Cowlitz County, Washington
Encyclopedia
Cowlitz County is a county
located in the U.S. state
of Washington. As of the 2010 census its population was 102,410. It forms the Longview, Washington
, Metropolitan Statistical Area which encompasses all of Cowlitz County. The county seat is at Kelso
, and its largest city is Longview
. Its name derives from the anglicized version of the Cowlitz Indian
term, Cow-e-liske, meaning either “river of shifting sands” or “capturing the medicine spirit.” It was formed on April 21, 1854.
. The Cowlitz are considered to be the first regional inhabitants to engage in commerce as they traded extensively with other tribes in Western
and Eastern Washington
. The Cowlitz Indian population declined significantly from the 1829-1830 smallpox
outbreak.
European explorers discovered and began navigating the Columbia River
in 1792 as British
Lieutenant W.R. Broughton sailed up the river to and past present day Cowlitz County. Then on November 5, 1805, Lewis and Clark camped at that mouth of the Kalama River
, under orders from President Thomas Jefferson
. Over the following days, they would reached the present sites of Kelso and Longview.
By the 1820s, the Hudson’s Bay Company had established a lucrative fur trade
in the region. Furs were shipped down the Cowlitz River
to the Columbia where they were loaded and shipped around the world. Trade declined significantly in the late 1830s as over-hunting and fashions had changed.
During the next several decades, white settlement of the region was in full swing. Most of the settlers homesteaded around the number of tributaries that fed the Columbia River. It was during this era that the first settlements were established. The first was Monticello, near present-day Longview. In 1841 several families with the HBC directedSinclair expedition from Red River Colony
settled there.
This was the location of the Monticello Convention where a group of prominent settlers from the Cowlitz and Puget Sound
regions met to draft a petition to the District of Columbia calling for a separate territory, to be carved out the Oregon Territory
, north of the Columbia River. This convention took place on November 25, 1852 and three months later the United States Congress
formed Columbia Territory, which was later known as Washington Territory
. Being one of the first counties organized, it was created on April 24, 1854, by the newly formed Washington Territorial Government and signed into law by Governor Isaac Stevens
.
Nearly every town that sprang up in the late 19th century began around a logging
or lumber-milling
operation. In the latter half of the 1920s, the Weyerhaeuser Company
and Long-Bell Lumber Company
established processing facilities. At the time, these two facilities were the first and second largest in the world. The county is still heavily dependent on the timber industry.
Four towns have claimed the Cowlitz County seat.
, has a total area of 1166 square miles (3,019.9 km²), of which 1139 square miles (2,950 km²) is land and 28 square miles (72.5 km²) (2.37%) is water.
Cowlitz County is part of the Puget Sound – Willamette Depression, a geologic formation extending south from the Puget Sound to the Willamette Valley
in Oregon
. Nestled up against the Cascade Mountains, many of the county’s major rivers originate in this range. These rivers include the Cowlitz, Coweeman
, Kalama
, Lewis
and Toutle
.
Cowlitz County is the 28th largest out of 39 counties in Washington State.
of 2000, there were 92,948 people, 35,850 households, and 25,059 families residing in the county. The population density
was 82 people per square mile (32/km²). There were 38,624 housing units at an average density of 34 per square mile (13/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 91.80% White
, 0.52% Black
or African American
, 1.52% Native American
, 1.30% Asian
, 0.13% Pacific Islander
, 2.11% from other races
, and 2.62% from two or more races. 4.55% of the population were Hispanic
or Latino
of any race. 18.6% were of German, 11.2% United States
or American, 10.4% English
, 8.6% Irish
and 7.0% Norwegian ancestry according to Census 2000. 94.6% spoke English
, and 3.5% Spanish
as their first language.
There were 35,850 households out of which 32.80% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 54.60% were married couples
living together, 10.70% had a female householder with no husband present, and 30.10% were non-families. 24.30% of all households were made up of individuals and 9.70% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.55 and the average family size was 3.01.
In the county, the population was spread out with 26.80% under the age of 18, 8.30% from 18 to 24, 27.50% from 25 to 44, 24.10% from 45 to 64, and 13.30% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females there were 98.20 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 95.80 males.
The median income for a household in the county was $39,797, and the median income for a family was $46,532. Males had a median income of $40,378 versus $25,710 for females. The per capita income
for the county was $18,583. About 10.30% of families and 14.00% of the population were below the poverty line, including 19.50% of those under age 18 and 6.60% of those age 65 or over.
