How Do You Pronounce Ely Street in Kennewick, Washington?

Washington has a lot of town, county, and street names that can be difficult to pronounce for some and Kennewick is no stranger to this.

With names like Puyallup, Naches, Mesa, and Camas stumping people that aren't familiar with the Evergreen State, I find it surprising that this street name has my friends and family stumped.

Picture yourself on Highway 395, Clearwater is coming up but you decide to turn left. What is that street? My wife calls it "Eli," but I correct her each time. "It's called Ee-Lee," I say and then wonder if I'm right myself.

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It's one three-letter name, in a town with roads with names like Okanagon, Quay, and Etiwanda. People in my life just can't figure Ely out. I had a friend when I was in high school named Ely. He's from Mexico and his name is pronounced "Eh-Lee," sort of like how you would pronounce Ely Street.

The funny thing is that each time I hear someone refer to it as "Eli" Street, I get less secure about how I pronounce it. I will have you know, however, that the city of Ely, Minnesota makes damn sure you don't call them "Ee-Lie."

So, from one Ely to another, it's pronounced 'Ely' not 'Ely' as seen below.

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Every state is known for something. Florida has swamps and beautiful weather, Iowa has wrestling and corn, New York has Manhattan and Brooklyn-style pizza, Maryland has crabcakes. Washington has apples, wine, IPAs, and serial killers. This article is not meant to glorify these evil people in any way, just shed some light on a bizarre Washington truth. From Bundy to the Green River Killer, these are twelve of the deadliest killers in Washington state history.