Kittitas is a city in Kittitas County, Washington, United States. The population was 1,381 at the 2010 census and an estimated 1,493 in 2018.

There are numerous interpretations of the name, which is from the language of the Kittitas American Indian Sahaptin language. According to toponymist William Bright, the name “Kittitas” comes from the Sahaptin placename [k’ɨtɨtáš], referring to a gravel bank in the Yakima River. According to Jennifer Cochran, it “has been said to mean anything from ‘white chalk’ to ‘shale rock’ to ‘shoal people’ to ‘land of beauty’, and that most anthropologists and historians accept that each remarks has some validity depending upon the particular dialect spoken.”

Kittitas was established in 1883 and officially incorporated upon December 9, 1931. It was founded as allocation of the westward increase of the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad. The Kittitas Yard and Depot became the middle of the community of Kittitas, one of the many small, agricultural towns that sprang up along the railroad lines. The railroad associated Kittitas to other little communities and the descend of the country, providing farmers and matter people a pretentiousness to sell their products in extra towns and cities.

A make known office, general merchandise and drug store, a Baptist church, agricultural warehouses, and other small businesses were built on the little depot. Along following the depot, the Kittitas Yard included storage and grant buildings, a water tower, and other structures vital for the child support of a major transcontinental railroad.