PULLMAN

city, Whitman county, southeastern Washington, U.S., at the edge of a major wheat belt, on the South Fork of the Palouse River, near Moscow, Idaho, and the Idaho state line. It was settled in 1875 by Bolin Farr, who laid out the town of Three Forks in 1882 at the confluence of three creeks. Renamed for George M. Pullman, inventor of the railroad sleeping car, it was reached by a railroad spur in 1885 and suffered a disastrous fire in 1890. Later, it became a major stop on the Northern Pacific Railway and developed as a shipping point for grain and livestock. Washington State University (which began there in 1890 as an agricultural college) adds significantly to the city's economy. Inc. 1888. Pop. (1990) 23,478; (1994 est.) 23,641.