Waitsburg, Washington
10 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1919 and the latest in 1980. It stands in the Waitsburg census division. It lies in ZIP code area 99361. It stands on Wilson Creek. The Survey maps it on the Waitsburg quadrangle. 1,166 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 1,263 feet above sea level.
On record in Waitsburg
Buildings and businesses the archive holds for this place. Each opens its own page, with the source record it came from.
On the National Register 4 records
William Perry Bruce Houselisted 1975
Preston Halllisted 1993- Waitsburg High Schoollisted 2001
- Waitsburg Historic Districtlisted 1978
Population over time
2 figuresWaitsburg fell from 1,217 to 1,166 between 2010 and 2020. These are the recorded population figures Wikidata holds for this place, reached through the Geographic Names Information System number this page is keyed on rather than by name, so they belong to this place and not to another of the same name. Most are census counts, but not all are: an early figure may be a founding or settlement estimate, and an estimate published within five years of a census is left out. The change column is computed, and is left blank where more than 20 years separate a figure from the one before it, because a gap that long is not a change between two counts.
| Year | People | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 1,217 | |
| 2020 | 1,166 | -51 (-4%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
6 surveys from 10 printed sheetsMatched by testing this settlement's coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet in the United States Geological Survey's historical collection. Each opens the scanned sheet at the Survey.
- 1919 USGS Walla Walla quadrangle1:125000
- 1921 USGS Walla Walla quadrangle1:125000, 2 printings
- 1953 USGS Walla Walla quadrangle1:250000, 3 printings
- 1958 USGS Walla Walla quadrangle1:250000
- 1967 USGS Waitsburg quadrangle1:24000
- 1980 USGS Walla Walla quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
Fires near this place
3 since 1995Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 3 fires within 5 miles of Waitsburg between 1995 and 2017, burning about 1,452 acres in total. None started naturally. None was recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.
| Reported cause | Fires |
|---|---|
| Recreation and ceremony | 1 |
| Power generation/transmission/distribution | 1 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1 |
The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.
| Date | Cause | Size | Reported by | Name on the report |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 August 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,350 acres | Washington State Fire Marshal's Office | WHETSTONE RD |
| 13 July 1995 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 100 acres | Spokane District | SMITH CYN |
| 27 May 2017 | Recreation and ceremony | 1.5 acres | Washington State Department of Natural Resources Headquarters | LEWIS AND CLARK |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
6 within 5 milesRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 6 workings within 5 miles of Waitsburg: 6 past producers. None of them still produces. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, Stone, Crushed/Broken. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.
| Where | Site | Commodity | Status | Recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mills Quarry | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Past Producer | ||
| Unnamed Quarry | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Past Producer | ||
| Hale Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Mays Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Unnamed Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Waitsburg Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer |
Storms near this place
9 since 2000Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Waitsburg in 9 storm reports between 2000 and 2026: 4 hail, 1 heavy rain, 1 funnel cloud, 1 flash flood. No death or injury is recorded in these reports. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.
| When | Event | Place named | Harm | What the report says |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| October 2000 | Heavy Rain | Waitsburg | $90,000 | Substantial rains over the previous day, coupled with an early morning thunderstorm that dumped over one-half inch of rain in 45 minutes, lead to widespread agricultural runoff that washed mud over several local roads. Rushing waters stripped several layers of gravel from Miller Road, located just west of Waitsburg. Several local gravel roads needed to be completely regraded. |
| March 2026 | Flood | Waitsburg | - | The Walla Walla County dispatch reported flooding along the Touchet River in the town of Waitsburg the morning of the 14th. The dispatch center relayed that a levee near the Preston Ave bridge had been breached, leading to flooding of properties along the Touchet River. Several roads in the Waitsburg area were also closed, including US Highway 12, due to water over the roadway. |
| June 2012 | Hail | Waitsburg | - | Hail up to half dollar size accompanied by 60 mph winds wind shredded window screens. |
| April 2006 | Thunderstorm Wind | Waitsburg | - | Tree limbs on power lines knocked power out. |
| August 2019 | Hail | Waitsburg | - | no account filed |
| August 2019 | Hail | Waitsburg | - | no account filed |
| August 2008 | Hail | Waitsburg | - | no account filed |
| April 2005 | Flash Flood | Waitsburg | - | no account filed |
| April 2001 | Funnel Cloud | Waitsburg | - | no account filed |
Nearest settlements
The eight closest, with where each one stands in the county. Distances are straight-line, computed from the Geographic Names Information System coordinates.
Elsewhere
Matched on this settlement's Geographic Names Information System number rather than its name, so it cannot be a different place of the same name in another state.
| Wikipedia article on Waitsburg | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q1506464 | The structured record the population and elevation above come from. Public domain (CC0). |
Provenance
This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 1512768. The sheet list is computed by point-in-boundary test against the United States Geological Survey's historical topographic inventory. Both are works of the United States government and carry no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.
Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.
Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.
Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.





