First Incorporated | Cle Elum, WA
Cle Elum, Washington was first incorporated in 1902 as a fourth-class city.
The city grew thereafter so rapidly that three years later it was raised to the dignity of a third-class city.
At the time, Cle Elum was considered a modern metropolitan city because it had a system of waterworks owned by the city, an electric lighting plant conducted by the Northwestern Improvement, and the streets were wide and well improved. (SWIFTWATER, History of Cle Elum 1848-1955, published by Northern Kittitas County Historical Society, 2014, Page 108)