Fascinating Franklin County, Washington

A Brief Introduction to Franklin County, Washington

On November 28th, 1883, the Washington Territorial Legislature took land from the western section of Whitman County to create Franklin County. Named for founding father Benjamin Franklin, Washington’s is one of twenty-five Franklin Counties in the U.S. At the time of the County’s creation, Ainsworth was the largest community and as such it became the County Seat. The 1890 US Census counted 696 residents for the County, a number that dropped 30% by the 1900 Census to 486. Since then, the population has grown steadily and with an estimated population of 99,034 (2023), Franklin County is now 14th state-wide. Eighty-seven percent live in the County’s urban areas and over 54 percent consider themselves Hispanic. The County covers 1,265 square miles, of which 23 are water. That size puts it in 27th place of the State’s thirty-nine counties.

Franklin County’s History

Prior to the mid 1800s, human life in today’s Franklin County was almost exclusively Native American. We know that Lewis and Clark traveled the Snake and Columbia Rivers and that David Thompson explored the area in the early 1800s. But after the explorers came through, most European-Americans came through the area on their way to mining camps further north. Of the Indigenous people, I have been able to find little. Unless we go way back. The National Register of Historic Places has sixteen listings in Franklin County. Nine of those are archeological sites that reveal human habitation in the area going back ten thousand years and beyond. Some of the earliest known human remains have been found in Franklin County.

When the Northern Pacific Railroad came through the area in 1883, it brought laborers and built stations. Most of Franklin County’s cities grew up around those stations. The railroad was instrumental in the establishment of Pasco as County Seat, as it moved its main switching yard from Ainsworth to Pasco and took much of the town folk with it. Many of the railroad’s laborers came from China and Japan, thus introducing a new ethnic mix into the growing community.

Pasco, The County Seat

As stated above, Franklin County’s original Seat was Ainsworth. That changed in December, 1885, when the Territorial Legislature recognized Pasco as Seat. At the time, Pasco was barely a small town. The 1890 Census counted 320 residents, a number that shrank to 254 by the 1900 enumeration. Since then, with the sole exception of 1970, the city’s population has grown significantly with each new Census. The 2022 estimate shows 79,315 city residents, over eighty percent of the County’s total. Pasco is one of the fastest growing cities in Washington, and Franklin County is the fastest.

Pasco got its start as a station on the Northern Pacific. A railroad engineer,Virgil Bogue, named the station for his previous assignment, Cerro de Pasco in the Peruvian Andes. I find the name’s origin prophetic in that a majority of the residents of Pasco, and indeed Franklin County, consider themselves Hispanic. Pasco today is part of a triumvirate of cities known as the Tri-Cities. Its companions are Richland and Kennewick, both across the Columbia in Benton County. Together, the Tri-Cities are one of Washington’s most populated communities.With a combined population of 233,000, the Tri-Cities are second only to Seattle and more populous that the state’s second city, Spokane.

It is worth noting that Pasco still has passenger rail service, as Amtrak’s Empire Builder stops here on its way between Portland and Spokane. Pasco is also home to the Tri-Cities Airport which offers daily service to several cities around the US West. US Highway 395 and Interstate 182 connect the city to the rest of Washington and indeed to the rest of the country.

Pasco is the home of Columbia Basin College, a unit of Washington’s community college system. It also has a branch campus of Wazzu—Washington State University.

As a whole, Franklin County is largely agriculture based, so it should come as no surprise that Pasco is home to several large food processing companies, including Tyson Foods and Lamb Weston—one of the world’s largest producers of frozen potato products. Lamb Weston supplies french fries to McDonald’s, for what that’s worth.

Other Franklin County Communities

Franklin County has three other incorporated cities, two census-designated places and two unincorporated communities. The other cities are Connell, Kahlotus, and Mesa, all of which started out as railroad stops on the Northern Pacific. Connell, Franklin County’s northernmost town on US 395, had a 2020 population of 5,441. Jacob Cornelius Connell, a Northern Pacific bigwig, named the station (and thus the town) Palouse Junction, as a rail line ran east to Washtucna on the Palouse Prairie in neighboring Adams County. In short time, the town got a new name—this time in honor of its founder. Today, Connell is home to the Coyote Ridge Corrections Center, a unit of the Washington State Department of Corrections. The prison campus stands out as you drive highway 395.

