Asotin County, Washington

Infobox U.S. County
county = Asotin County
state = Washington




map size = 200
founded = October 27, 1883
seat = Asotin
area_total_sq_mi =641
area_land_sq_mi =635
area_water_sq_mi =5
area percentage = 0.83%
census yr = 2000
pop = 20551
density_km2 =93
web = www.co.asotin.wa.us

Asotin County is a county located in the U.S. state of Washington. It is part of the Lewiston, ID-WA Metropolitan Statistical Area, which includes all of both Nez Perce County, Idaho, and Asotin County. As of 2000, the population was 20,551. The county seat is at Asotin, and its largest city is Clarkston.

"Asotin" derives from a Nez Perce word meaning "Eel Creek".

Asotin County was created out of Garfield County on October 27, 1883.cite web |title=Milestones for Washington State History — Part 2: 1851 to 1900|url=http://www.historylink.org/essays/output.cfm?file_id=5380| date=2003-03-06|publisher=HistoryLink.org]

Politics

Generally, Asotin County is considered a staunchly Republican area, although it has been known to vote for Democrats, especially on the state level. Currently the county is represented at the county level by two Democrats and one Republican.

In the 2004 Presidential election gave slightly over 60 percent of the vote to Republican George W. Bush. It was one of 11 of Washington's 39 counties where Bush received a lower percentage of the vote in 2004 than in 2000. Conversely, even though nearly 60 percent of voters selected the Democratic Governor Gary Locke in 2000, in 2004 the Democratic gubernatorial nominee Christine Gregoire received only 41 percent of the vote.

In 2004, 27% of presidential votes were cast from incorporated Clarkston, while 61% was from unincorporated suburbs of Clarkston (34% from Clarkston Heights, 12% from West Clarkston, 9% from South Clarkston, and 6% from Swallows Nest). An additional 6% was cast from the incorporated city of Asotin, with rural areas around Asotin accounting for 4% of the vote and areas around the unincorporated community of Anatone making up 2% of the vote.

By and large, the most competitive areas are Clarkston and its suburbs. Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry won two precincts in 2004, one each in Clarkston and West Clarkston. Bush received 54 percent of the vote in West Clarkston, 55 in Clarkston, and 57 percent in South Clarkston. However, he received larger victories of 64 percent in Clarkston Heights and 67 percent in Swallows Nest. Areas around both Asotin and Anatone delivered 2-to-1 victories, with the lone exception of one of the two incorporated Asotin precincts.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 641 square miles (1,659 km²), of which, 635 square miles (1,646 km²) of it is land and 5 square miles (14 km²) of it (0.83%) is water. It is part of the Palouse, a wide and rolling prairie-like region of the middle Columbia basin.

Geographic features

*Snake River
*Sagebrush
*Joseph Canyon

Major highways

*U.S. Route 12

Adjacent counties

*Whitman County, Washington north
*Nez Perce County, Idaho east
*Wallowa County, Oregon south
*Garfield County, Washington northwest

Demographics

As of the censusGR|2 of 2000, there were 20,551 people, 8,364 households, and 5,654 families residing in the county. The population density was 32 people per square mile (12/km²). There were 9,111 housing units at an average density of 14 per square mile (6/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 95.62% White, 0.19% Black or African American, 1.27% Native American, 0.51% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 0.63% from other races, and 1.77% from two or more races. 1.95% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. 25.9% were of German, 12.4% English, 11.9% Irish and 11.0% United States or American ancestry according to Census 2000. 97.9% spoke English and 1.6% Spanish as their first language.

There were 8,364 households out of which 31.00% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 51.40% were married couples living together, 11.90% had a female householder with no husband present, and 32.40% were non-families. 27.00% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.70% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.42 and the average family size was 2.91.

In the county, the population was spread out with 25.50% under the age of 18, 8.10% from 18 to 24, 26.10% from 25 to 44, 24.00% from 45 to 64, and 16.30% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females there were 91.10 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 86.30 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $33,524, and the median income for a family was $40,592. Males had a median income of $35,810 versus $22,218 for females. The per capita income for the county was $17,748. About 11.60% of families and 15.40% of the population were below the poverty line, including 22.70% of those under age 18 and 6.70% of those age 65 or over.

Census-recognized communities

Cities

*Asotin (1,095)
*Clarkston (7,337)

Census-designated places

*Clarkston Heights-Vineland (6,117)
*West Clarkston-Highland (4,707)

Other communities

*Anatone

References

External links

* [http://www.co.asotin.wa.us/ Asotin County, Washington Official Page]