Kahlotus () is a city in Franklin County, Washington, United States. The population was 193 at the 2010 census. The Washington State Office of Financial Management’s 2015 estimate placed the population at 190.

The first organized pact of Kahlotus was by German immigrants, imported by the railroads, in roughly 1880. Among these settlers were several locally attributed pioneer families, including Hans Harder, who first platted the town in 1902 under the name “Hardersburg”. The town was later renamed Kahlotus. The meaning of the word “Kahlotus” is uncertain. It is believed by many that it is a Native American word meaning “Hole in the ground. A third possibility is that the town was named for a Palouse tribal chief and signer of the Yakima Treaty of 1855. His say appeared afterward various spellings, including Kohlotus, Quillatose (by future officer Isaac Stevens), Qalatos, and Kahlatoose.

Harder’s platting of the town coincided later the reinstatement of service on the Oregon & Washington Railroad & Navigation line surrounded by LaCrosse and Palouse Junction (now Connell), crossing the north fade away of town parallel to present-day Highway 260. Soon after, the Spokane, Portland & Seattle Railroad began construction on a second railroad upon the south shore of nearby Kahlotus lake, including tunnels through the basalt cliffs near the southeast corner of town. Kahlotus was officially incorporated on May 31, 1907. The town boomed during construction of the railroad, local legend claims that approximately 20 saloons, a bank, newspaper, brothels, and extra businesses appeared to give abet to the rail crews.

Dryland cultivation has historically constituted the majority of the local economy. Relatively little irrigated agriculture occurs in the area, supported by local wells. The Columbia Basin Irrigation Project does not speak to water to Kahlotus.

In 1969, the initial phase of the Lower Monumental Dam was completed nearby, bringing more electricity and water for irrigation, but inundating the nearby Marmes Rockshelter. The dam furthermore made the Snake River navigable, allowing grain to be barged downriver rather than innate carried by train. Within a few years, the railroad through the north fade away of the valley was on your own and removed. The Burlington Northern tracks along the south fall of the lake bed and Devils Canyon were single-handedly and removed in the late 1980s, and the right of exaggeration became share of the Columbia Plateau Trail State Park.