in the late 1850s by a cattleman named Mortimer Thorp. When two or three other families settled nearby, Thorp is said to have observed that “the area was becoming too populated,” whereupon he moved his family north to the Yakima Valley. Thorp’s location was taken up as a homestead by Lyonel J. Kimberland, who later sold 200 acres to John J. Golden. After laying out a town site, Golden’s first move was to establish a church. A camp meeting in the fall of 1871 resulted in the organization of a Methodist church and naming the town “Goldendale” after John Golden. An election in May of 1872 had established Rockland, now named Dallesport as the county seat. Historians are hazy about what happened next, but there are hints of a midnight ride with fast horses and the county records. In any event, the vote in 1878 established Goldendale as the new county seat. On a hot Sunday in May of 1888, while most of the citizens were a few miles away at a picnic, fire broke out at the west end of Main Street. Fanned by the typical west wind, it jumped from building to building until most of the town was destroyed. As a direct result of the fire, the town was rebuilt from locally manufactured brick, and Main Street was widened by 20 feet in the business core. Another noteworthy event in Goldendale’s young history was the hanging of Henry Timmerman – the county’s only public hanging. Timmerman was hanged by Sheriff Van Vactor after being convicted of the murder of his traveling companion in the east end of the county. Timmerman proclaimed his innocence to the end. Although the trial had been held in Oregon, he promised revenge on the town and citizens of Goldendale. The great Goldendale fire ignited the town five weeks later. As of the census[1] of 2000, there were 3,760 people, 1,515 households, and 963 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,592.6 people per square mile (615.1/km²). There were 1,690 housing units at an average density of 715.8/sq mi (276.5/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 87.42% White, 0.21% African American, 4.63% Native American, 0.72% Asian, 0.27% Pacific Islander, 4.07% from other races, and 2.69% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 5.85% of the population. There were 1,515 households out of which 34.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 46.4% were married couples living together, 12.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 36.4% were non-families. 31.3% of all households were made up of individuals and 14.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.41 and the average family size was 3.02. In the city the population was spread out with 28.4% under the age of 18, 7.7% from 18 to 24, 26.1% from 25 to 44, 22.6% from 45 to 64, and 15.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females there were 90.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.4 males. The median income for a household in the city was $26,030, and the median income for a family was $33,866. Males had a median income of $36,977 versus $22,289 for females. The per capita income for the city was $13,111. About 21.9% of families and 25.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 30.5% of those under age 18 and 26.3% of those age 65 or over. City Council Mayor: Arletta Parton (
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