scubish.com: Scuba diving Clarkston - Washington - USA

Clarkston is a city in Asotin County in the Palouse region of Washington State.

History

Clarkston was officially incorporated on August 14, 1902. Before becoming an official town, the area was called Jawbone Flats. The name Clarkston is a reference to William Clark, of Lewis and Clark fame. Lewiston, across the Idaho state line from Clarkston is named for Meriwether Lewis, and is the larger of the two cities.

Geography

Clarkston is
Lewis-Clark Valley, at the confluence of the Snake and Clearwater rivers.

Clarkston is located at (46.413545, -117.048742). Immediately across the Snake River from Clarkston is the town of Lewiston, Idaho.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 5.3 km² (2.0 mi²). 5.0 km² (1.9 mi²) of it is land and 0.3 km² (0.1 mi²) of it (4.93%) is water.

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 7,337 people, 3,120 households, and 1,790 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,467.8/km² (3,805.4/mi²). There were 3,414 housing units at an average density of 683.0/km² (1,770.7/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 94.43% White, 0.34% African American, 1.61% Native American, 0.65% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 0.79% from other races, and 2.15% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.56% of the population.

There were 3,120 households out of which 29.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 37.1% were married couples living together, 15.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 42.6% were non-families. 35.7% of all households were made up of individuals and 15.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.26 and the average family size was 2.92.

In the city the population was spread out with 25.7% under the age of 18, 9.7% from 18 to 24, 26.6% from 25 to 44, 20.0% from 45 to 64, and 18.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females there were 86.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 79.3 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $25,907, and the median income for a family was $32,093. Males had a median income of $31,434 versus $20,654 for females. The per capita income for the city was $14,673. About 15.5% of families and 20.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 27.6% of those under age 18 and 8.1% of those age 65 or over.

Port

The Port Of Clarkston is home to one of the largest cranes on a navigable waterway east of Portland. Agriculture is a major industry in the area and the port handles a lot of barge traffic carrying grains. The forestry and paper company Potlatch transports wood chips and sawdust via barges for use at a Lewiston manufacturing plant. Due to its inland location on the Snake River, the port handles goods headed out to Portland, and inland to distributors upstream.

The port's...