Rock Island, Washington
| Rock Island | |
|---|---|
| City | |
| Rock Island, Washington | |
 Location of Rock Island, Washington |
|
| Coordinates: 47°22′28″N 120°8′36″W / 47.37444°N 120.14333°WCoordinates: 47°22′28″N 120°8′36″W / 47.37444°N 120.14333°W | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Washington |
| County | Douglas |
| Area | |
| • Total | 0.75 sq mi (1.94 km2) |
| • Land | 0.61 sq mi (1.58 km2) |
| • Water | 0.14 sq mi (0.36 km2) |
| Elevation | 643 ft (196 m) |
| Population (2010) | |
| • Total | 788 |
| • Estimate (2015) | 804 |
| • Density | 1,291.8/sq mi (498.8/km2) |
| Time zone | Pacific (PST) (UTC-8) |
| • Summer (DST) | PDT (UTC-7) |
| ZIP code | 98850 |
| Area code | 509 |
| FIPS code | 53-59180 |
| GNIS feature ID | 1525135 |
Rock Island is a city in Douglas County, Washington, United States. It is part of the Wenatchee–East Wenatchee Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 788 at the 2010 census.
Rock Island was officially incorporated on November 3, 1930. The area of Rock Island was used by Native American tribes for fishing and crossing of the Columbia River due to the nearby Rock Island Rapids prior to settlement of the Washington Territory.
The site had been previously settled in the late 19th Century and was known as Hammond; early maps sometimes show the city as Hammond P.O. (Post Office) or Power City. In the teacup valley in which Rock Island is currently located, two men, Ingraham and McBride, opened a trading post in the early 1860s. Their patrons were local Native Americans, who often fished that stretch of the Columbia when the fish were running. The two pioneering men would later move their post to the mouth of the Wenatchee River, leaving little trace of their stay.
The most notable figure in Rock Island's founding is James E. Keane. As the first permanent settler to the Rock Island area, James Keane arrived with a crew of men in 1887. Keane planned to build a home and improve the land that he had acquired through the homestead, pre-emption, and desert acts. Four years later, the Great Northern Railroad made its first survey of the area and began construction toward the valley from the east. One half mile upriver from the well-known Rock Island Rapids, Mr. Keane platted a townsite he named Hammond.
Hammond was located nearly 2.5 miles south of the present site of the City of Rock Island due to changes in planning by the Great Northern Railway. Keane moved his townsite to this new area and named it Rock Island, named aptly for the rock islands in the Columbia River near the site. Between 1891 and 1893, Rock Island became a town of considerable importance for the railroad. The mammoth steel bridge that was built across the Columbia drew many laborers to the area, and the small town boomed. Several stores popped up to meet the needs of the workers, and the Rock Island Sun newspaper began publication.
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