Thorp ( ) is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Kittitas County, Washington, United States. In 2020, the population was 232.
The town of Thorp is east of Seattle, northwest of Ellensburg, and southeast of Cle Elum. It is located at the narrow west end of the Kittitas Valley, where high elevation forests of the Cascade Range give way to cattle ranches surrounded by farmlands noted for timothy hay, alfalfa, vegetables, and fruit production.
Thorp is named for Fielden Mortimer Thorp, recognized as the first permanent white settler in the Kittitas Valley. He established a homestead at the approach to Taneum Canyon (, ) near the present-day town in 1868. Klála, an ancient Native American village and the largest indigenous settlement in the Kittitas Valley at the arrival of the first white settlers, was located about one mile above the current town site.
Geography
Thorp is located in central Kittitas County at (47.068006, -120.672687). According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of , all of it land.
The town site of Thorp is above the flood plain of the upper Yakima River at an elevation of .United States Geography, Altervista. It is situated near the river's west bank directly opposite the Hayward Hill slide area and Clark Flats, near the southeastern approach to the Yakima River canyon at the foot of Thorp Prairie. To the west of the town is Taneum Canyon, and to the northwest are Elk Heights, Morrison Canyon and the Sunlight Waters private residential subdivision. Ellensburg, the county seat, is southeast of Thorp.
Northwest of Thorp at the junction of SR 10 and Thorp Highway, the Yakima River emerges from a canyon parallel to a basalt flow, the uppermost layers of which have been dated to 10.5 million years. The Thorp Prairie sits atop the basalt flows and ends at a deep canyon of Miocene columnar basalt structures carved by Swauk Creek whose headwaters are at Blewett Pass along US 97 to the north. The Thorp Prairie deposits were also delivered by the Thorp Glacial episode.
Topography North and northeast of the town of Thorp along the Yakima River channel is the gradual upward lift of the Thorp Drift, marked by an elevation change due to the incline onto the terminal moraine that marks the furthest advance of the Thorp Glacial stage. Here the Thorp Gravels, which are named for the town of Thorp and the Thorp Glacial episode, are exposed along the ancient river channel in what is known as the "Slide Area". The gravels were formed at the terminus of the Thorp Glacial advance approximately 600,000 years ago.Richard B. Waitt, Jr., Late Cenozoic Deposits, Landforms, Stratigraphy, and Techtonism in the Kittitas Valley, Washington, U.S. Geological Survey, Professional Paper 1127, Washington DC: Government Printing Office (1979) pp. 9.Eric S. Cheney, Regional Tertiary Sequence Stratigraphy and Regional Structure on the Eastern Flank of the Central Cascade Range, Washington, Vol. 4, Geological Society of America, (GSA Field Guides, 2003) pp. 177-199.
The Thorp Gravels themselves are believed to be between 3 and 4 million years old. The whole structure is composed of individually layered belts of gravel and sand which are not well consolidated, continually weather, and are prone to continuing erosion and landslides averaging 30 degrees. The area is rich with wildlife, including bald eagles and osprey who hunt for prey along the river. It is also a crossing point for deer and elk who often can be seen at dawn and dusk heading to the river for water.Jana Jones Mabry, Field Trip Guidebook to the Natural History of Kittitas County, Ellensburg, Washington: Central Washington University, pp. 44.
About west of Thorp, the first glimpses of the Columbia River Plateau are seen where the Yakima River has cut into the westernmost edge of the basalt plateau. The Columbia Plateau basalt formed when lava poured out of fissures in the ground across eastern Washington during the Miocene era, 17 to 20 million years ago, erupting intermittently for over 10 million years. Many layers of basalt successively flowed over one another, back when the area was still flat.Charles D. Lenfesty and Thomas F. Reedy, Soil Survey of Yakima County Area, Washington, Soil Conservation Service (1985). Subsequent to the Miocene lava flows, the volcanoes of the Cascade Mountains actively erupted, depositing ash, cinders, pumice and mudflows that eventually inter-fingered with the alternating basalt layers throughout the region.Mac McCulloch, Gateway to Time: Mile by Mile Guide to the Yakima Canyon, Yakima, Washington: Shields Printing (1990).
Interstate 90 drops through the Thorp Drift, which marks the oldest and furthest reaching known glacial moraine in the Kittitas Valley. Changes in the types of vegetation become more evident in this area. The changes are the result of a drop in elevation of about 1,400 feet from the summit of Snoqualmie Pass to Thorp, and a significant drop in precipitation of about 107 inches average a year at the summit of Snoqualmie Pass, to 42.94 inches average a year at Thorp.Stephen P. Reidel, Vernon G. Johnson and Frank A. Spane, Natural Gas Storage in Basalt Aquifers of the Columbia Basin: A Guide to Site Characterization, Richland, Washington: Pacific Northwest Laboratory (2002) pp. 44.
At the bottom of the Thorp Drift moraine the view opens up into the Kittitas Valley which is deeply buried in river gravel deposited by the ancient Yakima River. This valley is a syncline that creates the Ellensburg Basin located between Mission Ridge to the north and Manastash Ridge to the south. The Ellensburg Basin, more formally called the Ellensburg Formation, holds nearly 4,000 feet of rock, sand, and gravel that accumulated over a period of 2 to 10 million years during the Miocene and lower Pliocene age.Richard B. Waitt, Jr., Shorter Contributions to Stratigraphy and Structural Geology, U.S. Geological Survey, Professional Paper 1126-A-J, Washington DC: Government Printing Office (1979), pp. H-54.
