Prosser, Washington

Prosser was long home to Native Americans who lived and fished along the river. They called the area "Táptat" (alternatively spelled Tap-tat, Top tut, etc.[8]), which translates to "long hair in front, short hair on the sides", referring to a style of headdress.[9]

Colonel William Farrand Prosser first surveyed the area in 1879, then claimed homestead in 1882. The Northern Pacific Railroad laid tracks through the area two years later. A town plat was filed by Colonel Prosser in 1885, and in 1886 he was elected Yakima County Auditor. He moved to North Yakima to attend to these duties, and never returned to the town that he founded.

Lewis Hinzerling built a flour mill at Prosser falls in 1887, encouraging further settlement of the area. The first irrigation canal was completed in 1893 by the Prosser Falls Land and Irrigation Company. Prosser was officially incorporated in 1899 with a population of 229 people.

In 1905, Benton County was carved out of the eastern portions of Yakima and Klickitat Counties. The new town of Prosser was chosen as county seat. In 1907 a power plant was added and began delivering electricity to the town. The following year, a new high school was built, followed a year later by a telephone exchange. In 1910 the city received a grant from Andrew Carnegie for a public library.

Throughout the 1910s and 1920s various companies drilled in this area for oil and natural gas. There were no large findings and the Great Depression put an end to exploration.

On November 5, 1912, Benton County voters held a referendum to move the county seat from Prosser to either Kennewick or Benton City. Intense rivalry and war of words between Benton City, Kennewick, and Prosser preceded the vote. Despite getting a majority of the vote, Kennewick did not receive 60 percent of the vote as required by law.[10] To date, Prosser remains the county seat.

In 1919, Washington State College (later WSU) established the Irrigation Experiment Station at Prosser. The program's mandate is to study the problems faced by farmers, orchardists, and ranchers in the dry central part of the state. The station originally employed scientists from the college in Pullman, who partnered with scientists from the Washington State Department of Agriculture (WSDA) and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). The station is still currently in use, and offers a number of agricultural education programs.

Prosser at one point had three newspapers, which were consolidated in the 1920s into the Prosser Record-Bulletin, and a permanent courthouse was built in 1926. The Benton County Historical Museum was dedicated in 1968.[11]

In more recent years, Prosser's location on a major river (the Yakima) and highway access has encouraged a growing wine business and associated tourist industry. Several Prosser wineries are located within the Yakima Valley appellation.

Prosser is located near the eastern end of the Yakima Valley. It is 665 ft above sea level.[12] One river, the Yakima River, runs through it.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 4.53 square miles (11.73 km²), of which, 4.49 square miles (11.63 km²) is land and 0.04 square miles (0.10 km²) is water.[13] The former community of Kinneyville is now a neighborhood fully contained within Prosser. The city has the ZIP code 99350.

The economy of Prosser is based on agriculture. In addition to fruit orchards and fruit packing plants, Prosser is part of the Yakima Valley AVA, a major wine-growing region. Prosser now has nearly 30 wineries in the city and surrounding areas.[17]

• Prosser High School Grades 9–12, 843 Students
• Prosser Falls Education Center Grades 9–12, 69 Students
• Housel Middle School Grades 6–8, 676 Students
• Prosser Heights Elementary Grades 3–5, 676 Students
• Keene-Riverview Elementary Grades K-2, 480 students
• Whitstran Elementary Grades K-5, 285 Students

Prosser was formerly served by four competing newspapers at the turn of the 20th century. The American was established in 1893 and only ran for three years and was bought out by the new Prosser Record. The Prosser Falls Bulletin ceased publication in 1902 and was replaced with the Republican Bulletin in 1907. The Benton Independent was established in 1909 and was consolidated into the Record in 1913, becoming the Independent Record five years later. On July 1, 1920, the Republican Bulletin and Independent Record were merged into the Record Bulletin, which continues to serve the Prosser area.[18][19]

In 2018, there were no murders, 1 rape, and no robberies in Prosser.

• Mary L. Boas — An American mathematician and physics instructor and author
• George Boomer — Socialist newspaper editor and 1908 gubernatorial candidate
• Walter Clore — Father of Washington wine
• Lorena González, Seattle city councilmember
• Harold McCluskey — "The Atomic Man"
• Kellen Moore — Offensive coordinator for the Los Angeles Chargers. Former NFL Quarterback for the Dallas Cowboys and the Detroit Lions. Former All-American quarterback for Boise State University and local Prosser High School.
• Kelly Blair Labounty - 1996 Olympian. The first person to defeat Jackie Joyner-Kersee in eight years.
• Colonel William Farrand Prosser — city founder, U.S. Army Colonel in the Civil War
• The Rt. Rev. Brian Norman Prior - IX Bishop of the Episcopal Church in Minnesota

• List of Harvest Festivals

• Prosser Chamber Of Commerce
• Yakima Valley Visitors & Convention Bureau
• Prosser, Washington at Curlie
• Prosser Heritage. Digitized historical resources from the Prosser branch of Mid-Columbia Libraries and the Benton County Museum & Historical Society.