A Town That Was Named Twice?

  In  southeastern Washington is a town whose name has been ridiculed for years. It is Walla Walla
 One thing that has always stuck out in my mind about Walla Walla is a line from Looney Toons when Elmer
 Fudd was hosting a show where he got to interview Bugs Bunny and the announcer said that the show was hosted by "the Wishy Washy Washing Machine Company of Walla Walla, Washington."
  Walla Walla  has about 32,000 people and lies just six miles from the Oregon border. Adjacent to
Walla Walla on the south is College Place, which has about 8,000 people. The towns were founded three miles apart, but they have grown together. The southern city limits of College Place is only three miles from the Oregon border.
  Since I was in southeastern Washington on this particular trip, I just had to visit Walla Walla, since I had heard the name ridiculed for years, and I am glad I did. I really like the town. The Chamber of Commerce has a slogan that says "a town so nice they named it twice."
  Walla Walla is an agricultural town, with wheat being the predominant crop. Onions are also a staple crop and a special variety of onion is grown in the area. It is the Walla Walla Sweet Onion. Walla Walla also has two colleges, Whitman College and Walla Walla Community College. In addition, neighboring College Place
 is home to Walla Walla University.
  Walla Walla is also home to the Washingon State Penitentiary. The address for the penitentiary has alot of bad luck in it for people who are superstitious. It is 1313 North 13th Street. I am sure that was done deliberately.
  Walla Walla was slated to become the capital of Washington when Washington became a territory, but it never happened. The government was organized in Walla Walla and a Governor's Mansion was built, but Walla Walla was never officially named the capital. That honor went to Olympia instead. Two other serious candidates for the capital were Steilacoom, which is near Tacoma (not far from Olympia) and Ellensburg, in the central part of the state. Walla Walla is only 89 miles from  Lewiston, Idaho, which I blogged about extensively. Lewiston was the capital of Idaho for two years and if it remained the capital and Walla Walla became the capital of Washington, there would have been two state capital cities only 89 miles apart.