Eleven miles southwest of Connell on 395 is Mesa. Just like its northern neighbor, Mesa began life as a Northern Pacific station named Bluff Wells. With a 2020 population of 385, Mesa is a small farming community you might overlook as you drive by.

Kahlotus, Franklin County’s other incorporated city lies seventeen miles east of Connell on Washington State Highway 260. A German immigrant, Hans Harder, first plotted the town and named it for himself, Hardersburg. There are many stories about the town’s current name, most agreeing that is Sahaptin in origin and may translate to “hole in the ground,” or perhaps it refers to a Palouse chief. Whatever the town’s name means, with a 2020 population of 147, it is the smallest city in Franklin County.

The Topography of Franklin County

Driving across Franklin County, north to south on US 395, you have the sensation of descending a long hill. And you’re not wrong in that assessment. From Ritzville where you leave Interstate 90 to Connell, a distance of 42 miles, you drop almost 1,000 feet. From Connell to Pasco, another 35 miles, you drop a further 500 feet. Granted that most of the drive between Ritzville and Connell is in Adams County, but the fact remains that the earth here is definitely tilted. The landscape is dry, almost desert like, and only through the miracle of irrigation does anything other than sagebrush and bunch grass grow here. But with the completion of the Columbia Basin Project, the desert was made to bloom—or at least grow wheat. Every town has grain elevators and outside of Pasco, agriculture is the business of the County.

The Business of Franklin County is Agriculture

The 2022 Census of Agriculture reported that the County had 751 farms spread over 586,594 acres. One hundred thirty-eight of those farms grew wheat, 107 grew corn, and four grew barley. The 2017 Census of Agriculture showed Franklin County as fourth in the state in terms of crop sales, and fifth for livestock. (The 2022 report does not show in-state ranking.)

Other Business and Industry

As far as employment is concerned, as in most places, health care and social assistance is the most common industry hiring both men and women, with education coming in a distance second. Retail trade comes third, and accommodation and food service fourth. Curiously, construction does not appear in the current city-data.com industry statistics, even though it is third (at 10%) of the most common occupations for men. Surely with the rapid growth the County has been experiencing, construction must be booming.

Recreational Opportunities

It’s not hard to find things to do and places to play in Franklin County. Four of Washington’s over 140 state parks are in or adjacent to the County, as well as the Kahlotus Ridgetop. The latter is a 240 acre section of the Palouse Prairie owned by the state but designated a National Natural Landmark by the US National Park Service. In case you were wondering, the Park Service wants you to “please remember, National Natural Landmarks (NNLs) are not national parks. NNLs are owned by a variety of public and private entities and allowing visitation is at their discretion.”

The City of Pasco’s website lists 44 city parks, and Connell’s lists six, including a bike path and a skate park. West of Connell you’ll find Scooteney Park and Campground. Part of the Columbia Basin Project, Scooteney Reservoir covers 925 acres and gets great reviews for camping, fishing, boating and other outdoor recreation. I’m sorry to say I’ve never visited the site and will have to check it out the next time I’m in the area.

As I travel the country, camera in hand, I stop local residents and ask what one thing they would want visitors to see or know about in their county. In Franklin County, everyone I asked replied “Palouse Falls.” Now here’s the thing. Palouse Falls is not, technically speaking, in Franklin County. The Palouse River flows southwest across eastern Washington and forms part of the border between Adams and Whitman Counties. Palouse Falls is the point where those two counties connect with Fraklin County. South of the Falls, the Palouse River separates Franklin from Whitman County.

The State Park, however, is in Franklin County. The 94-acre park is day use only, and the park’s website seems to be mostly warnings. No potable water. Limited parking. No trailers or RVs. Extreme weather. You get the picture. I will add that having heard from so many people that Palouse Falls was a must see, I went there. It’s a long way from anywhere, and the route I took had me driving through three different counties on dirt roads. The Falls are beautiful, but be forewarned.

My Travels in Franklin County and What I’m Looking Forward To

My travels across Franklin County have taken me along US 395 and Interstate 182. On rare occasions I have driven some of the back roads in the County, but not often as I have been traveling between my Montana home and the Portland, Oregon area. On future trips, I want to check out places off the main highway. Scooteney Reservoir is calling me, as is the city of Kahlotus. I’m also curious to see if an alternative route to Palouse Falls is shorter and in better condition that the round-about route I took.

To read about other Washington counties, check my Evergreen section.