According to toponymist William Bright, the name "Kittitas" comes from the Sahaptin placename [k'ɨtɨtáš], referring to a gravel bank in the Yakima River.

[5] According to Jennifer Cochran, it "has been said to mean everything from 'white chalk' to 'shale rock' to 'shoal people' to 'land of beauty', and that most anthropologists and historians concede that each interpretation has some validity depending upon the particular dialect spoken.

It was founded as part of the westward expansion of the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad.

The railroad linked Kittitas to other small communities and the rest of the country, providing farmers and business people a way to sell their products in other towns and cities.

In 1905, Milwaukee Road officials began expanding west, running lines from Chicago to Seattle.

At the same time, they decided to electrify the lines through the western mountains, to increase operating efficiency.

Despite the increased efficiency, the financial stability of the railroad began to crumble, prompted by the high cost of the western expansion, electrical expenses, and competition with other railroads and ships using the newly opened Panama Canal.

The Milwaukee Road once served as a vital link, providing economic and social connections between small, scattered communities in Washington.

Today, it is once more a link between these communities, for people who hike, bike, or ride horses along the route.

[7] Stretching more than 250 miles (400 km) from Cedar Falls near North Bend to Tekoa at the Idaho border, the John Wayne Pioneer Trail passes through tunnels, over mountains, along rivers and lakes, and through dry, sagebrush countryside.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 0.76 square miles (1.97 km2), all of it land.