Whitstran, Washington facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Whitstran, Washington
Whitstran Spur
|
|
|---|---|
Looking east in Whitstran.
|
|
 Whitstran, Washington
Location in Benton County, Washington
|
|
| Country | United States |
| State | Washington |
| County | Benton |
| Elevation | 679 ft (207 m) |
| Time zone | UTC-8 (Pacific (PST)) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC-7 (PDT) |
| ZIP code |
99350
|
| Area code(s) | 509 |
| FIPS code | 53-78540 |
| GNIS feature ID | 1512805 |
Whitstran is a small, unincorporated community in Benton County, Washington. This means it's a place where people live, but it's not officially a city or town with its own local government.
You can find Whitstran about four miles northeast of Prosser. It's also about ten miles west of Benton City. The main part of Whitstran is where North Rothrock Road and Foisy Road meet. Here, you'll find a small grocery store and the local elementary school.
Contents
History of Whitstran
The area that is now Whitstran started as a settlement called Valley Heights. This was back in 1907. A man named Charles Jorgen Smith, who was a developer from Seattle, bought land here. He turned it into what was known as the Valley Heights Orchard Tracts.
For a while, people also called it the Swede Settlement. This was because many people from Scandinavia bought land and moved to the area.
How Whitstran Got Its Name
A railroad line was built through the area in 1911. A woman named Mary Biggam then planned out the town site. By 1919, the community started to be called Whitstran. The old name, Valley Heights, slowly stopped being used.
The Northern Pacific Railway changed the name to Whitstran. They did this to honor two retired railroad nurses. Their names were Laura Whitaker and May A. Strangeways. These two women were cousins and had developed a small piece of land nearby.
Another story says the town was named by the North Yakima and Valley Railway Company. They named it after a landowner who sold them land for the railroad. The railway station here was once known as Whitstran Spur.
Local Businesses and Schools
The first store in Whitstran was built in 1916 by E.W. Fry. Today, this store is known as McCorkle's. Jim McCorkle has owned it since 1993. Before that, it was called Blake's Corner Market and Whitstran Trading Company.
In the 1950s, a new school was built to replace the old one-room schoolhouse. This new school is now Whitstran Elementary School.
Schools in Whitstran
- [Whitstran Elementary School] teaches students from kindergarten through fifth grade.
Images for kids
-
A road map from 1926.
-
Snipes Creek Canyon, near Whitstran.
-
An irrigation system in Whitstran.
