Tampico is a
census-designated place
A census-designated place (CDP) is a Place (United States Census Bureau), concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only.
CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counte ...
and
unincorporated community
An unincorporated area is a parcel of land that is not governed by a local general-purpose municipal corporation. (At p. 178.) They may be governed or serviced by an encompassing unit (such as a county) or another branch of the state (such as th ...
in
Yakima County
Yakima County is a County (United States), county in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, its population was 256,728. The county seat and most populous city is Yakima, Washington, Ya ...
,
Washington
Washington most commonly refers to:
* George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States
* Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States
* Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States
** A ...
, United States, located approximately eighteen miles west of
Yakima
Yakima ( or ) is a city in and the county seat of Yakima County, Washington, United States, and the state's 11th most populous city. As of the 2020 census, the city had a total population of 96,968 and a metropolitan population of 256,728. The ...
on
Ahtanum Creek
Ahtanum Creek is a tributary of the Yakima River in the U.S. state of Washington. It starts at the confluence of the Middle and North Forks of Ahtanum Creek near Tampico, flows along the north base of Ahtanum Ridge, ends at the Yakima River near U ...
. The population was 312 at the
2010 United States Census.
History
The community was named Tampico by pioneer cattleman A. D. Elgin, for
a town in Mexico where he once lived.
Early pioneers settled in Tampico by at least 1872. By 1887, there were from 16 to 20 families living in the community.
Chief Kamiakin
Kamiakin (c. 1800–1877) (Yakama) was a leader of the Yakama, Palus people, Palouse, and Klickitat people, Klickitat peoples east of the Cascade Mountains in what is now southeastern Washington (state), Washington state. In 1855, he was disturbe ...
—who led the
Yakama
The Yakama are a Native Americans in the United State, Native American tribe with nearly 10,851 members, based primarily in Eastern Washington, eastern Washington (state), Washington state.
Yakama people today are enrolled in the federally rec ...
,
Palouse
The Palouse ( ) is a geographic region of the northwestern United States, encompassing parts of North Central Idaho, north central Idaho, southeastern Washington (part of eastern Washington), and by some definitions, parts of northeast Oregon. ...
, and
Klickitat in the
Yakima War
The Yakima War (1855–1858), also referred to as the Plateau War or Yakima Indian War, was a conflict between the United States and the Yakama, a Sahaptian-speaking people of the Northwest Plateau, then part of Washington Territory, and the tr ...
—was born at Ahtanum Creek near Tampico in 1800.
Near that site,
St. Joseph's Mission was built in 1852,
to be subsequently destroyed and rebuilt more than once; services are still regularly performed there.
Education
The community is served by West Valley School District 208.
References
Census-designated places in Yakima County, Washington
Census-designated places in Washington (state)
Northern Pacific Railway
Unincorporated communities in Yakima County, Washington
Unincorporated communities in Washington (state)
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