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First Town Site Plat Filed | Cle Elum, WA
On July 26, 1886 the first townsite plat was filed by Walter Reed.
Mr. Reed platted 60 acres of his claim as a townsite. The name Cle Elum, meaning "swift water," was chosen by Walter and Barbara Reed, together with Thomas Gamble and Tom Johnson.
The railroad tried to change the name to "Cle Alum" to simplify their code messages, but after several heated discussions, the name Cle Elum was retained. The Reeds were very generous. They donated land for the first hospital in Cle Elum, as well as for the Catholic and Presbyterian churches, including an organ and pulpit for the latter.
Several years later, Walter became a state senator and moved back to Yakima, but even then he was still a Kittitas Valley booster.
At the time of his death in 1908, he was in line to become the governor of the state of Washington.
(ANOTHER STORY, A Collection of Stories About the Early History of the Upper Kittitas County in Washington State, published 2013, Northern Kittitas County Historical Society, page 14)
(Walter Reed, photo courtesy of Northern Kittitas County Historical Society)
The railroad tried to change the name to "Cle Alum" to simplify their code messages, but after several heated discussions, the name Cle Elum was retained. The Reeds were very generous. They donated land for the first hospital in Cle Elum, as well as for the Catholic and Presbyterian churches, including an organ and pulpit for the latter.
Several years later, Walter became a state senator and moved back to Yakima, but even then he was still a Kittitas Valley booster.
At the time of his death in 1908, he was in line to become the governor of the state of Washington.
(ANOTHER STORY, A Collection of Stories About the Early History of the Upper Kittitas County in Washington State, published 2013, Northern Kittitas County Historical Society, page 14)
(Walter Reed, photo courtesy of Northern Kittitas County Historical Society)