County (United States)
In the United States, a county is a geographic subdivision of a state , usually assigned some governmental authority. The term "county" is used in 48 of the 50 states; Louisiana is divided into parishes and Alaska into boroughs. Parishes and boroughs are called "county-equivalents" by the U.S...
located in the U.S. state
U.S. state
A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...
of Washington. As of the 2010 census its population was 102,410. It forms the Longview, Washington
Longview, Washington
Longview is a city in Cowlitz County, Washington, United States. It is the principal city of the "Longview, Washington Metropolitan Statistical Area", which encompasses all of Cowlitz County. Longview's population was 36,648 at the time of the 2010 census and is the largest city in Cowlitz County...
, Metropolitan Statistical Area which encompasses all of Cowlitz County. The county seat is at Kelso
Kelso, Washington
Kelso is a city in southwest Washington State, United States, and is the county seat of Cowlitz County. At the 2010 census, the population was 11,925. Kelso is part of the Longview, Washington Metropolitan Statistical Area, which has a population of 102,410. Kelso shares its long western border...
, and its largest city is Longview
Longview, Washington
Longview is a city in Cowlitz County, Washington, United States. It is the principal city of the "Longview, Washington Metropolitan Statistical Area", which encompasses all of Cowlitz County. Longview's population was 36,648 at the time of the 2010 census and is the largest city in Cowlitz County...
. Its name derives from the anglicized version of the Cowlitz Indian
Cowlitz (tribe)
The Cowlitz are a group of Native American peoples from what is now western Washington state in the United States. The Cowlitz tribe actually consists of two distinct groups: the Upper Cowlitz, or Taidnapam, and the Lower Cowlitz, or Kawlic....
term, Cow-e-liske, meaning either “river of shifting sands” or “capturing the medicine spirit.” It was formed on April 21, 1854.
History
Prior to the Europeans' arrival to the area, it was inhabited by numerous Native American tribes, with the Cowlitz tribe being the largest. They were drawn to the region by the abundance of salmonSalmon
Salmon is the common name for several species of fish in the family Salmonidae. Several other fish in the same family are called trout; the difference is often said to be that salmon migrate and trout are resident, but this distinction does not strictly hold true...
. The Cowlitz are considered to be the first regional inhabitants to engage in commerce as they traded extensively with other tribes in Western
Western Washington
Western Washington is a region of the United States defined as that part of Washington west of the Cascade Mountains.It is known as being far wetter in climate than the eastern portion of the state, which...
and Eastern Washington
Eastern Washington
Eastern Washington is the portion of the U.S. state of Washington east of the Cascade Range. The region contains the city of Spokane , the Tri-Cities, the Columbia River and the Grand Coulee Dam, the Hanford Nuclear Reservation and the fertile farmlands of the Yakima Valley and the...
. The Cowlitz Indian population declined significantly from the 1829-1830 smallpox
Smallpox
Smallpox was an infectious disease unique to humans, caused by either of two virus variants, Variola major and Variola minor. The disease is also known by the Latin names Variola or Variola vera, which is a derivative of the Latin varius, meaning "spotted", or varus, meaning "pimple"...
outbreak.
European explorers discovered and began navigating the Columbia River
Columbia River
The Columbia River is the largest river in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. The river rises in the Rocky Mountains of British Columbia, Canada, flows northwest and then south into the U.S. state of Washington, then turns west to form most of the border between Washington and the state...
in 1792 as British
British people
The British are citizens of the United Kingdom, of the Isle of Man, any of the Channel Islands, or of any of the British overseas territories, and their descendants...
Lieutenant W.R. Broughton sailed up the river to and past present day Cowlitz County. Then on November 5, 1805, Lewis and Clark camped at that mouth of the Kalama River
Kalama River
The Kalama River is a tributary of the Columbia River, in the U.S. state of Washington. Its entire course is contained in Cowlitz County, Washington. Calama River is an old variant name....
, under orders from President Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson was the principal author of the United States Declaration of Independence and the Statute of Virginia for Religious Freedom , the third President of the United States and founder of the University of Virginia...
. Over the following days, they would reached the present sites of Kelso and Longview.
By the 1820s, the Hudson’s Bay Company had established a lucrative fur trade
Fur trade
The fur trade is a worldwide industry dealing in the acquisition and sale of animal fur. Since the establishment of world market for in the early modern period furs of boreal, polar and cold temperate mammalian animals have been the most valued...
in the region. Furs were shipped down the Cowlitz River
Cowlitz River
The Cowlitz River is a river in the state of Washington in the United States, a tributary of the Columbia River. Its tributaries drain a large region including the slopes of Mount Rainier, Mount Adams, and Mount St. Helens....
to the Columbia where they were loaded and shipped around the world. Trade declined significantly in the late 1830s as over-hunting and fashions had changed.
