Pullman, Washington

Pullman is the most populous city in Whitman County, located in southeastern Washington within the Palouse region of the Pacific Northwest. The population was 32,901 at the 2020 census, and estimated to be 33,543 in 2024.

Pullman is noted as a fertile agricultural area known for its many miles of rolling hills and the production of wheat and legumes. It is home to Washington State University, a public research land-grant university, and the international headquarters of Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories. Pullman is from Moscow, Idaho, home to the University of Idaho, and is served by the Pullman–Moscow Regional Airport.

thumb|upright|Bryan Tower on the Pullman WSU campus at twilight

History

In 1876, about five years after European-American settlers established Whitman County on November 29, 1871, Bolin Farr arrived in Pullman. He camped at the confluence of Dry Flat Creek and Missouri Flat Creek on the bank of the Palouse River. Within the year, Dan McKenzie and William Ellsworth arrived to stake claims for adjoining land. The location was called Three Forks although this was never an official name for the town. In the spring of 1881, Orville Stewart opened a general store and Bolin Farr platted about of his land for a town. Daniel McKenzie, Bolin Farr, and Orville Stewart held a session one day to decide upon a name for their trading post, and after a lively discussion, the decision was made unanimous that it should be Pullman, which had been suggested by Orville Stewart. On September 30, 1881, Orville Stewart applied for a Post Office using the name Pullman. On October 28, 1881, the Palouse Gazette in Colfax, WA announced that a new town had been christened with the name Pullman at the location formerly known as Three Forks.

Pullman was incorporated on April 11, 1888, with a population of about 250–300 people. Its original name Three Forks was after the three small rivers that converge there: Missouri Flat Creek, Dry Fork, and the South Fork of the Palouse River. In 1884, Dan McKenzie and Charles Moore (of Moscow) replatted the site, which had been named for American industrialist George Pullman.

In 1961, Pullman became a non-chartered code city under the mayor–council form of government. The city has an elected mayor with an elected seven-member council and an appointed administrative officer, the city administrator.

Geography

thumb|right|The hilly terrain of the [[Palouse, which surrounds Pullman]]

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city of Pullman has a total area of , all land. This prairie region, the Palouse, is noteworthy for its fertile rolling hills where winter and spring wheat, barley, canola, lentils, and peas are grown. These hills provide a variety of elevations across the city, from above sea level. Downtown Pullman is situated in a valley between these hills. Within the Pullman city limits, the Missouri Flat Creek and Paradise Creek both join the South Fork of the Palouse River. Pullman sits in the watersheds of the Snake River and the Columbia River.

Pullman is situated across four major hills which divide the city into nearly equal quarters. These are:

Military Hill, north of the Palouse River and west of North Grand Avenue
Pioneer Hill, south of Main Street and the downtown area, and east of South Grand Avenue
Sunnyside Hill, south of Davis Way and west of South Grand Avenue
College Hill, north of Main Street and east of North Grand Avenue

Military Hill is named for the Pullman Military College that opened its doors in 1891 and burned down in 1893.

Climate

Pullman has a warm-summer Mediterranean climate (Köppen Csb). This climate is typified by hot, dry summers followed by cold, wet winters with short transitional seasons in between. Due to the rain shadow effect of the Cascade Range to its west, clear skies occur regularly throughout the year and rainfall is drastically less frequent in comparison to cities west of the mountains. Clouds of any variety are especially scant between June and September, which contributes to a diurnal temperature variation that is much higher during the summer compared to winter. Pullman has an annual average of  of precipitation.)

