On April 17, 1944, the three-member Board of Chelan County Commissioners, having verified the results of a vote by the adult citizens of Entiat, approves an "Order of Incorporation" verifying that the town has complied with the relevant laws and "is hereby incorporated as a Municipal Corporation of the fourth class and the same to be known and belonging under the name and style of the Town of Entiat ..." ("Order for Incorporation"). The order becomes fully effective on April 25, 1944, at 2:45 p.m. when it is filed in the office of Washington state's Secretary of State. Thirty-six years later, the Entiat city council will vote to convert the town's status to a Non-Charter Code City, a classification that did not exist when it first incorporated in 1944.
Incorporation
At the time of the vote for incorporation, Entiat was located on the second of what would eventually become three different sites. From 1897 to the mid-1910s, the first town of Entiat was on the north bank of the Entiat River about one-half mile upstream from its confluence with the Columbia River. That townsite suffered from repeated fires, and when it became known that the Great Northern Railway was planning to run its tracks closer to the shore of the Columbia, the townspeople decided to relocate east to a tract of land on the west bank of the river. They could not anticipate that nearly 50 years later they would have to move again, forced out by the rising waters behind Rocky Reach Dam.
The first move was essentially complete by 1915, and the townspeople went about their business. Nearly 30 years later, in 1944, a majority of its citizens voted to incorporate Entiat. After the measure was passed by the the voters, the petition for incorporation was submitted to the Chelan County Board of Commissioner for its approval and the issuance of an Order of Incorporation. In approving the application, the commissioners noted that "the election was held on the 10th day of April, 1944, and the same was conducted in the manner and form required by law." Although no precise tally is given, "a majority of the votes cast were for incorporation" ("Order for Incorporation").
In the same election, the voters of Entiat chose those of their number who would be entrusted to lead the town's government, assuming incorporation was approved. The highest vote-getter for mayor was Will E. Risk (1886-1966), owner of the Will Risk Market. T. R. Hendershott (1903-1975) was elected town treasurer. Entiat adopted a mayor-council form of government, and five men were chosen to serve on the first town council. They were: William A. Roundy (1889-1978), who first came to the Entiat Valley in 1902; Dell Rothrock (1893-?), another longtime valley resident, who had been both a dairyman and a fruit grower; Einar Moe (1885-1960), who moved to the Entiat Valley with his parents in 1899; Arthur Vradenburg (1893-1974), an Illinois native who moved to Entiat in the 1930s; and L. B. Hicks (1889-1963), who had operated Hicks Garage in Entiat for many years.
Governance
Entiat's government had much to do during its first year, and the council enacted no fewer than 21 ordinances in the remaining eight and a half months of 1944. Some laws were ministerial -- appointing a town clerk, fixing the times for council meetings, adopting a corporate seal, and appointing committees to handle specific issues. Other ordinances were regulatory -- setting the time for the daily closure of beer halls; regulating outdoor signs, vending machines, pinballs, and games of chance; and establishing a licensing scheme for businesses in the town.
Two 1944 ordinances defined specific crimes -- vagrancy and assault and battery -- and set penalties for violations. The Entiat Times was designated the town's official newspaper, a curfew was imposed on those under age 16, and the use of firearms in the town was regulated, as was trash burning. The final ordinance passed in 1944, Number 21, established the finalized town budget for the following year.
A Change in Status
Washington laws on the classification of cities and towns and how to create them have changed over the years. Today (2020) there are four categories:
First Class Cities, of which there are currently 10 in Washington.
Second Class Cities, of which there are five in the state.
Towns, of which there are 68 in the state. Under the law in effect in 1944, the designation "town" was reserved for Municipal Corporations of the fourth class. This category was later abandoned; it is now impossible to incorporate as a town, as Entiat did in 1944, but those that did so are permitted to retain that status if they choose.
Code Cities, the most common form, numbered 197 in Washington in 2020. The classification was designed to provide broad statutory home-rule authority in matters of local concern. Any unincorporated area having a population of at least 1,500 may incorporate as a code city, and any city or town, regardless of size, that was previously incorporated under applicable laws may reorganize as a code city without approval from the commissioners of the county in which it is located.
Unclassified Cities is a category left over from pre-statehood days, and there is but one in the state -- Waitsburg, in Walla Walla County.
In the early 1960s, Entiat had to relocate again when Rocky Reach Dam was completed a few miles south on the Columbia River and its reservoir, Lake Entiat, filled. This disruption was worse than that caused by the move more than 45 years earlier, and the town went through an extended period of retrenchment and a loss of population.
In 1980, when the situation had stabilized somewhat, the Entiat city council passed Ordinance 252 to change its status to a Non-charter Code City. Now secure in its location, the town's population has rebounded, from 357 in 1960 to 1,290 in 2020. Entiat is recognized as a heritage community founded during Washington's territorial period of 1852-1889, and since 2001 has been designated as a Tree City USA by the Arbor Day Foundation.
