Yakima

Formed January 1, 1865 (21^st county)

Yakima County (243,231), Yakima (91,067)

The concrete and glass Modern courthouse was constructed in 1963.  The courthouse is on 2^nd Street between A and B streets.  Interstate Highway 82 is nine blocks to the northeast of the facility.  Villevik & Smith provided the designs.  Veteran memorials sit in a park next to the building.  A 1941 Administration Building supports the courthouse.  There were 1906 and 1941 versions earlier.  The county was formed on January 1, 1865 from Walla Walla County as the 21^st county.  Union Gap (1865), Yakima City (1870), and Yakima (1886) have all served as the county seat.  Yakima County and its county seat are named for the Native American tribe. 

Yakima County government consists of a sheriff, an attorney, a clerk, a treasurer, an auditor, and an assessor (executive).  It has 3 Commissioners (legislative.)  Eight Superior Court Judges and Four District Court Judges serve Yakima County (judicial.) The county is in the southern part of the state.  Spokane, Washington is northeast and Seattle, Washington is northwest of the county.  The county center is 14.8 miles Southwest of Yakima nearer Ahtanum.  The county is surrounded clockwise by Kittitas, Grant, Benton, Klickitat, Skamania, Lewis, Pierce, and King counties. 

The area of the county is 4312 square miles.  It is 2 out of 39 in the state.  It ranks 8 out of 39 in population in the state.  It has a density of 56.41 persons per square mile making it 15 out of 39 in the state.  Yakima County has 65.5% of its population in its incorporated areas.  Interstate Highway 82 enters the county from the north, Kittitas County, and exits to the southeast, Benton County.  United States Highway 12 is joined with Interstate Highway 82 from Benton County, splits and continues west into Lewis County.  United States Highway 97 comes from the north joined with Interstate Highway 82, splits and goes south into Klickitat County.  The county is shaped like an ice rink scraper.  The City of Yakima is located in the northeast quarter of the county.  The county and county seat are pronounced YAK-I-MA.  This county is in the Yakima Metropolitan Statistical Area.