Climate The climate at Thorp is hot during summer when temperatures tend to be in the 80s, and very cold during winter when temperatures tend to be in the 20s.
The warmest month of the year at Thorp is July, with an average high of 77.2 °F and an average low of 51.8 °F. The coldest month of the year is January, with an average low of 16.5 °F and an average high of 34.3 °F. Temperature variations between night and day tend to be relatively large during summer with a difference that can reach 30 °F, and fairly limited during winter with temperatures hovering at or below freezing for most of the day, and often dipping below zero at night.
Temperatures generally drop significantly in October, while rainfall rises from less than half an inch to nearly 5 inches average per month. This trend continues through late autumn and winter, with a marked drop in precipitation beginning in April which coincides with a gradual rise in temperature into late spring and summer.
There is significant variation in rainfall throughout the year, with December and January receiving a mix of rainfall and snow, averaging 9.06 and 7.94 inches respectively. Rainfall during summer is, on average, less than half an inch each month with July receiving the lowest monthly average precipitation of the year at .07 inches.
Surrounding area
Demographics
Thorp first appeared as a census designated place in the 2000 U.S. census.
Racial and ethnic composition +Thorp CDP, Washington – Racial and ethnic compositionRace / Ethnicity (NH = Non-Hispanic)Pop 2000Pop 2010Pop 2020% 2000% 2010% 2020White alone (NH)25322420792.67%93.33%89.22%Black or African American alone (NH)0100.00%0.42%0.00%Native American or Alaska Native alone (NH)3301.10%1.25%0.00%Asian alone (NH)0320.00%1.25%0.86%Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander alone (NH)0020.00%0.00%0.86%Other race alone (NH)1020.37%0.00%0.86%Mixed race or Multiracial (NH)105133.66%2.08%5.60%Hispanic or Latino (any race)6462.20%1.67%2.59%Total273240232 100.00%100.00%100.00%
2000 census As of the census of 2000, there were 273 people, 103 households, and 74 families residing in the CDP. The population density was 221.2 people per square mile (85.7/km2). There were 107 housing units at an average density of 86.7/sq mi (33.6/km2). The racial makeup of the CDP was 93.41% White, 1.10% Native American, 1.83% from other races, and 3.66% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.20% of the population.
There were 103 households, out of which 44.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 56.3% were married couples living together, 14.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 27.2% were non-families. 24.3% of all households were made up of individuals, and 6.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.65 and the average family size was 3.17.
In the CDP, the population was spread out, with 33.0% under the age of 18, 4.8% from 18 to 24, 27.1% from 25 to 44, 26.0% from 45 to 64, and 9.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females, there were 113.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 96.8 males.
The median income for a household in the CDP was $33,125, and the median income for a family was $45,625. Males had a median income of $31,250 versus $22,500 for females. The per capita income for the CDP was $17,772. About 5.6% of families and 5.9% of the population were below the poverty line, including 5.2% of those under the age of eighteen and 19.2% of those 65 or over.
History
Native Americans The Kittitas Valley was occupied by the Kittitas (Yakama Ichishkíin Sínwit: Ki-tatash)Patricia Roberts Clark, Tribal Names of the Americas - Spelling Variants and Alternative Forms, Cross-Referenced, Jefferson, N.C. and London: McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers (1948) pp. 110. or Upper Yakama tribe, as well as hunting and food gathering parties of Cayuse and Nez Perce. The area was rich in wild berries, fish and game, and neighboring tribes annually converged on the valley in April or May to harvest Indian onions (Allium spp.), Indian potatoes (Claytonia lanceolata), and breadroot (Lomatium canbyi).Deward E. Walker, William C. Sturtevant and Deward E. Walker, Jr., Handbook of North American Indians, Plateau, Vol. 12., Washington DC: Government Printing Office (1998) pp. 333. The various tribes engaged in horse trading with early British and American fur traders, and had peaceful relations with Jesuit Catholic missionaries who preceded them.Carol Welch, Ph.D. and Roger Miller, Kittitas County Profile, 2010-01.. Retrieved 2011-09-19.
In the 1840s, white settlers began to pour into the Oregon Territory (and later Washington Territory), bringing with them a measles epidemic and other diseases deadly to the indigenous population. That, coupled with cultural differences such as plowing the ground, which was seen as desecrating the spirit of the earth, led to confrontation between Native Americans and white settlers.
The largest indigenous settlement in the Kittitas Valley at the arrival of the white settlers was Klála, a village of around 500 people located about one mile above the present town of Thorp along the Yakima River opposite the mouth of Taneum Creek. Further up the river, about six miles northwest of present-day Thorp was the village of Tátxanixsha, and four miles below Thorp was a village of around 400 people called Yumi'sh.Deward E. Walker, William C. Sturtevant and Deward E. Walker, Jr., Handbook of North American Indians, Plateau, Vol. 12., Washington DC: Government Printing Office (1998) p. 327.Charles M. Hodges, Christian Miss and Johonna Shea, Cultural Resources Survey for the Desert Claim Wind Power Project, NWAA Report Number WA03-39, Seattle: Northwest Archaeological Associates (2003), pp. 15.