WENATCHEE

city, seat (1899) of Chelan county, central Washington, U.S., in the foothills of the Cascade Range, just below the confluence of the Wenatchee and Columbia rivers, opposite East Wenatchee. It was founded in 1888 by Don Carlos Corbett and moved in 1892 1 mile (1.6 km) east to be on the Great Northern Railway. With the development of the Columbia River Irrigation Project, the city grew as a packing and shipping centre for a large fruit- (especially apple-) growing district. Lumber mills and an aluminum reduction plant also aided growth. The city is the headquarters of the Wenatchee National Forest and is a base for the resort areas of the eastern Cascades. It is the site of the North Central Washington Museum (containing Indian and pioneer relics), Wenatchee Valley College (1939), and a Washington State University horticultural experiment station. The city hosts the annual Washington State Apple Blossom Festival (AprilMay). Inc. village, 1892; city, 1901. Pop. (1990) 21,756.