During the next several decades, white settlement of the region was in full swing. Most of the settlers homesteaded around the number of tributaries that fed the Columbia River. It was during this era that the first settlements were established. The first was Monticello, near present-day Longview. In 1841 several families with the HBC directedSinclair expedition from Red River Colony
Red River Colony
The Red River Colony was a colonization project set up by Thomas Douglas, 5th Earl of Selkirk in 1811 on of land granted to him by the Hudson's Bay Company under what is referred to as the Selkirk Concession. The colony along the Red River of the North was never very successful...
settled there.
This was the location of the Monticello Convention where a group of prominent settlers from the Cowlitz and Puget Sound
Puget Sound
Puget Sound is a sound in the U.S. state of Washington. It is a complex estuarine system of interconnected marine waterways and basins, with one major and one minor connection to the Strait of Juan de Fuca and the Pacific Ocean — Admiralty Inlet being the major connection and...
regions met to draft a petition to the District of Columbia calling for a separate territory, to be carved out the Oregon Territory
Oregon Territory
The Territory of Oregon was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from August 14, 1848, until February 14, 1859, when the southwestern portion of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Oregon. Originally claimed by several countries , the region was...
, north of the Columbia River. This convention took place on November 25, 1852 and three months later the United States Congress
United States Congress
The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....
formed Columbia Territory, which was later known as Washington Territory
Washington Territory
The Territory of Washington was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from February 8, 1853, until November 11, 1889, when the final extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Washington....
. Being one of the first counties organized, it was created on April 24, 1854, by the newly formed Washington Territorial Government and signed into law by Governor Isaac Stevens
Isaac Stevens
Isaac Ingalls Stevens was the first governor of Washington Territory, a United States Congressman, and a brigadier general in the Union Army during the American Civil War until his death at the Battle of Chantilly...
.
Nearly every town that sprang up in the late 19th century began around a logging
Logging
Logging is the cutting, skidding, on-site processing, and loading of trees or logs onto trucks.In forestry, the term logging is sometimes used in a narrow sense concerning the logistics of moving wood from the stump to somewhere outside the forest, usually a sawmill or a lumber yard...
or lumber-milling
Sawmill
A sawmill is a facility where logs are cut into boards.-Sawmill process:A sawmill's basic operation is much like those of hundreds of years ago; a log enters on one end and dimensional lumber exits on the other end....
operation. In the latter half of the 1920s, the Weyerhaeuser Company
Weyerhaeuser
Weyerhaeuser is one of the largest pulp and paper companies in the world. It is the world's largest private sector owner of softwood timberland; and the second largest owner of United States timberland, behind Plum Creek Timber...
and Long-Bell Lumber Company
Long-Bell Lumber Company
In 1887, Robert A. Long and Victor Bell formed the Long-Bell Lumber Company in Columbus, Kansas. The Long-Bell Lumber Company branched out using balanced vertical integration to control all aspects of lumber from the sawmills to the retail lumber yard...
established processing facilities. At the time, these two facilities were the first and second largest in the world. The county is still heavily dependent on the timber industry.
Four towns have claimed the Cowlitz County seat.
- Monticello (1854–1865)
- Freeport (1865–1872)
- Kalama (1872–1922)
- Kelso (1922–Present)
Geography
According to the U.S. Census BureauUnited States Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau is the government agency that is responsible for the United States Census. It also gathers other national demographic and economic data...
, has a total area of 1166 square miles (3,019.9 km²), of which 1139 square miles (2,950 km²) is land and 28 square miles (72.5 km²) (2.37%) is water.
Cowlitz County is part of the Puget Sound – Willamette Depression, a geologic formation extending south from the Puget Sound to the Willamette Valley
Willamette Valley
The Willamette Valley is the most populated region in the state of Oregon of the United States. Located in the state's northwest, the region is surrounded by tall mountain ranges to the east, west and south and the valley's floor is broad, flat and fertile because of Ice Age conditions...
in Oregon
Oregon
Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...
. Nestled up against the Cascade Mountains, many of the county’s major rivers originate in this range. These rivers include the Cowlitz, Coweeman
Coweeman River
The Coweeman River is a tributary of the Cowlitz River, in the U.S. state of Washington. Its name comes from the Cowlitz word ko-wee-na, meaning "short one", referring to a short Indian who once lived along the river.-Course:...
