Menlo is a small unincorporated community

Unincorporated area

In law, an unincorporated area is a region of land that is not a part of any municipality.To "incorporate" in this context means to form a municipal corporation, a city, town, or village with its own government. An unincorporated community is usually not subject to or taxed by a municipal government...

 in the Willapa Valley of Pacific County, Washington, United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. It was settled in 1851 as a donation land claim. Menlo was named for the California town of Menlo Park

Menlo Park, California

Menlo Park, California is a city at the eastern edge of San Mateo County, in the San Francisco Bay Area of California, in the United States. It is bordered by San Francisco Bay on the north and east; East Palo Alto, Palo Alto, and Stanford to the south; Atherton, North Fair Oaks, and Redwood City...

 in 1893 when the Northern Pacific Railway

Northern Pacific Railway

The Northern Pacific Railway was a railway that operated in the west along the Canadian border of the United States. Construction began in 1870 and the main line opened all the way from the Great Lakes to the Pacific when former president Ulysses S. Grant drove in the final "golden spike" in...

line was laid down through the Willapa Valley. It was shortened to just Menlo when the sign was cut in half.

Menlo today is home to a general store and post office, the Pacific County Fairgrounds and a secondary/high school — Willapa Valley High School.