Biohazard Cleanup Near Shadow Ridge Entiat, WA

Entiat is a small city in Chelan County at the confluence of the Entiat River and the Columbia River, where the Columbia is backed up as Lake Entiat, the reservoir behind Rocky Reach Dam.

The city's name comes from the indigenous Entiat people, and the Salishan word is said to mean 'place of grassy water.'

Entiat carries the nickname 'Gateway to Recreation,' and HistoryLink identifies it as the smallest incorporated municipality in Chelan County.

The first white settler, Lewis Detwiler, arrived in 1877; Entiat's first public school opened in 1891, its post office in 1895, and Entiat chief Silico Saska sold the townsite in 1896.

Entiat is a town that has moved repeatedly: a 1915 fire left only six businesses standing, a 1921 fire destroyed the first town and forced a second townsite, and after Rocky Reach Dam was completed in 1960 most of the town relocated to higher ground, with the third Entiat opening for business in 1961.

Entiat was incorporated on April 25, 1944.

Since 1920, Entiat's high school seniors have painted their class numerals on Numeral Mountain, the mountainside across the Entiat River from town.

The Albert Long Museum, opened in 1980, occupies one of only two buildings — both dating to 1895 — that survived the flooding and relocation caused by the dam, and it preserves artifacts of the local logging and fruit-growing industries.

The 2020 census counted 1,326 people in 481 households in Entiat, up from 1,112 people in 421 households in 2010.

Earthquake Point, just north of Entiat, marks the spot where a landslide triggered by the great 1872 earthquake dammed the Columbia River for several hours.