Klickitat

Formed December 20, 1859 (18^th county)

Klickitat County (22,734), Goldendale (3,450)                

The 1941 Art Deco concrete facility is located on Court Street at Columbus Avenue.  Washington State Highway 142 is two blocks north.  Walter Day Hilborn provided the designs.  It has Native American designs on the front and veteran memorials on the grounds.  There is a 2003 augmenting Courthouse in White Salmon.  There was an 1889 structure earlier.  The county was organized on December 20, 1859 from Walla Walla County as the 18^th county with Goldendale as the only county seat.  Klickitat County is named for the Native American tribe.  The county seat was named for settler John Golden. 

Klickitat County government consists of a sheriff and 3 Commissioners.  One Superior Court Judge serves Klickitat and Skamania counties and Two District Court Judges serve Klickitat County.  Klickitat County is located on the southern border with Oregon.  The Columbia River forms its southern border.  Seattle, Washington is northwest and Spokane, Washington is northeast of the county.  The county center is 9.8 miles Northwest of Goldendale.  The county is surrounded clockwise by Yakima and Benton counties and Oregon and Skamania County. 

The area of the county is 1872 square miles.  It is 16 out of 39 in the state.  It ranks 29 out of 39 in population in the state.  It has a density of 12.1 persons per square mile making it 31 out of 39 in the state.  Klickitat County has 29.5% of its population in its incorporated areas.  United States Highway 97 enters the county from the north, Yakima County, and exits to the south, Oregon.  The county looks like a knife blade.  Goldendale is located south and east of center in the county.  Goldendale is the county seat and the largest city.  It is 15.2% of the county population.  The county is pronounced KLIK-I-TAT.