, Kalama
Kalama River
The Kalama River is a tributary of the Columbia River, in the U.S. state of Washington. Its entire course is contained in Cowlitz County, Washington. Calama River is an old variant name....
, Lewis
Lewis River (Washington)
The Lewis River is a tributary of the Columbia River, about long, in southwestern Washington in the United States. It drains part of the Cascade Range north of the Columbia River. The drainage basin of the Lewis River covers about . The river's mean annual discharge is about . Unlike nearby Lewis...
and Toutle
Toutle River
The Toutle River is a river in southwestern Washington State, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It rises in two forks on the flanks of Mount St. Helens and joins the Cowlitz River near Castle Rock.-Eruption of Mount St. Helens:...
.
Cowlitz County is the 28th largest out of 39 counties in Washington State.
Geographic features
- Cascade MountainsCascade RangeThe Cascade Range is a major mountain range of western North America, extending from southern British Columbia through Washington and Oregon to Northern California. It includes both non-volcanic mountains, such as the North Cascades, and the notable volcanoes known as the High Cascades...
- Columbia RiverColumbia RiverThe Columbia River is the largest river in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. The river rises in the Rocky Mountains of British Columbia, Canada, flows northwest and then south into the U.S. state of Washington, then turns west to form most of the border between Washington and the state...
- Cowlitz RiverCowlitz RiverThe Cowlitz River is a river in the state of Washington in the United States, a tributary of the Columbia River. Its tributaries drain a large region including the slopes of Mount Rainier, Mount Adams, and Mount St. Helens....
Major highways
Interstate 5Interstate 5 in WashingtonInterstate 5 in Washington is a highway in the U.S. state of Washington that extends from its border with Oregon to its border with Canada...
State Route 4
State Route 411Washington State Route 411State Route 411 is a state highway located in Cowlitz County in the U.S. state of Washington, serving Longview, Kelso, West Side Highway and Castle Rock...
State Route 432Washington State Route 432State Route 432 is a spur route of SR 4 beginning west of the cities of Kelso and Longview, Washington. Beginning at SR 4, SR 432 travels east on Mt Solo Road. As it enters the industrial area of Longview, the road changes to Industrial Way. After the junction of SR 433 and Lewis and Clark Bridge...
State Route 503Washington State Route 503State Route 503, also known as the St. Helens South Roadway, is a state route through the state of Washington. It has a spur route, State Route 503 Spur. It has a Southern terminus at State Route 500 and a Northern terminus at Interstate 5....
State Route 504
Adjacent counties
- Lewis County, WashingtonLewis County, WashingtonLewis County is a county located in the U.S. state of Washington. As of 2010, the population was 75,455. The county seat is at Chehalis, and its largest city is Centralia....
- north - Skamania County, Washington - east
- Clark County, WashingtonClark County, WashingtonClark County is a county located in the southwestern part of the U.S. state of Washington, across the Columbia River from Portland, Oregon.Clark County was the first county of Washington, named after William Clark of the Lewis and Clark Expedition...
- south - Columbia County, OregonColumbia County, OregonColumbia County is a county located in the U.S. state of Oregon. It was named for the Columbia River, which forms its eastern and northern borders. As of 2010, its population was 49,351. The county seat is St. Helens.-Economy:...
- southwest - Wahkiakum County, Washington - west
National protected areas
- Gifford Pinchot National ForestGifford Pinchot National ForestGifford Pinchot National Forest is a U.S. National Forest located in southern Washington, USA. With an area of 1.37 million acres , it extends 116 km along the western slopes of Cascade Range from Mount Rainier National Park to the Columbia River. It includes the 110,000 acre Mount St....
(part) - Mount St. Helens Volcanic National Monument (part)
County Parks
- Catlin Cemetery
- Cougar Wayside
- County Line Park
- Finn Hall Wayside
- Harry Gardner Park
- Hog Island Access
- Riverside Park
- SRS Viewpoint
- Willow Grove Park
- Woodbrook Park
Demographics
As of the censusCensus
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...
of 2000, there were 92,948 people, 35,850 households, and 25,059 families residing in the county. The population density
Population density
Population density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans...
was 82 people per square mile (32/km²). There were 38,624 housing units at an average density of 34 per square mile (13/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 91.80% White
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...
, 0.52% Black
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...
or African American
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...
, 1.52% Native American
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...
, 1.30% Asian
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...
