Wenatchee

Town and administrative headquarters of Chelan County, central Washington; population (1990) 21,800. It is situated on the Columbia River, just south of its junction with the Wenatchee River. It has been a major packing and shipping centre for the area's apples and other fruit since the early 20th century, when the Columbia River Irrigation Project (1903) stimulated local agricultural development. Wenatchee also has lumber and flour mills and an aluminium smelting plant. Wenatchee Valley College (1939) is in the town, which also serves as the gateway to Wenatchee and Chelan national forests and the Cascade Mountains to the west.