Pomeroy, Washington
Pomeroy is a city in Garfield County, Washington, United States. The population was 1,425 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of and only city in Garfield County.
Geography
Pomeroy is located at 46°28′24″N 117°35′53″W / 46.47333°N 117.59806°W / 46.47333; -117.59806 (46.473334, -117.598119).
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 1.78 square miles (4.61 km2), all of it land.
History
The Nez Perce trail existed in the area before history was recorded, and the first written record of caucasians passing through the area were Lewis and Clark in 1805. Captain Benjamin Bonneville also passed through the future site of the town while he was surveying for the US government in 1834. In 1860, an Irish settler named Parson Quinn settled just east of present-day Pomeroy, and lived there for the next 40 years. Rancher Joseph M. Pomeroy purchased the land in 1864, and platted the town's site in May 1878.
Pomeroy was officially incorporated on February 3, 1886. The town has been the seat of Garfield County ever since 1882, despite fierce competition in the 1880s with neighboring towns Pataha and Asotin. The struggle to name a county seat would continue through both houses of the Washington Territorial Legislature in 1883, to Governor William A. Newell of the Washington Territory, and eventually reached the Congress in 1884.
