Puyallup

History

The Puyallup Valley was originally inhabited by the Puyallup people, known in their language as the spuyaləpabš, meaning "generous and welcoming behavior to all people (friends and strangers) who enter our lands." The first white settlers in the region were part of the first wagon train to cross the Cascade Range at Naches Pass in 1853. Native Americans numbered about 2,000 in what is now the Puyallup Valley in the 1830s and 1840s. The first European settlers arrived in the 1850s. In 1877, Ezra Meeker platted a townsite and named it Puyallup after the local Puyallup Indian tribes, 11 years after departing from Indiana. The town grew rapidly throughout the 1880s, in large part thanks to Meeker's hop farm, which brought in millions of dollars to Puyallup, leading to it eventually being incorporated in 1890, with Ezra Meeker as its first mayor. The turn of the 20th century brought change to the valley with the growth of nearby Tacoma and the interurban rail lines. The Western Washington Fairgrounds were developed giving local farmers a place to exhibit their crops and livestock. During the early part of World War II due to Executive Order 9066, the fairgrounds were part of Camp Harmony, a temporary Japanese American internment camp for more than 7,000 detainees, most of whom were American citizens. Subsequently, they were moved to the Minidoka relocation center near Twin Falls, Idaho.

Geography

Puyallup is approximately southeast of Tacoma and south of Seattle. It is situated along the Puyallup River, which flows for from the Puyallup and Tahoma glaciers on Mount Rainier to Commencement Bay in Tacoma. The river drains an area of and was formed approximately 5,600 years before present. The city lies within the Puyallup Valley, an agricultural region that produces berries and daffodils, for which the annual local festival is named. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , of which is land and is water, mainly consisting of the Puyallup River estuary. Puyallup is surrounded by unincorporated areas; its closest municipalities include the city of Sumner to the northeast, Fife and Edgewood to the north, Tacoma to the northwest, Summit and Midland to the west, South Hill, Graham and Frederickson to the south, McMillin and Orting to the southeast, and Alderton to the east. The city includes wildlife habitats for urbanized bird species and small mammals, reptiles, and amphibians. The entire Puyallup Valley is built on deposits of the 5,600-year-old Osceola Mudflow, which deposited as much as of material and was similar to largest lahars Mount Rainier could produce. A 2009 study by the United States Geological Survey (USGS) determined that Puyallup has the highest number of dependent-population facilities, public venues, and overall community assets within lahar hazard zones. The Washington State Department of Natural Resources estimates that the Puyallup Valley could experience $6–12 billion in damage from a major lahar. To combat lahar danger, Pierce County maintains the Mount Rainier Volcano Lahar Warning System, implemented in 1998 by the USGS. The system includes lahar warning sirens and volcano evacuation route…

Race & ethnicity

Largest nearby schools

• Graham Kapowsin High School
  High · Graham · 2,011 students · 23.9:1 ratio
• Spanaway Lake High School
  High · Spanaway · 1,817 students · 23.9:1 ratio
• Bethel High School
  High · Spanaway · 1,739 students · 22:1 ratio
• Gov John Rogers High School
  High · Puyallup · 1,730 students · 24:1 ratio
• Sumner High School
  High · Sumner · 1,728 students · 22.4:1 ratio
• Puyallup High School
  High · Puyallup · 1,701 students · 23.6:1 ratio
• Bonney Lake High School
  High · Bonney Lake · 1,636 students · 21.2:1 ratio
• Lincoln High School
  High · Tacoma · 1,578 students · 19:1 ratio