|single line = Yes

|collapsed = yes

|Jan record high F = 59

|Feb record high F = 66

|Mar record high F = 75

|Apr record high F = 88

|May record high F = 94

|Jun record high F = 106

|Jul record high F = 104

|Aug record high F = 110

|Sep record high F = 100

|Oct record high F = 90

|Nov record high F = 73

|Dec record high F = 64

|Jan avg record high F = 49.8

|Feb avg record high F = 53.5

|Mar avg record high F = 63.7

|Apr avg record high F = 73.6

|May avg record high F = 82.7

|Jun avg record high F = 88.4

|Jul avg record high F = 96.3

|Aug avg record high F = 98.0

|Sep avg record high F = 91.3

|Oct avg record high F = 77.5

|Nov avg record high F = 60.1

|Dec avg record high F = 49.7

|year avg record high F = 98.8

|Jan high F = 37.6

|Feb high F = 41.6

|Mar high F = 49.3

|Apr high F = 56.4

|May high F = 65.4

|Jun high F = 71.9

|Jul high F = 83.1

|Aug high F = 83.4

|Sep high F = 74.2

|Oct high F = 59.2

|Nov high F = 44.7

|Dec high F = 36.6

|year high F =

|Jan mean F = 32.7

|Feb mean F = 35.4

|Mar mean F = 41.1

|Apr mean F = 46.8

|May mean F = 54.5

|Jun mean F = 59.8

|Jul mean F = 67.0

|Aug mean F = 66.9

|Sep mean F = 59.8

|Oct mean F = 48.4

|Nov mean F = 38.6

|Dec mean F = 31.8

|year mean F =

|Jan low F = 27.8

|Feb low F = 29.2

|Mar low F = 32.9

|Apr low F = 37.2

|May low F = 43.7

|Jun low F = 47.7

|Jul low F = 50.9

|Aug low F = 50.4

|Sep low F = 45.4

|Oct low F = 37.6

|Nov low F = 32.5

|Dec low F = 26.9

|year low F =

|Jan avg record low F = 7.4

|Feb avg record low F = 11.0

|Mar avg record low F = 19.0

|Apr avg record low F = 26.3

|May avg record low F = 30.8

|Jun avg record low F = 36.4

|Jul avg record low F = 40.5

|Aug avg record low F = 38.7

|Sep avg record low F = 31.3

|Oct avg record low F = 21.5

|Nov avg record low F = 15.0

|Dec avg record low F = 8.1

|year avg record low F = -2.3

|Jan record low F = -29

|Feb record low F = -24

|Mar record low F = -9

|Apr record low F = 6

|May record low F = 23

|Jun record low F = 29

|Jul record low F = 32

|Aug record low F = 32

|Sep record low F = 20

|Oct record low F = 4

|Nov record low F = -14

|Dec record low F = -32

|precipitation colour = green

|Jan precipitation inch = 2.67

|Feb precipitation inch = 1.94

|Mar precipitation inch = 2.05

|Apr precipitation inch = 1.96

|May precipitation inch = 1.81

|Jun precipitation inch = 1.22

|Jul precipitation inch = 0.44

|Aug precipitation inch = 0.48

|Sep precipitation inch = 0.65

|Oct precipitation inch = 1.80

|Nov precipitation inch = 2.62

|Dec precipitation inch = 2.77

|year precipitation inch =

|Jan snow inch = 9.6

|Feb snow inch = 4.8

|Mar snow inch = 2.5

|Apr snow inch = 0.7

|May snow inch = 0.1

|Jun snow inch = 0.0

|Jul snow inch = 0.0

|Aug snow inch = 0.0

|Sep snow inch = 0.0

|Oct snow inch = 0.1

|Nov snow inch = 4.6

|Dec snow inch = 10.3

|year snow inch =

|unit precipitation days = 0.01 in

|Jan precipitation days = 14.0

|Feb precipitation days = 11.5

|Mar precipitation days = 12.3

|Apr precipitation days = 11.1

|May precipitation days = 9.6

|Jun precipitation days = 8.3

|Jul precipitation days = 3.8

|Aug precipitation days = 3.5

|Sep precipitation days = 4.6

|Oct precipitation days = 9.0

|Nov precipitation days = 13.6

|Dec precipitation days = 13.9

|unit snow days = 0.1 in

|Jan snow days = 4.8

|Feb snow days = 3.4

|Mar snow days = 1.9

|Apr snow days = 0.4

|May snow days = 0.1

|Jun snow days = 0.0

|Jul snow days = 0.0

|Aug snow days = 0.0

|Sep snow days = 0.0

|Oct snow days = 0.1

|Nov snow days = 2.6

|Dec snow days = 4.9

|source 1 = NOAA

|source 2 = National Weather Service

Demographics

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"

|+Pullman, Washington – Racial and ethnic composition

!Race / Ethnicity (NH = Non-Hispanic)

!Pop 2000

!Pop 2010

!% 2000

!% 2010

|White alone (NH)

|20,070

|22,745

|style='background: #ffffe6; |22,044

|81.34%

|76.33%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |67.00%

|Black or African American alone (NH)

|581

|662

|style='background: #ffffe6; |1,101

|2.35%

|2.22%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |3.35%

|Native American or Alaska Native alone (NH)

|147

|178

|style='background: #ffffe6; |164

|0.60%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |0.50%

|Asian alone (NH)

|2,083

|3,328

|style='background: #ffffe6; |3,500

|8.44%

|11.17%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |10.64%

|Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander alone (NH)

|91

|85

|style='background: #ffffe6; |122

|0.37%

|0.29%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |0.37%

|Other race alone (NH)

|33

|style='background: #ffffe6; |193

|0.13%

|0.11%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |0.59%

|Mixed race or Multiracial (NH)

|717

|1,148

|style='background: #ffffe6; |2,221

|2.91%

|3.85%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |6.75%

|Hispanic or Latino (any race)

|953

|1,620

|style='background: #ffffe6; |3,556

|3.86%

|5.44%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |10.81%

|Total

|24,675

|29,799

|style='background: #ffffe6; |32,901

|100.00%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |100.00%