Biohazard and Crime Scene Remediation in Sunnyside, WA

Sunnyside is a city in Yakima County, Washington, and with 16,375 residents at the 2020 census it is the second-most populous city in Yakima County.

The modern settlement of Sunnyside was founded by Walter Granger in 1893, and its name was coined by a merchant named W. H. Cline.

Granger helped finance the Sunnyside Canal to irrigate the valley with Yakima River water, but his creditors foreclosed after the Panic of 1893 and the town dwindled to just seven families before rebounding past 300 people by the end of 1901.

On September 16, 1902, residents voted 42 to 1 to incorporate as the town of Sunnyside; with 314 residents, the town was just over the state minimum needed to hold an incorporation vote, and its first mayor was the town druggist, James Henderson.

Around 1902 the Dunkards, members of the German Baptist Progressive Brethren from South Dakota, bought the entire townsite to form their Christian Cooperative Colony, developed Sunnyside's first bank and telephone system, and wrote prohibitions on alcohol, dancing, and gambling into every land deed, which is why old maps mark the town with a cross or halo symbol.

In 1948 Sunnyside became the first city in Washington State to adopt the council-manager plan of government, and in 1979 it was named an All-America City.

The 2020 census counted 16,375 people in 4,637 households in Sunnyside, and 86.7 percent of residents identified as Hispanic or Latino.

Sunnyside has a cold desert climate with only about 7.65 inches of precipitation a year, so its orchards, vineyards, and farms depend on irrigation from the Yakima River.

The Sunnyside Sun, the town's newspaper founded in its earliest years, was still publishing in 2020.

Since 1989 Sunnyside has held the Lighted Farm Implement Parade each December, in which combines, tractors, sprayers, and other farm equipment parade decorated with colorful lights; the A&E network once named it one of the top ten such parades in the United States.