, 0.13% Pacific Islander
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...
, 2.11% from other races
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...
, and 2.62% from two or more races. 4.55% of the population were Hispanic
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...
or Latino
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...
of any race. 18.6% were of German, 11.2% United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
or American, 10.4% English
English people
The English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...
, 8.6% Irish
Irish American
Irish Americans are citizens of the United States who can trace their ancestry to Ireland. A total of 36,278,332 Americans—estimated at 11.9% of the total population—reported Irish ancestry in the 2008 American Community Survey conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau...
and 7.0% Norwegian ancestry according to Census 2000. 94.6% spoke English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
, and 3.5% Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
as their first language.
There were 35,850 households out of which 32.80% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 54.60% were married couples
Marriage
Marriage is a social union or legal contract between people that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on the culture or subculture in which it is found...
living together, 10.70% had a female householder with no husband present, and 30.10% were non-families. 24.30% of all households were made up of individuals and 9.70% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.55 and the average family size was 3.01.
In the county, the population was spread out with 26.80% under the age of 18, 8.30% from 18 to 24, 27.50% from 25 to 44, 24.10% from 45 to 64, and 13.30% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females there were 98.20 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 95.80 males.
The median income for a household in the county was $39,797, and the median income for a family was $46,532. Males had a median income of $40,378 versus $25,710 for females. The per capita income
Per capita income
Per capita income or income per person is a measure of mean income within an economic aggregate, such as a country or city. It is calculated by taking a measure of all sources of income in the aggregate and dividing it by the total population...
for the county was $18,583. About 10.30% of families and 14.00% of the population were below the poverty line, including 19.50% of those under age 18 and 6.60% of those age 65 or over.
Cities
- Castle RockCastle Rock, WashingtonCastle Rock is a city in Cowlitz County, Washington, United States. Nestled between the Willapa Hills and western base of Mount St. Helens, Castle Rock is at the heart of Washington timber country in the Pacific temperate rain forest...
- KalamaKalama, WashingtonKalama is a city in Cowlitz County, Washington, United States. It is part of the 'Longview, Washington Metropolitan Statistical Area'. The population was 2,344 at the 2010 census.-History:...
- KelsoKelso, WashingtonKelso is a city in southwest Washington State, United States, and is the county seat of Cowlitz County. At the 2010 census, the population was 11,925. Kelso is part of the Longview, Washington Metropolitan Statistical Area, which has a population of 102,410. Kelso shares its long western border...
- LongviewLongview, WashingtonLongview is a city in Cowlitz County, Washington, United States. It is the principal city of the "Longview, Washington Metropolitan Statistical Area", which encompasses all of Cowlitz County. Longview's population was 36,648 at the time of the 2010 census and is the largest city in Cowlitz County...
- WoodlandWoodland, WashingtonWoodland is a city in Clark and Cowlitz counties in the U.S. state of Washington. Most residents live within Cowlitz County, in which the majority of the city lies. It is part of the 'Longview, Washington Metropolitan Statistical Area'...
Census-designated places
- Longview HeightsLongview Heights, WashingtonLongview Heights is a census-designated place in Cowlitz County, Washington, United States. The population was 3,851 at the 2010 Census. The CDP is known locally as Columbia Heights.-Geography:...
- West LongviewWest Longview, WashingtonWest Longview is a census-designated place in Cowlitz County, Washington, United States. The population was 2,882 at the 2000 census.-Geography:West Longview is located at ....
- West Side HighwayWest Side Highway, WashingtonWest Side Highway is a census-designated place in Cowlitz County, Washington, named after a state highway running north-south between Longview andKelso. The CDP includes the community of Lexington...
Other communities
- ArielAriel, WashingtonAriel is an unincorporated place in Cowlitz County, Washington....
- Carrolls
- CougarCougar, WashingtonCougar is a former town, and now unincorporated community, in Cowlitz County, Washington, United States. The population was 122 at the 1990 census; it was not measured in 2000....
- Lexington
- Olequa
- Ryderwood
- Silver Lake
- ToutleToutle, WashingtonToutle is an unincorporated community in Cowlitz County, Washington, United States. Toutle is located approximately ten miles east on SR 504 from exit 49 of I-5. Toutle is not very far from the well-known Mount St. Helens...
- YaleYale, WashingtonYale is an unincorporated community in Cowlitz County, Washington, United States. Named for Yale University, the only school teaching forestry in the 19th century, Yale is located in the Speelyai Creek Valley at the junction of State Route 503 and Lewis River Road...