Town file
Moses Lake, Washington
Moses Lake, Washington (Grant County, Washington) is the town in one episode of Small Town Murder, the comedy true-crime podcast: episode 206, "Why Charles Manson Wasn't In "Friends"" (14 January 2021). In the autumn of 1986 Moses Lake, Washington, was a town of about 10,000 people in Grant County, in the desert of central Washington.
- Town
- Moses Lake
- County
- Grant County
- State
- Washington
- Country
- USA
- Episodes
- 206
- Approximate location
- 47.128, -119.276
Episode 206 / 14 January 2021 / 149 min / full
Why Charles Manson Wasn't In "Friends"
"This is Moses Lake, Washington ... in central Washington, kind of dead center ... This is in Grant County." about 0:04:50
The case: Murder of Margo McKee (September 1986). Read the case file.
The figures, as told in 2021
- Population
- 22,038
- Median household income
- $49,800
- Median home value
- $193,400
- Two-bedroom rent
- $793
- Cost of living
- 85
- Religious
- 40.8%
- Property crime
- ▲ almost double
- Violent crime
- ▲ right at double
History, in brief
- Known to Native Americans as Hoopa, meaning willow. about 0:06:57
- Chief Moses was the leader of the tribe around the lake; under pressure from the government he traded the Columbia basin land for a reservation stretching from the lake north to the Canadian border. about 0:07:04
- Settlers began arriving in the 1880s, and the settlers named the place Moses Lake after Chief Moses. about 0:07:08
- The city was originally named Neppel, after a town in Germany where one of the first settlers had lived. about 0:08:04
- The first settlers had fisheries and farms and exported carp, jack rabbits and fruit. about 0:08:12
- Irrigation attempts failed and the settlers left; this happened several times in the area. about 0:08:53
- The town was incorporated and named Lake Moses, or Moses Lake, in 1938, when there were 302 people living there. about 0:09:02
- The Moses Lake Army Airbase was built in 1942, and the military pumped water in from the Columbia River, after which people, fishing and livestock followed. about 0:06:47
- A big dam was built on the Columbia River near the town. about 0:06:47
- The average precipitation is under eight inches a year and the area is desert, with sometimes a month or six weeks without rain in midsummer. about 0:06:26
- Evil Knievel lived in Moses Lake for a long time. about 0:09:42
- BMW has a giant factory there making electric cars, and Conagra and paper plants also have factories in the town. about 0:11:43
The reviews read out
1 star
"There is no mall and no national chains like Olive Garden, Red Lobster or Applebee's, and only two Taco Bells, two McDonald's, two Arby's, five Subways and three Starbucks, with no Wendy's and no chicken places except a KFC with the worst service."about 0:12:34
1 star
"The town is very small, racist and bigoted, with too much crime, a huge drug problem, a lot of teen preg, overcrowded schools, badly paid jobs, unfriendly people, an airport hours away, crooked politics and horrible medical care."about 0:13:57
1 star
"A tiny town overrun with crazy religious racist weirdos, not much for jobs, everywhere paying minimum wage, the worst customer service, and drugs and gangs equal to an actual city in a sixteen square mile dust ball."about 0:15:31
2 stars
"A lot of petty crime and gang activity for a small town, real issues with methamphetamine production and use, subpar and overcrowded schools, and little to do without driving two hours, but lots of sunny days, tons of lakes, a low cost of living and good traffic."about 0:16:50
2 stars
"There are a lot of homeless people and drugs, and the reviewer would not recommend walking outside at night or walking alone through the town."about 0:17:21
Nearest Small Town Murder towns
- Deer Park, Washington103 miles
- Addy, Washington108 miles
- Tonasket, Washington109 miles
- Moscow, Idaho111 miles
- Post Falls, Idaho117 miles
- Lewiston, Idaho119 miles
Everything here is as told in the episode, on the date it went out; figures and places may have changed since. Endings are covered: open an episode and use the spoiler switch to read them.